Published on 2025-06-27T20:06:32Z

What are Events in Analytics? Examples of Events

In web and app analytics, events are discrete user interactions recorded by tracking systems. These actions can include clicks, form submissions, video plays, file downloads, and custom behaviors unique to your site or application. Unlike pageviews, which solely track page loads, events provide granular insights into how users engage with specific elements and features. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) groups events into automatically collected, recommended, and custom categories, using event parameters instead of the legacy category-action-label model. Plainsignal offers a cookie-free, privacy-friendly approach to event tracking with a lightweight script and simple API calls. Implementing events correctly helps you optimize user journeys, identify conversion bottlenecks, and measure the success of new features or campaigns. By analyzing event data across platforms like GA4 and Plainsignal, teams can make data-driven decisions to enhance user experience and achieve business objectives.

Illustration of Events
Illustration of Events

Events

Events are user interactions tracked in analytics platforms like GA4 and Plainsignal to measure actions beyond pageviews.

Types of Events

Analytics platforms classify events based on how they are collected and their purpose. Understanding these types helps you leverage built-in tracking and plan custom metrics.

  • Automatically collected events

    GA4 logs these events by default without extra code, such as page_view, session_start, and first_visit.

    • Page_view:

      Triggered on each page load.

    • Session_start:

      Fired when a user engages the property after 30 minutes of inactivity.

  • Recommended events

    GA4 provides a list of suggested events for common use cases like e-commerce and media, e.g., purchase, view_item.

    • Purchase:

      Tracks completed transactions with parameters like value and currency.

    • Video_start:

      Logs when a user starts video playback.

  • Custom events

    Defined by you to capture interactions unique to your site or app in both GA4 and PlainSignal.

Implementing Event Tracking

Setting up event tracking differs between platforms. PlainSignal uses a simple script and API, while GA4 relies on gtag or the Measurement Protocol.

  • Plainsignal event tracking

    Embed the PlainSignal script and use its API to log events without cookies.

    • Script initialization: 
      <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
<script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>
    • Logging custom events:

      Call PlainSignal('track', 'event_name', { key: 'value' }) in your JavaScript to record an event.

  • Ga4 event tracking

    Use the Global Site Tag (gtag.js) or Google Tag Manager to send events with parameters.

    • Gtag.js example: 
      <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments)}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
  // Log a custom event
  gtag('event', 'purchase', { currency: 'USD', value: 9.99 });
</script>
    • Event parameters:

      GA4 uses parameters like item_id, value, and currency to add context to events.

Best Practices for Events

Adopt naming conventions and structures that make event data clear, consistent, and maintainable across teams.

  • Consistent naming conventions

    Use lowercase, underscores, and clear action names (e.g., button_click, not ClickBtn).

  • Meaningful parameters

    Include relevant parameters to filter and segment events (e.g., category, label, or custom keys).

  • Avoid redundancy

    Don’t create duplicate events that track the same interaction in different ways.

Analyzing Events

Explore event data in platform dashboards to uncover user behavior patterns, monitor conversions, and refine strategies.

  • Ga4 event reports

    Use the Events and Engagement reports to view metrics like event count, users, and event-scoped parameters.

  • Plainsignal event insights

    Leverage PlainSignal’s lightweight dashboard to track event trends, popular interactions, and conversion funnels without cookies.

Related terms