Understanding Google Analytics Events

Behavior event reports provide insight into behavior related to the specific Google Analytics events you are tracking. Events are specific actions you want to track, such as adding a product to your cart, watching a video, etc.

Google analytics events

Google analytics events tracking

Event tracking, which is directly linked to goals and conversions, does exactly it tracks how users interact with specific events actions on your website. Some examples of events that can be tracked are downloads of PDFs or other files, interactions with embedded videos, clicks on external links, and call-to-action buttons.

Defining success

In Google Analytics, event tracking is set up by attaching a specific tracking code to a specific element button, text link, etc that you want to track. This code has three primary components -Category, Action and Label. By defining these elements up front, you are essentially defining the success that a particular event can and will have.

Category

This is the general name of the group of objects you want to track. Due to PDF downloads, the category name for this event may simply be PDF Downloads.

Action

Actions are always paired with a specific category and can speak to a more specific type of user interaction. Based on our PDF Annual Report example, this event could be titled Annual Report.

Designation

Assigning labels to events is optional but recommended. Labels add another dimension to the presentation of event data. Event tracking is the perfect way to identify trends in where your users are going. Over time, with a healthy practice of Google Analytics, these trends will translate into informed changes to your website design as well as recommendations for future events.

What is google analytics event tracking for?

Elements can include things like buttons, videos, light fields, images, and podcasts. So Google Analytics event tracking is exactly how GA measures and records various metrics related to visitor engagement with these elements. In conjunction with Google Analytics goals, event tracking can help demonstrate the ROI of a marketing campaign.

Conclusion

It can be used in combination with traditional Google Analytics goals to measure micro or macro conversions on your website. Using Google Tag Manager and Tag Manager events means it’s now easier for you to set up and control the events you want to measure, or you can manually change the code on your site to add events if you want.