Events, Conversions, Goals: Why Google Analytics Uses So Many Terms

Why this confuses almost everyone

If you are trying to track something simple like a form submission, Google Analytics asks you to think about:

• Events

• Conversions

• Event parameters

• Custom definitions

Most people just want to answer one question: did someone do the thing I care about?

Instead, they are forced to learn a new vocabulary first.

What events actually are

In Google Analytics, an event is any recorded action.

Examples include:

• Page views

• Button clicks

• Scrolls

• File downloads

• Form submissions

In GA4, almost everything is an event. This sounds simple, but it creates a problem.

If everything is an event, then nothing feels important.

Where conversions come in

A conversion is just an event that you manually mark as important.

For example:

• Page view is an event

• Signup is an event

• Purchase is an event

Then you go into settings and say:
“This specific event is a conversion.”

So now you have:

• Events

• Important events

• And events pretending not to be events

This mental model is not obvious to beginners.

Why goals disappeared and made things worse

Before GA4, Google Analytics used something called goals.

Goals were simpler. You set them up and they just worked.

GA4 removed goals and replaced them with conversions, but without clearly explaining the change. Many tutorials still reference goals, which makes learning even harder.

People now ask:

• Are goals the same as conversions?

• Are conversions the same as events?

• Do I need all three?

This is where frustration peaks.

The setup barrier is the real issue

To track one meaningful action, most users have to:

• Define an event

• Ensure parameters are passed

• Register custom dimensions

• Mark the event as a conversion

• Wait for data to appear

For non technical users, this feels like too many steps for something that should be obvious.

Many never get past this stage.

Why this matters for small sites

If you run a small website, blog, or landing page, you usually care about:

• Page views

• Signups

• Contact form submissions

Google Analytics is designed to support complex tracking across large products and funnels. That power comes at the cost of clarity.

For many people, it is simply too much.

How this leads to bad decisions

When people are unsure whether tracking is correct, they stop trusting the data.

That leads to:

• Ignoring analytics

• Making decisions based on gut feeling

• Or checking numbers without understanding them

At that point, analytics becomes a headache instead of guidance.

Why simpler tools feel refreshing

This is why simpler analytics tools resonate with founders and marketers.

If a tool says:

• This page had 500 visits

• This button was clicked 12 times

• This page converted 3 people

And it works without configuration, people actually use it.

Tools like SimpleTrack remove the language barrier entirely by focusing on outcomes instead of setup concepts.

The takeaway

Events, conversions, and goals are not separate problems.

They are different labels for the same intent, which is tracking what matters.

Google Analytics makes this harder than it needs to be. Once users feel confused at the language level, adoption drops fast.

Clear data beats flexible data for most people.