How to Set Up GA4 and Search Console as a Mortgage Broker
This article is by Australia's #1 Mortgage Broker SEO Agency, we've helped brokers generate over $500M in new leads through Google and AI-search. We can help you too, simply book a call here.
You've got a website, a Google Business Profile and maybe some content going up. But here's the thing most brokers run into: you have no idea which of it is actually bringing in enquiries. Something's working, or nothing is, and you can't tell which.
That gap is worth closing. When you can see which pages borrowers land on before they fill in your form or click your phone number, you stop guessing and start making better calls about where to put your time and money.
At Copyburst, we help brokers across Australia with mortgage broker SEO, Google Business Profiles and AI search, and setting up measurement properly is one of the first things we sort out together. Below, we'll show you what these two tools do, why they matter for your brokerage and what good looks like.
Key takeaways
- GA4 shows you where enquiries come from and which pages produce them.
- Search Console shows what borrowers search before they find your website.
- Together they tell you what's working, so you invest your time in the right places.
What do GA4 and Search Console actually do for a mortgage broker?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is your website's measurement tool. It tracks who visits your site, where they came from (Google search, a referral, a direct visit, ChatGPT) and what they do once they're there. Search Console is Google's own tool for your site's performance in Google Search. It shows you which searches your pages appear for, how often, and how many people click through. Neither tool is technical to read once you know where to look, and both are free.
What does GA4 tell you that actually matters?
The number to care about in GA4 is enquiries, not visits. A broker with two hundred monthly visitors and ten form submissions is doing better than one with a thousand visitors and two. GA4 lets you see which pages people land on before they enquire, which traffic sources produce the most of those moments and whether your contact form or phone link is being used at all.
To make GA4 useful, you need to set up key events: a "form submitted" event that fires when someone completes your enquiry form, and a "phone click" event that fires when someone taps your number on mobile. Without those, you're only watching people walk around the shop with no idea who bought something.
Once those are running, look at two reports weekly: Acquisition (where visitors came from) and Landing pages (which page they arrived on). If most of your enquiries come in after someone lands on your refinance page from Google, that's the page worth expanding and protecting.
| Expert tip Open GA4, go to Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition. Look for a row labelled "chatgpt.com" under session source. That's your referral traffic from ChatGPT searches. If it's growing, borrowers are finding you through AI tools, and that's worth knowing before you make any decisions about where to invest. |
What does Search Console show you that GA4 can't?
Search Console sits earlier in the borrower's journey. Before someone clicks through to your site, they ran a search. Search Console shows you exactly what that search was, how often your page appeared for it and how many people clicked. GA4 only sees them once they land; Search Console sees them before they decide.
The most useful report is Performance, sorted by impressions. Look for searches where your page appears often but clicks are low. That's a page Google is already offering up to borrowers, but something about the title or description isn't convincing them to click. A better heading or a more specific description often turns that around.
“The gap between impressions and clicks is one of the most common findings when we look at a broker's Search Console data. A page can be appearing for dozens of relevant searches every week and getting almost no clicks, simply because the title doesn't match what the borrower is looking for.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
Search Console also shows you the AI traffic picture on Google's side. Google says traffic from AI features like AI Overviews is counted in the Performance report under the Web search type, though it can't be separated out from other Google traffic there. So your Search Console numbers already include borrowers who clicked through from an AI Overview, whether you knew it or not.
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with knowing whether your SEO is working? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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How do you set each tool up without needing an IT degree?
Both tools connect to your website through a small piece of code, or through your website platform if it has a built-in integration. Say you're a broker who built your site on a hosted platform like Duda, WordPress or Wix. You don't touch code at all. You:
- Create a GA4 property at analytics.google.com using your Google account, then copy the Measurement ID (it starts with G-).
- Paste it into your website platform's analytics field. Every major platform has a dedicated settings field for this; no code needed.
- Verify Search Console at search.google.com/search-console. The easiest method is connecting it through Google Analytics, which links both in one step.
- Set up key events in GA4 for form submissions and phone clicks (your web developer or SEO team handles the event tagging; you just confirm they're firing).
- Add "How did you find us?" to your enquiry form. Analytics shows you traffic data; this question catches the clients who came via referral or word of mouth and went searching for you by name.
Once those five steps are done, you have the full picture: what borrowers searched, which page they landed on, whether they enquired, and where that enquiry came from.
| Expert tip In Search Console, go to Performance, then filter by your area's name or a loan type like "refinance" or "first home buyer". If your pages appear for those searches but rank outside the top ten, that's the gap to close first. Copyburst uses this check when we start working with any broker to work out where the best opportunity sits. |
Which numbers should you actually look at each month?
Brokers who spend too much time in analytics end up watching metrics that don't connect to their pipeline. Here's what to look at and what to ignore.
| What to check | Where to find it | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries by source | GA4: Acquisition, Traffic acquisition | Google organic producing a growing share of form and phone events |
| Top landing pages | GA4: Reports, Landing page | Service and location pages in the list, not just your homepage |
| Search queries | Search Console: Performance, Queries tab | Your name, loan types and your area appearing; click rate climbing |
| Clicks and impressions trend | Search Console: Performance chart | Both trending up over three to six months as SEO work takes effect |
| ChatGPT referrals | GA4: Traffic acquisition, session source chatgpt.com | Any referrals here show AI tools are surfacing your site to borrowers |
Ignore total page views and bounce rate on their own. They don't tell you whether anyone enquired.
“When we first look at a broker's analytics, the key events are missing more often than not. Visits are being counted, but no one's tracking whether those visitors actually enquired. The first thing we do is get those events firing correctly, because without them you're flying blind.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
How do these tools connect to local search and your Google Business Profile?
A lot of broker enquiries start with a local search: "mortgage broker near me" receives around 6,600 monthly Australian searches, according to Ubersuggest data from July 2026. Borrowers who find you through the Map Pack (the local results shown with the map) land on your website, and GA4 will count that visit as Google organic traffic. So your analytics data includes local Map Pack visits, not just results from your ranked pages.
Search Console adds another layer here. If you filter your Performance report by queries that include your suburb or surrounding area, you can see whether your location and service pages are appearing for those searches and how many clicks they're generating. If they're not appearing, that's a page or profile issue worth investigating.
Your Google Business Profile also has its own performance view, showing calls, website clicks and direction requests directly from the profile. Use that alongside GA4 to get the full local picture, because some borrowers call straight from the profile without visiting your site at all.
| Expert tip Add a simple "How did you find us?" dropdown to your enquiry form with options like Google search, Google Maps, referral, social media and other. It takes a minute to add and tells you something your analytics can't: the borrowers who searched for you by name after a referral, and converted because your website gave them confidence. Copyburst includes this as a standard part of the broker websites we build. |
What's the catch with relying on these tools to measure everything?
GA4 and Search Console are genuinely powerful, but they have real limits worth knowing before you put too much weight on any single number.
- Phone calls from your profile aren't in GA4: borrowers who call you directly from Google Maps don't touch your website, so they won't appear in your analytics at all.
- Referrals often look like direct traffic: a client referred by their accountant who types your name into Google gets counted as organic. Your form question is the only way to catch that.
- Search Console shows impressions, not borrower intent: appearing for a search is not the same as ranking well for it or winning the enquiry. Clicks and the subsequent form event are what matter.
- Google AI traffic isn't separated out: Google says traffic from AI features like AI Overviews is counted in the Search Console Web report but can't be split from other Google traffic. Track AI source referrals (like ChatGPT) through GA4 instead.
None of these are reasons not to use the tools. They're reasons to use them together and to not confuse traffic with pipeline.
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with knowing whether your SEO is working? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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What else do brokers ask about GA4 and Search Console?
Do I need to own my GA4 and Search Console accounts, not my agency?
Yes. Your GA4 property, Search Console account, domain and Google Business Profile should all be owned by you, with your agency added as a user. If you ever change agencies, you keep your data and your history.
How do I know if my SEO is actually working?
Track clicks and impressions in Search Console over three to six months and watch for growth. In GA4, track whether key events (form submissions, phone clicks) are being triggered by organic traffic. Rankings and traffic both need to connect to enquiries, not just visits.
What should my SEO agency send me in a monthly report?
A good report connects the work done to rankings, traffic and enquiries. It should show your Search Console clicks and impressions trend, which pages are moving, and whether key events in GA4 are tracking. Avoid reports that only show vanity numbers like total page views.
How does Copyburst use GA4 and Search Console when we work together?
We set up or audit both tools at the start of every engagement, confirm key events are firing correctly and connect your Search Console to GA4. From there we use the data to prioritise which pages to improve and report progress to you in plain language each month.
Can Copyburst set these tools up if I haven't got them running yet?
Yes. We handle the setup, key event configuration and linking between both tools as part of our SEO work with brokers. You'll own all the accounts and be able to log in any time, and we'll walk you through what you're looking at in the first report.
Your next steps
Start by checking whether GA4 and Search Console are even connected to your website and, if so, whether key events like form submissions are being tracked. If you log into GA4 and can't find a "form submitted" event anywhere, that's the gap to close first. Without it, your data tells you about traffic, not about clients. When you're ready to get measurement sorted properly, talk to our team.
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Sources and further reading
This article provides general information about SEO, AI search and digital marketing for mortgage and finance brokers. It is not credit assistance, financial, legal or tax advice, and does not take into account your business circumstances. Search, ranking and lead outcomes vary and are not guaranteed. Figures are sourced from the organisations named and were current at the time of writing.