Glossary · Conversion & retention
What is a goal (conversion goal) in analytics?
A goal, or conversion goal, is a visitor action that you define in your analytics tool as a success — reaching a page, firing an event, completing a purchase — so the tool can count it and calculate a conversion rate for it.
Google Analytics 4 calls them "key events" (they were called "conversions" until 2024). Most other tools call them goals.
Also called: Conversion goal, Key event, Conversion
Updated
Types of goals
| Goal type | Fires when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Page (destination) | A visitor views a URL | /thank-you, /welcome |
| Event | A named event is recorded | signup, demo_booked |
| Revenue | A payment is recorded | payment_completed |
| Engagement | A threshold is passed | Scrolled to the end, 3+ pages |
How goal conversion rate is calculated
Goal conversion rate = visitors who completed the goal ÷ total visitors × 100
Goal example
You create a goal "Signed up" matching the event signup. In October, 9,500 visitors came and 285 completed it: a 3% goal conversion rate. Filtering the goal by channel shows 4.8% for organic search and 1.1% for social — so the next blog post is a better bet than the next round of social posts.
Why goals matter
Without goals, analytics can only tell you how many people came. Goals tell you whether they did what you built the site for — and let every other report (sources, pages, campaigns, countries) be judged by outcomes instead of traffic.
Common goal setup mistakes
- Thank-you pages that can be reached directly or reloaded, counting non-conversions.
- Click-based goals that count attempts instead of successes.
- Client-side events for server-side outcomes — an OAuth sign-up that completes on the server never runs your browser code. Send it from your server.
- Renaming events and splitting history into two goals.
How VisitTrack handles goals
A VisitTrack goal matches either a page path or an event name. The first goal (or the one you mark primary) appears on the Overview with its conversion rate, and every dimension can be filtered by goal. Events come from window.visitrack("signup"), a data-vt-goal attribute, or the server API; attributed payments automatically write payment_completed, which works as a goal too. You can also let an AI assistant set up goals over MCP. Details in custom events.
Frequently asked questions
What are key events in GA4?
Key events are GA4's name, since 2024, for the events you mark as important conversions. They work like goals in other analytics tools.
How many goals should I set up?
Start with your one primary outcome, such as a sign-up or purchase, plus two to four micro-conversions that predict it. More than that usually adds noise rather than insight.
Related terms
- Conversion rateConversion rate is the percentage of visitors (or sessions) that complete a desired action — a sign-up, purchase, demo request or any other goal — out of all visitors (or sessions) in the same period.
- Micro-conversionA micro-conversion is a smaller action that signals a visitor is moving toward the main goal — such as viewing the pricing page, starting a sign-up form, watching a demo video or copying an install snippet — as opposed to the macro-conversion itself (the sign-up or purchase).
- Conversion funnelA conversion funnel is an ordered sequence of steps a visitor takes toward a goal — for example landing page, pricing, sign-up, payment — measured as how many visitors reach each step and how many drop off between them.
- Custom eventsCustom events are events you define and send to your analytics tool yourself — such as signup, demo_booked or plan_upgraded — to record actions that are specific to your product and can't be detected automatically.
- Event trackingEvent tracking is recording specific actions visitors take on a website or app — clicks, form submissions, sign-ups, downloads, purchases — as named events, often with properties that describe them.
Tools and guides
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