Field notes on conversion tracking
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Allga4 · 31gtm · 17ecommerce · 9attribution · 8debugging · 8google-ads · 8consent-mode-v2 · 7privacy · 7reporting · 6tracking-quality · 631 posts tagged ga4. Show all
- 3 min read
Your homepage is tracked. Is your product page?
Nearly half of audited sites warn or fail the deep-page check: the measurement IDs that load on the homepage do not load on a product or article page. It is the most common partial failure we see, and the easiest to miss.
tracking-qualitygtmga4Read the post
- 3 min read
The four checkout events GA4 needs, and the funnel you get when they all fire
begin_checkout, add_shipping_info, add_payment_info and purchase are the difference between a revenue number and a diagnosis. Most stores send the first and last and wonder why the funnel report is empty.
ga4ecommercereportingRead the post
- 3 min read
Shop Pay, Apple Pay and express checkouts: where Shopify purchase events go missing
Express checkouts skip the pages your purchase tag was listening to. If GA4 shows fewer purchases than Shopify and the gap is a steady share rather than a one-off, this is usually why. Here is how to prove it and how to fix it.
ecommerceshopifyga4Read the post
- 3 min read
G-, GTM-, AW- and UA-: what every tracking ID on your site actually is
Four prefixes, four different jobs, and one of them should not be on your site at all. A plain-English map of the IDs you will find in your page source, what each one talks to, and which combinations are mistakes.
basicsgtmga4Read the post
- 5 min read
The GA4 items array: event-scoped vs item-scoped data, explained
Ecommerce reporting lives or dies on the items array. Get its structure and scoping wrong and your product reports are empty even though "tracking works." Here is the anatomy.
ga4ecommercedatalayerRead the post
- 5 min read
Subdomains vs cross-domain: which tracking problem do you actually have?
blog.site.com and shop.site.com is a different tracking problem than site.com and checkout.otherbrand.com. Confusing the two leads to the wrong fix and split sessions.
ga4cross-domainattributionRead the post
- 5 min read
GA4 explorations crash course: funnels, paths, and cohorts
The standard GA4 reports barely scratch what the data can answer. Explorations are where the real analysis lives — funnels, path analysis, segment overlap, and cohorts.
ga4explorationsreportingRead the post
- 5 min read
Using Search Console and GA4 together (organic meets conversion)
GA4 tells you what visitors did; Search Console tells you what they searched to arrive. Linked, they answer the question neither can alone: which queries actually drive revenue.
ga4search-consoleseoRead the post
- 5 min read
Duplicate transactions in GA4: why your revenue is double-counted
If GA4 revenue reads higher than your store, duplicate purchase events are the usual culprit — a refreshed thank-you page, two tags, or a retry. Here is how to find and stop them.
ga4ecommercedata-qualityRead the post
- 5 min read
Engagement events: tracking scroll, video, and time without the noise
Scroll and video events tell you whether content works — or they flood GA4 with junk that inflates engagement. Here is how to track them so the numbers mean something.
ga4engagementcontentRead the post
- 5 min read
Building GA4 audiences for remarketing that actually convert
GA4 audiences feed Google Ads remarketing — but a badly-defined audience wastes spend on people who already bought or never cared. Here is how to build ones worth targeting.
ga4audiencesremarketingRead the post
- 5 min read
Setting up GA4 for a lead-gen site (it is not ecommerce)
Most GA4 guides assume you sell products. If you generate leads, the ecommerce events are the wrong model. Here is the event map that actually fits a lead-gen funnel.
ga4lead-gengetting-startedRead the post
- 5 min read
Attribution models compared: last-click, data-driven, and the rest
Last-click is simple and wrong. Data-driven is better and opaque. Here is what each attribution model actually does to your channel credit — and which to use when.
attributionga4reportingRead the post
- 5 min read
GA4 data retention: the setting that is quietly deleting your data
GA4 defaults to a short retention window for the granular data behind explorations. If you have never changed it, you may be losing year-over-year analysis you assume is there.
ga4data-retentionconfigurationRead the post
- 5 min read
Tracking single-page apps: why your pageviews are wrong
In a React/Vue/SPA, the page never fully reloads — so GA4 records one pageview for a whole session of navigation. Here is how to fire virtual pageviews on route changes.
ga4spagtmRead the post
- 5 min read
Handling refunds and returns in GA4 (so revenue stays honest)
If you track purchases but never send refunds, your GA4 revenue is permanently inflated. The refund event fixes it — but only if you send it with the right transaction_id.
ga4ecommercerevenueRead the post
- 5 min read
Tracking form submissions in GA4 (the reliable way)
Form tracking breaks constantly because most setups listen for a button click instead of a real submission. Here is how to fire a clean generate_lead event that actually maps to submitted forms.
ga4formslead-genRead the post
- 5 min read
GA4 custom dimensions and metrics without blowing up cardinality
Custom dimensions unlock the parameters you are already collecting — but register the wrong one and you get "(other)" rows swallowing your data. Here is how to pick, register, and scope them.
ga4custom-dimensionsreportingRead the post
- 5 min read
Keeping PII out of GA4 (Google can delete your data if you don't)
Sending personally identifiable information to GA4 isn't just a privacy problem — it's a Terms of Service violation, and Google reserves the right to delete the offending data or your whole property. Most PII leaks are accidental.
ga4privacypiiRead the post
- 5 min read
Cross-domain tracking in GA4: stop your sessions splitting in two
If your funnel spans two domains — a marketing site and a separate checkout, or a third-party booking host — GA4 will, by default, count one user as two: session split, source lost, conversions misattributed. Here's the fix.
ga4cross-domainattributionRead the post
- 5 min read
Filtering bot and spam traffic out of GA4
Suspicious spikes from odd referrers? A conversion rate that looks worse than reality? Bot and spam traffic may be polluting your GA4. It filters some automatically — but not all, and the rest is on you.
ga4data-qualitybotsRead the post
- 5 min read
UTM tagging that doesn't wreck your GA4 channel reports
Inconsistent UTM tags are the quiet reason your GA4 channel report is a mess of "(other)", duplicate sources, and campaigns that don't add up. The fix is boring and total: one convention, enforced.
utmga4attributionRead the post
- 5 min read
Streaming GA4 into BigQuery: when raw event data is actually worth it
GA4's free BigQuery export is one of its best features and most over-hyped. Raw event-level data unlocks analysis the UI can't touch — and a maintenance surface most teams underestimate. Here's when it's worth it.
ga4bigquerydata-warehouseRead the post
- 5 min read
DataLayer design: event and parameter names that won't break in six months
Most dataLayer messes start on day one with sloppy naming. A small set of conventions — consistent event names, typed parameters, one push per real-world action — keeps GA4 and every downstream tag readable as your site grows.
datalayergtmga4Read the post
- 5 min read
Conversion tracking on Squarespace: what you can and can't do
Squarespace makes basic analytics easy and real conversion tracking harder than it should be. Here's what the built-in tools cover, where the code-injection ceiling is, and how to get GA4 + ad pixels working within the platform's limits.
squarespacega4getting-startedRead the post
- 5 min read
BigCommerce tracking: GA4, Meta, and Google Ads without the data-layer gaps
BigCommerce has decent native tracking hooks, but the data layer has gaps that silently drop purchase values and item details. Here's how to wire GA4 and ad pixels so the ecommerce data is actually complete.
bigcommercega4ecommerceRead the post
- 5 min read
Wix tracking: the limitations nobody warns you about (and the workarounds)
Wix can run GA4 and ad pixels — but its rendering and event model create tracking gaps that catch teams off guard, especially around purchase events and the dataLayer. Here's what to watch for and how to work around it.
wixga4gtmRead the post
- 5 min read
Google Signals sunset: what changed on June 15, 2026 (and what to do)
On June 15, 2026 Google Signals stopped acting as the ad-data co-controller in GA4. If you built remarketing audiences or cross-device reporting on it, the ground moved — and Google sent no dashboard alert when it did.
google-signalsconsent-mode-v2ga4Read the post
- 5 min read
GA4 renamed Conversions to Key Events — what breaks and what doesn't
Google renamed GA4 "Conversions" to "Key events," and the API surface followed: the Admin API resource moved from conversionEvents to keyEvents. If you have scripts or dashboards reading GA4, some of them are about to return nothing.
ga4key-eventsreportingRead the post
- 5 min read
Why your Google Ads conversions don't match GA4 (and how to reconcile them)
"Google Ads says 240 conversions, GA4 says 190 — which is right?" Both, sort of. The mismatch is expected; the SIZE of the gap tells you whether it's a methodology difference or a tracking bug.
google-adsga4attributionRead the post
- 6 min read
The GA4 events model, explained for people who aren't analysts
GA4 confuses everyone coming from Universal Analytics because it threw out the old model entirely. Events, parameters, custom dimensions, and key events — the whole thing in one read.
ga4basicseventsRead the post