What Most Businesses Are Missing in GA4 & GTM
What Most Businesses Are Missing in GA4 & GTM (And How to Fix It)
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Tag Manager (GTM) are incredibly powerful tools—but here’s the truth:
Most businesses only scratch the surface.
At Bytetracks, we’ve audited dozens of setups, and we've noticed the same critical issues again and again. Whether you’re running a service-based business, an eCommerce store, or generating leads—if you’re missing these key elements, you’re leaving valuable insights (and conversions) on the table
1. No Clear Measurement Strategy
Problem: Businesses jump into GA4/GTM without defining what success looks like.
What’s missing: No tracking plan No alignment with KPIs No clear goals set up in GA4 The fix: Start with a measurement strategy. Identify your business goals, map user actions that indicate progress toward those goals (events), and structure your tagging accordingly.
2. Only Tracking Pageviews
Problem: GA4 isn’t just for page tracking—yet many setups stop there.
What’s missing: Button clicks (e.g. “Book Now”, “Add to Cart”) Form submissions Video engagement Scroll depth File downloads The fix: Use GTM to track custom events that reveal true user engagement. These events give you deeper behavioral insights and help optimize the user journey.
3. Ignoring Custom Dimensions & User Properties
Problem: Businesses rely only on default GA4 reports.
What’s missing: User roles (e.g. logged in vs guest) Product categories Campaign names or IDs Content types (e.g. blog vs case study) The fix: Push additional data into GA4 using GTM. Custom dimensions and user properties let you segment users meaningfully and create advanced reports/audiences.
4. Not Using Enhanced Conversions or Data Layer Variables
Problem: Without enhanced conversion tracking, attribution gets muddy.
What’s missing: Accurate revenue tracking User identity (e.g. email or phone hash) Checkout funnel steps The fix: Implement Enhanced Conversions (especially for Google Ads) and leverage the data layer in GTM for cleaner, structured data to pass into GA4.
5. No Debugging or Validation
Problem: Tags are set and forgotten.
What’s missing: Proper testing with GTM Preview Real-time GA4 DebugView usage Ongoing tag maintenance The fix: Set up a QA process. Use tools like Tag Assistant, GA4 DebugView, and preview mode in GTM to ensure everything is firing correctly before going live.
6. Ignoring Audience Building & Remarketing Potential
Problem: Businesses collect data—but don’t act on it.
What’s missing: Audiences for Google Ads Engaged users, cart abandoners, or converters Funnel stage segmentation The fix: Build audiences in GA4 based on behavior, and use them to power remarketing campaigns. It's one of the most underutilized growth tactics available.
