Produce a measurement plan that lists goals, KPIs, data sources and owners before you set up any tool.
Before you open GA4 or any other analytics tool, write a measurement plan. It is one page that says what the business is trying to achieve, which number tracks each goal, what counts as success on the website, where every number comes from and who looks at it.
Most GA4 setups that go wrong were never planned, and they tend to look the same. The tag is installed because the web designer said to. A few events are marked as important because the setup screen suggested it. A year later, nobody can say what the numbers are meant to answer. If the person who set it up has left, what they knew has gone with them. A plan written first prevents this. The rest of the course builds on it: the UTM rules in module 2, the key events in module 3 and the dashboard in module 6.
Priya runs a maths centre in Tampines. Her plan is the model you'll follow before writing your own.
Start with the goals you set in lesson 1.2, "From business goal to marketing KPI". Two goals is a good number for a small business. With more than four, the plan no longer fits on a page.
For each goal, pick one main KPI. This is the number closest to the goal that marketing can move and that can be counted every week. Under each KPI, list the supporting numbers, which explain why it moves.
Priya's first goal is to enrol 24 new students between January and March (an example target). Her main KPI is enquiries per week from all channels. Her supporting numbers are website visits and the visit-to-enquiry rate. When enquiries drop, these show her whether fewer people came to the site or fewer of them got in touch.
Her second goal is to fill the new Saturday morning Primary 6 class by the end of February. The main KPI is trial class bookings for the Saturday slot. The supporting numbers are enquiries that mention Saturday and the trial-to-enrolment rate.
Success actions are what a visitor does on the website when the marketing has worked. In module 3 you set them up as key events in GA4. Each one has to be a real step towards the goal. Reading a page or watching a video only shows interest, so neither counts.
For a shop, the obvious success action is a purchase. For a service business, it is usually a form sent, a booking made or a call button tapped. If your site has none of these, find that out before you build anything else, because GA4 will have nothing useful to count.
Priya names three success actions:
sending the enquiry form on the contact page clicking the WhatsApp button on any page, which opens a chat with the centre booking a trial class through the online booking page
She leaves out downloading the timetable PDF. A download shows interest, but many current parents download it every term, so a rise would not mean new families were coming.
Next to every number, write where it comes from, and be specific. "GA4" is fine for website visits. "Booking spreadsheet, column F" is better than "our records".
Priya uses GA4 for visits, form sends and WhatsApp clicks. Trial bookings come from the booking page's own dashboard, and new students come from her enrolment spreadsheet. Because the goal itself is enrolments, that spreadsheet decides whether the quarter worked, whatever GA4 says.
Next, name an owner for every number. The owner is the person who checks it and notices when it looks wrong. They don't have to fix everything. They are the person who would spot a problem first. Priya owns the main KPIs herself. Her part-time admin answers the WhatsApp messages, so the admin owns the count of WhatsApp enquiries. Only someone reading the chats can tell a new enquiry from a current parent asking about homework.
Every plan has gaps. Write down what you cannot measure yet, because a written list stops people pretending the numbers are complete. For each gap, write what you use instead. That substitute measure is the stand-in, and it is the most useful part of the entry. A gap with a stand-in written down is a known limitation. A gap nobody wrote down tends to turn up as a surprise six months later.
Priya lists two gaps. The first is word of mouth. Parents often hear about a centre from another parent and then type its name into Google. GA4 records that visit as organic search or a direct visit, never as a recommendation. Her stand-in is a "how did you hear about us" question on the trial booking form, which module 5 returns to.
The second gap is WhatsApp. A click on the button shows intent, but GA4 cannot see whether a chat followed. Her stand-in is a weekly count of new enquiry chats, which her admin keeps in the spreadsheet.
Put everything in a single table with seven columns: goal, main KPI, supporting numbers, success actions on the website, data source, owner, and known gaps with their stand-ins. Priya's table has two rows, one for each goal, and it fits on one sheet of paper with room to spare.
If yours runs to two pages, cut it. Three things usually cause it: extra goals that are really tactics, such as "post more on TikTok", supporting numbers nobody would act on, and success actions that measure interest instead of progress. Check each line against the test from lesson 1.1: if this number moved, would someone do something different? If the answer is no, take the line out.
Keep the finished plan where your team can find it. You'll reopen it in module 3 when you set up key events, and in module 6 when you choose what goes on the dashboard.
With Priya's version as a model, you are ready to write the plan for your own business.
Fill in a one-page measurement plan with at least two goals, one KPI for each, the website actions that count, and the data source for every number.
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