Google are updating the terminology they use to describe crucial actions on your website. While you’ll still be collecting events to track specific behavioral interactions, they’re now referring to events tied to your business objectives as Key Events.
To distinguish conversions in Google Analytics from those in Google Ads, Analytics conversions are now called key events. You don’t need to take any action on your existing setup. Key events are created and reported like previous conversions in Google Analytics.
Google says; “We’ve updated our terminology to simplify conversion measurement and reporting across Google platforms. The term ‘conversion’ now aligns with how conversions are defined in Google Ads, addressing previous discrepancies across platforms. Important events previously labeled as ‘conversions’ in Analytics will be reclassified as ‘key events.’ These key events, when shared with Google Ads, will be considered conversions, facilitating more accurate performance measurement of ad campaigns and enabling better-informed marketing decisions.”
Key Events function like any other events in your reports, but they’re specifically configured in Google Analytics to be part of the ‘Key Events’ metric, previously known as the ‘Conversions’ metric.
This means you should set up Key Events for your most critical actions, typically aligned with your business and website objectives. Here are examples of events you might designate as Key Events:
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generate_lead
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sign_up
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join_group
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form_submit
Key Events are instrumental for measuring and reporting important actions in Google Analytics, whereas conversions are primarily utilised for reporting and optimisation in Google Ads.
You can read more about the updates here, or touch base and we can help.