Why Most Brisbane Business Owners are Flying Blind
I’ve sat down with hundreds of business owners across Brisbane—from landscapers in Samford to law firms in the CBD—and I always ask the same question: "Which part of your marketing actually brought in your last three customers?"
Most of the time, I get a blank stare or a guess. "I think it was Google?" or "Maybe Facebook?"
If you don’t know exactly which button clicks or contact forms are turning into bank deposits, you are throwing money into a black hole. You might be spending $2,000 a month on ads, but if only $200 of that is actually resulting in a phone call, you’re wasting $1,800.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the tool Google gives us to track this, but out of the box, it’s pretty useless for a small business. It tells you how many people visited your site, but it doesn't automatically tell you if they actually tried to hire you. To get that data, you need to set up "events."
In plain English: an event is just a way of telling Google, "Hey, someone just clicked the 'Call Now' button—mark that down as a win."
There are three main ways to set this up. I’m going to break them down so you can decide which one fits your budget and your patience level.
Option 1: The "Built-In" Method (The Lazy Way)
Google tries to be helpful by automatically tracking certain things. When you first set up your website with Google, it turns on something called "Enhanced Measurement."
What it does:
It tracks basic stuff like how far people scroll down a page, when they click a link that takes them to another website, or when they watch a video you’ve embedded.The Upside:
It’s free and requires zero effort. You just flick a switch in the settings and it starts collecting data.The Downside (And why it’s usually not enough):
This is where most business owners get tripped up. Google’s automatic tracking is far too broad. For example, it might tell you someone clicked a link, but it won't tell you if they clicked your phone number or just a link to your Facebook page.If you’re a plumber in Chermside, you don’t care if someone clicked a link to read your Terms and Conditions. You care if they clicked the "Emergency Call Out" button. The built-in method won't give you that level of detail. It’s better than nothing, but it won’t help you track exactly which clicks make you money with any real accuracy.
Verdict: Use this as a baseline, but don't rely on it to grow your business.
Option 2: The "Create Event" Method (The DIY Way)
Inside the Google Analytics dashboard, there is a button that says "Create Event." This allows you to take the messy data Google is already collecting and tidy it up into something useful.
How it works:
You tell Google: "Whenever you see a 'page_view' where the website address contains the words 'thank-you', record that as a 'Lead'."The Upside:
You don't need to touch any code on your website. If you have a simple contact form that sends people to a "Thank You" page after they hit submit, this is a very reliable way to track enquiries.The Downside:
It’s limited. Most modern websites don't use "Thank You" pages anymore. Instead, a little message just pops up saying "Message Sent." If your website works like that, this method fails. It also can’t track button clicks properly. If you want to know how many people clicked your phone number on their mobile, this method is a nightmare to set up.Verdict: Good for tracking simple form submissions, but useless for tracking phone calls.
Option 3: Google Tag Manager (The Professional Way)
This is what we use for 99% of our clients at Local Marketing Group. Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a middleman. You put one piece of code on your site, and then you use GTM to tell Google Analytics exactly what to watch for.
Why it’s the gold standard:
With GTM, we can be incredibly specific. We can tell Google to only count a "click" if it was on your phone number, or if someone spent more than 2 minutes on your pricing page before clicking "Enquire Now."This allows you to see exactly where your best customers come from because you aren't just tracking "visitors"—you're tracking "high-value actions."
The Reality Check:
It’s a bit technical. If you try to do this yourself on a Sunday night, you’ll likely end up với a headache and a broken website. It usually takes a professional about 2-4 hours to get this dialed in perfectly for a small business site.Verdict: This is the only way to get data you can actually bank on. It costs a little bit upfront to have someone set it up, but it saves you thousands in wasted ad spend later.
What Should You Track First?
Don't try to track everything. You’ll end up with a wall of data that means nothing. If you’re running a local service business, focus on these three things only:
1. Phone Number Clicks: Especially important for tradies. If someone is on their phone and clicks your number, that’s a lead. 2. Form Submissions: When someone fills out your "Get a Quote" or "Contact Us" form. 3. Email Clicks: When someone clicks your email address to send you a message.
Once you have these three things tracked, you can look at your marketing and say: "Right, I spent $500 on Facebook ads last month and got 2 calls. I spent $500 on Google Ads and got 15 calls. I’m moving my Facebook budget to Google."
That is how you grow a business. It’s not about "branding" or "awareness"—it’s about math.
The Common Mistake: Counting Everything as a "Conversion"
I see this all the time. A business owner shows me their reports and says, "Look! I had 100 conversions last month!"
Then we look closer. 90 of those "conversions" were just people clicking on their own Instagram icon at the bottom of the page. That isn't a conversion. That's a distraction.
If it doesn't lead to a conversation that could result in a sale, don't track it as a win. Be ruthless with your data. You want to know which marketing makes you money, not which buttons are popular.
How Long Until You See Results?
Setting up your tracking takes a few days to "settle." Once it's live, you need about 30 days of data before you start making big decisions.
If you’re a smaller business with less traffic, it might take 60 days. But once you have that data, the clarity is incredible. You stop worrying about whether your website is "working" because you can see the proof in your dashboard every morning.
What is a Waste of Money?
Buying "traffic" without tracking is the fastest way to go broke. I’ve seen Brisbane businesses pay SEO companies $1,500 a month for years, only to find out that the traffic they were getting was for blog posts about "DIY tips" and not people actually looking to hire a professional.
Without custom events set up in GA4, you can't tell the difference between a student doing research and a customer with a credit card in their hand.
Your Action Plan
1. Check your current setup: Open Google Analytics. Go to the "Real-time" report. Click your own phone number on your website. Does a "click" or "phone_lead" show up in the report? If not, you’re flying blind. 2. Decide on your method: If you have a "Thank You" page, try Option 2 yourself. If you want to track phone calls and button clicks properly, you need Option 3. 3. Hire a pro for the setup: Don't waste 20 hours trying to learn a tool you'll only use once. Pay a specialist to set up your Google Tag Manager and GA4 correctly. It should be a one-time fee. 4. Review monthly: Once it’s set up, look at it once a month. Which source (Google, Facebook, Referrals) is sending you the most actual leads? Put more money there.
At Local Marketing Group, we specialise in stripping away the technical nonsense and giving Brisbane business owners the data they need to grow. We don't care about "impressions" or "engagement"—we care about how many people are picking up the phone to call you.
If you want your tracking set up properly so you can stop guessing and start growing, we can help.
Ready to see which of your ads are actually making you money? Contact us today and let’s get your tracking sorted.