How to Use ExactMetrics to Track WordPress Form Leads in GA4

The short answer: for a lead-generation site on WordPress, ExactMetrics' Forms addon sends every WPForms or Formidable submission to GA4 as a generate_lead event without code, but it starts on the Pro licence, $199.50 for the first year and $399.00 a year after (pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026). The steps: clear out old Google tags, install and connect, upgrade and switch on Forms, turn on Privacy Guard, wait a day, read the Forms report and generate_lead by form in GA4, ask AI Chat for the weekly summary, and check it against your form entries.

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What decides whether Pro earns its price:

1. Two years cost $598.50. That is $199.50 plus the $399.00 renewal, since the pricing page says renewals are at full price. GA4 on its own records form_start and form_submit at no cost once enhanced measurement is on (Google's help page).
2. What your form plugin already records. Its entries or notification emails are the count every tracking setup is judged against, before and after you pay.
3. What the free route leaves out. The addon's case is a view count and a conversion count per form, events named for leads, and a report inside WordPress for people who never open GA4, per the Forms guide. If nobody needs those, stay on GA4 alone.

On a WordPress lead site, the form is where a visit becomes a name. The trouble is rarely the form itself. It is that the lead count in analytics and the count in the inbox drift apart, and nobody notices until the quarterly review. Licences and rivals are in the ExactMetrics glossary entry.

What you need

• WordPress admin access on a self-hosted site, or WordPress.com on the Business plan (FAQ).
• A GA4 property created under a Google account you can sign in with (connection guide).
• A supported form builder: the Forms guide names WPForms and Formidable Forms among the WordPress form plugins it works with.

1. Remove every other Google tag

Look in the theme options, the theme's header.php and any header-script plugin for an existing Google Analytics tag, and deactivate other GA plugins. The install guide lists this as a prerequisite, and the FAQ warns that a second GA plugin skews the data.

2. Install and connect

Install Lite from wordpress.org, or upload the Pro zip from your ExactMetrics account. Then go to ExactMetrics, Settings, click Connect ExactMetrics, choose the Google account that created the property, allow every permission and select the property before clicking Complete Connection (connection guide). The guide allows up to 24 hours before the plugin's dashboard shows data.

3. Upgrade and switch on Forms

Copy the licence key from your account, paste it under ExactMetrics, Settings, click Verify and then Complete Upgrade (upgrade guide). Nothing is lost in the move, because the data lives in GA4. Then open ExactMetrics, Addons and activate Forms (Forms guide). The guide lists no setting per form: impression and submission events are added automatically.

4. Turn on Privacy Guard

Lead forms collect exactly the details analytics must not hold. Under ExactMetrics, Settings, Engagement, switch on Privacy Guard: it detects full names, usernames, email addresses, postal addresses and coordinates in URLs and form submissions and strips them before they are sent (Privacy Guard guide). Google's own help page puts the duty to keep personal data out of GA4 on you, so this toggle is not optional on a lead site.

5. Wait, then read the Forms report

A newly created GA4 property usually takes 24 to 48 hours to show data, per the Forms guide. After that, open ExactMetrics, Reports, Forms to see views and conversions for each form, side by side.

6. Find generate_lead in GA4

In GA4, open Reports, Engagement, Events and search for form_impression, then for generate_lead. To split them by form, click the plus icon beside the Event name column, choose Custom (Event-scoped) and add form_id, as the same guide describes. Now the lead count has a form attached to it, which is what the sales team will ask about.

7. Ask AI Chat for the weekly summary

On any ExactMetrics report page, open AI Chat at the bottom right and ask: "How are my form conversions this week compared with last week?" With the Forms addon active, it answers from the connected GA4 data in plain language, with tables and suggested follow-up questions (AI Chat guide). Pro includes 10,000 credits a month; at the limit the chat pauses until the next calendar month or until you buy more.

The human check: the assistant reads GA4, which is the very count under test. Before its summary goes to sales, a person compares two of its figures with the form plugin's entries for the same week, and the summary waits if they do not match.

8. Check against the entries every week

Once a week, put generate_lead for the last seven days beside the form plugin's entries for the same days, one row per form. A form whose entries keep running ahead of its events is the one to test by hand.

Mistakes the guides flag

• Keeping thank-you page goals as the lead count. The Forms guide calls thank-you page goals for form submissions inaccurate, which is the reason the addon exists; pick one count and retire the other.
• Judging the setup on day one. The 24 to 48 hours in the Forms guide are normal for a new property.
• Expecting the PPC addon to send leads to Google Ads. Its guide makes Google Ads conversion tracking depend on the eCommerce addon, and asks you to switch off the older Ads addon first.
• Two GA plugins at once, for the reason in step 1.

Year two is the default

The licence renews by itself, for a year, at the current renewal price (FAQ). Unless someone acts before the date, the default outcome of this setup in its second year is a $399.00 charge for tracking that GA4 does in part for free. That is not a trap, just the way annual software is sold; put the renewal date in the calendar the day you buy.

The free version of this whole job is GA4 alone. Switch on enhanced measurement, give it two weeks, and compare form_submit with your entries using the sheet from step 8. If the two agree and nobody needs the report inside WordPress, the Pro licence is buying convenience, and that is a decision you can now make with numbers.

FAQ

Does the Forms addon work on the Plus licence?

No. The Forms guide requires Pro or higher; Plus includes Privacy Guard and the standard reports, per the pricing page.

Where do the form events appear in GA4?

Under Reports, Engagement, Events, as form_impression for views and generate_lead for submissions, with form_id available as an event-scoped column, according to the Forms guide.

Will upgrading from Lite lose my data?

No. The upgrade guide explains that the history is stored in your GA4 property, so moving from Lite to Pro leaves it untouched.