How to See Conversions in Google Analytics

Tracking conversions is the single most important part of understanding whether your website is actually working. You need to know which marketing efforts are driving sales, sign-ups, and leads. This guide will show you exactly how to set up and find conversion data inside Google Analytics 4.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

What Exactly Is a “Conversion” in Google Analytics 4?

If you're used to the older Universal Analytics, you probably remember setting up "Goals." In Google Analytics 4, things work a bit differently. The entire model is built around events.

Think of an "event" as any specific action a user takes on your site. Scrolling down a page, watching a video, clicking a button, viewing a page - these are all events. GA4 automatically tracks some of these, like page_view and session_start.

A conversion is simply an event that you’ve marked as being important to your business. It’s you telling Google Analytics, "Hey, when this specific event happens, count it as a win." This gives you incredible flexibility because almost any action you can track can be turned into a conversion goal.

Common examples of conversions include:

• Making a purchase (the purchase event)
• Submitting a contact form (which might trigger a generate_lead event)
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Creating an account
• Downloading a PDF file

So, the first step to seeing conversions is telling GA4 which events matter most to you.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

How to Set Up Conversions in GA4 (Step-by-Step)

Before you can see conversion data, you have to define what a conversion is. There are a few ways to do this, ranging from super simple to a bit more advanced.

Method 1: Mark an Existing Event as a Conversion (The Easy Way)

This is the fastest method. GA4 is already tracking a library of events on your site. You just need to find the one that corresponds to your goal and flip a switch.

1. Log in to your Google Analytics 4 property.
2. Click on Admin in the bottom-left corner (the gear icon).
3. In the Property column, navigate to Data display > Events.
4. You'll see a list of all event names your site is currently collecting. Look for an event that represents a business goal. For example, if you have a lead-gen form, you might have an event named generate_lead or form_submission. Ecommerce sites will see a purchase event.
5. On the far right of the event you want to track, simply toggle the switch under the Mark as conversion column.

That's it! Within 24-48 hours, GA4 will start reporting new instances of that event as conversions. Common events to mark are purchase, generate_lead, or custom events you’ve set up for sign-ups.

Method 2: Create a New Conversion Event from a Page View

What if your website doesn’t fire a specific event for a conversion, like a form submission? A classic example is when a user fills out a form and is redirected to a generic "thank you" page (e.g., yourwebsite.com/thank-you).

In this case, a page view of your thank you page is the conversion. You can create a new event that only fires when someone visits that specific page.

1. Go to Admin > Data display > Events and click the Create event button.
2. Click Create on the next screen. A configuration panel will open.
3. Give your new event a descriptive name. Use underscores instead of spaces, for example: newsletter_signup_thankyou.
4. Under Matching conditions, set up the following rule:
5. Click Add condition to add a second rule. This is where you specify the "thank you" page:
6. Click Create in the top-right to save.

Now you’ve told GA4 to create a new event called newsletter_signup_thankyou every time someone views a page with "/thank-you" in the URL.

One final step: You now have to tell GA4 that this new event is a conversion. Wait up to a day for your new event to appear in the main Admin > Events list. Once it shows up, find it and toggle on Mark as conversion just like in Method 1.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Where to Find and Analyze Your Conversion Data in GA4

Once your conversions are set up and data is trickling in, you can find the numbers in several key reports. Each report answers a different business question.

1. The Main Conversions Report

This is your high-level overview of all conversion actions. It’s the quickest way to see total counts for each conversion goal you’ve defined.

• How to find it: In the left-hand navigation, go to Reports > Engagement > Conversions.
• What it shows you: You’ll see a table with each of your conversion events listed in its own row. Key columns include Conversions (the total number of times it happened), Total users (how many unique users converted), and Event revenue (if applicable).
• Best for answering: "How many total sign-ups, leads, and purchases did we get over the last month?"

2. The Traffic Acquisition Report

This is arguably the most valuable report for marketers. It connects your conversion data directly to your marketing channels, so you can see what’s actually driving results.

• How to find it: Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
• What it shows you: This report breaks down your traffic by default channel groupings like Organic Search, Direct, Paid Search, and Social. Scroll the table to the right, and you’ll see a Conversions column. This shows you the total number of conversions attributed to each channel.
• Best for answering: “Which marketing channel drives the most conversions? Should I invest more in paid ads or SEO?"
• Pro Tip: Click the dropdown arrow next to the "Conversions" column header. You can filter the report to show data for just one specific conversion event, like generate_lead. This lets you analyze channels for each specific goal.

3. The Landing Page Report

Want to know which pages are best at turning visitors into customers or leads? The Landing Page report will tell you.

• How to find it: Click on Reports > Engagement > Landing page.
• What it shows you: This report lists the first page a user "landed on" when they started their session. By default, it includes metrics like sessions and user engagement. Critically, it also shows a Conversions column on the far right.
• Best for answering: "Which blog posts are most effective at driving newsletter sign-ups? Do visitors who land on our homepage convert better than those who land on a product page?"

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Getting More Granular with Custom Reports in "Explore"

The standard reports are great for answering common questions, but sometimes you need to dig deeper. That’s what the Explore section is for. Think of it as a sandbox where you can build your own reports by dragging and dropping dimensions and metrics.

For example, let's say you want to see which cities are driving the most conversions.

1. Click Explore in the left main navigation.
2. Start a new exploration by choosing the Free form template.
3. In the Variables column on the left, click the "+" sign next to Dimensions. Search for and import "City."
4. Next, click the "+" sign next to Metrics. Search for and import "Conversions."
5. Now, drag City from the Variables panel to the Rows box in the Tab Settings panel.
6. Drag Conversions from Variables to the Values box.

Instantly, you'll see a custom table showing your top converting cities. You can use this same process to analyze conversions by Device, Browser, or dozens of other dimensions available in GA4. It unlocks a whole new level of insight that isn't always available in the pre-built reports.

Final Thoughts

Google Analytics 4 uses a flexible, event-based model that allows you to define almost any user action as a conversion. Once you've told GA4 which events matter, you can analyze your performance in dedicated reports like Engagement > Conversions and see which marketing efforts are paying off in the Acquisition reports.

Finding the right report and customizing it to show conversions can feel like a chore, especially when you need a quick answer to a routine question. That’s why we created Graphed. We connect directly to your Google Analytics account so you can stop hunting through menus. Instead, just ask, "Show me my top 10 landing pages by conversions this month," and get a clean, actionable report in seconds.