Google Analytics Audit Test #

5

'login' Events Are Tracking

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding user and site behavior.

Industries:

All

Checks For:

Utility

How powerful is your current implementation?

Insight Category:

Behavior

Can you tell what visitors are doing?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test verifies whether login events are being tracked in GA4—a key behavioral milestone that indicates user engagement, return visits, and potential conversion readiness. Tracking logins enables:

  • User segmentation between known vs. anonymous visitors
  • Funnel analysis from login to key actions (e.g., purchase, lead submission)
  • Better LTV modeling and cohort tracking
  • Enhanced retargeting and remarketing audience accuracy

If login events are missing, GA4 cannot differentiate between casual visits and meaningful re-engagement.

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In GA4 > Reports > Engagement > Events, search for a login event
    • Check that it’s firing consistently and has associated user engagement
  • In Explore, break down login activity by:
    • Source/medium, device, country, or user property to understand behavior of returning users

If the login event is absent or inconsistent, your analytics lacks a critical milestone for understanding authenticated user behavior.

Advanced QA

  • In GA4 DebugView, perform a login on your site and confirm:
    • The login event appears at the correct point in the user journey
    • The event includes any additional useful parameters (e.g., user type, method)

Automated, Free Audit

Need help validating this event? Run our Instant Audit

Or hire a pro to implement proper login tracking.

How To Fix

Implementing 'login' tracking

  • Implement a dataLayer push for the login event:
    gtag('event', 'login', { method: 'standard' }):
  • Or via GTM using a custom event trigger and tag
  • Fire the event only once per login, when the user successfully logs in (not on page load)
  • Include relevant parameters such as:
    • method (e.g., "email", "Google", "SSO")
    • user_type (optional custom dimension like "new" vs. "returning")
  • If using a login modal or SPA, ensure the event fires after successful authentication regardless of route

QA Tips

  • Test thoroughly with DebugView and across device types to confirm proper sequencing and consistency
  • Hire a pro to ensure login tracking is clean, deduplicated, and structured for insight.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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