GA4 Event Naming Conventions — A Practical Reference

Why naming conventions matter more in GA4

In Universal Analytics, most tracking happened through pageviews and a handful of standard event categories. GA4 is event-based throughout — every interaction is an event with a name and parameters. The flexibility is useful. The problem is that without a consistent naming convention, you end up with form_submit, formSubmit, Form Submitted, and contact_form_submission all referring to the same thing, in different properties, set up by different people over time.

The core rules

• Lowercase only. GA4 event names are case-sensitive. page_view and Page_View are different events.
• Use underscores, not spaces or hyphens. button_click not button-click or button click.
• Use the object_action pattern. The thing first, then what happened to it. form_submit, video_play, file_download.
• Be specific in parameters, not in the event name. Use one event name like form_submit with a parameter like form_name: 'contact' rather than creating contact_form_submit, newsletter_form_submit, etc.
• Keep names under 40 characters. GA4 enforces this limit.

Standard event reference

Navigation

Event	When to fire	Key parameters
page_view	Every page load (automatic in GA4)	page_location, page_title
scroll	90% scroll depth (automatic)	percent_scrolled
outbound_click	Click to external domain (automatic)	link_url, link_domain

Forms

Event	When to fire	Key parameters
form_start	First interaction with a form field	form_name, form_id
form_submit	Successful form submission	form_name, form_id
form_error	Validation error shown	form_name, error_message

Content & Media

Event	When to fire	Key parameters
video_start	Video begins playing	video_title, video_url
video_progress	25%, 50%, 75% thresholds	video_title, video_percent
video_complete	Video reaches 100%	video_title
file_download	Link to a downloadable file clicked (automatic)	file_name, file_extension

Engagement

Event	When to fire	Key parameters
search	Site search performed	search_term
select_content	Tab, accordion, filter selected	content_type, content_id
share	Share button clicked	method, content_type

Parameters to standardise across your implementation

These are the parameters worth defining once and using consistently everywhere:

• content_category — the section or category of the page
• content_type — what kind of content (article, product, video, form)
• element_text — the visible text of the element interacted with
• element_location — where on the page (header, hero, footer, sidebar)
• form_name — a short identifier for the specific form

Keeping it maintainable

Write your event naming conventions down in a shared document before implementation starts. Include examples for each event type your site uses. When new tracking is added later — by a different person, six months later — the reference prevents drift. A two-page naming guide is worth more than a perfect initial implementation that nobody maintains.