Setting up analytics properly: what to measure and what to ignore
Analytics is written into step 01, the single-page landing at EUR 600 to EUR 900, and on a site you already have, setting it up properly is part of SEO foundation, a one-off EUR 450 to EUR 750. A correct setup is small: it records the enquiries, bookings or sales your site exists for, where each one came from, and very little else.
Start from the decisions you will make
Every number you track should be able to change something you do. Keep paying for this ad or stop. Rewrite this service page or leave it. If a metric would not change any decision, it costs attention and gives nothing back.
So a proper setup starts with a short written measurement plan, not with a tool. It lists the actions that matter on your site, what counts as each one and the name it gets in the reports. Everything else follows from that list.
What to measure
- Completed enquiries and bookings. Recorded when the form has actually been sent, not when someone presses the button. A click that ends in an error message is not an enquiry.
- Contact that skips the form. Taps on your phone number, email address or WhatsApp link. These are enquiries too, and a setup that ignores them makes your site look worse than it is.
- Where each one came from. Source, medium and campaign, with tagged links on everything you control: ads, newsletters, social profiles, QR codes on print.
- The page each visit started on. Paired with enquiries, it shows which pages bring in work.
- What people searched for. Analytics does not show search queries. Google Search Console does, with the pages each query led to, so it belongs in the same setup.
- On a shop or web app, which is step 04: purchases with their value, sign-ups, logins and the point in checkout where people stop.
What to ignore
- Total page views on their own. They rise when the wrong people arrive too.
- Time on page as a sign of success. A visitor who finds your phone number straight away and calls barely stays on the page, and that is exactly the visit you wanted.
- Bounce rate as a verdict. It says a visit was short or quiet. It does not say whether the visitor got what they came for.
- Every click on every element. Tracking all of it produces reports nobody opens and buries the events that matter.
- Daily swings on a small site. When traffic is low, a few visits more or fewer reshape the chart. Compare longer periods and read enquiries, not the line.
What a correct setup includes
Whoever builds it, these are the parts to look for. None of them needs you to read code to check.
| Part | What it does | How to check it |
|---|---|---|
| An account you control | Keeps the data with the business, not with whoever set it up | You are listed as an administrator of the property |
| Consent that holds tags back | Tags that need consent wait until the visitor agrees | Refuse the banner, then confirm no advertising tags load |
| Key events on success | Enquiries, bookings and calls recorded only when the action worked | Send a test enquiry and find it in the report |
| Your own visits filtered | Stops you, your staff and your developers from inflating the numbers | Browse from the office and confirm the visit is excluded |
| No personal data | Names, email addresses and phone numbers never go into events or page addresses | Read the address of the thank-you page after a test enquiry |
| A naming convention | Tagged links use the same words every time, so one campaign does not appear under several spellings | A short written list of source and campaign names exists |
| Search Console linked | Search queries and indexing sit beside the visit data | Search Console reports appear inside analytics |
| Ad platforms connected | If you run ads, the platform learns which clicks became enquiries | Test enquiries show up as conversions in the ad account |
| Data retention raised | The default removes the detail behind custom reports sooner than you will want to compare | The retention setting is at its longest option |
A shop adds one more: the payment provider listed as an unwanted referral, so a sale is credited to the ad or search that brought the buyer, not to the payment page they came back from. That is step 04 work, because payments are.
Process and timeline
On a new build, measurement is planned alongside the pages. Analytics is named in step 01; on a larger build, what gets measured is agreed in scoping and written into the fixed quote. On sites we build in Next.js, events are sent from the code when an action succeeds, not guessed from clicks. Everything is tested by hand before launch, inside the build's own timeline: 1 to 2 weeks at step 01, 2 to 3 weeks at step 02, 3 to 6 weeks at step 03 and 6 to 12 weeks at step 04. The full list is on packages.
On a site you already have, SEO foundation covers it for EUR 450 to EUR 750, paid once: Search Console, analytics, indexation, technical hygiene, titles, internal links and a 3 to 6 month plan.
Two things can continue after that, and neither is required. Care, at EUR 100 to EUR 300 per month, covers updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes, which includes a tag that stops firing after an update. It does not cover redesign or new features, so tracking for a new feature is built with that feature. SEO growth, at EUR 500 to EUR 800 per month, includes reporting on the numbers this setup produces.
When to spend less
- A small site with one contact form does not need a tag manager, custom dimensions or a dashboard. A lightweight, cookie-free analytics tool, one key event and Search Console answer the questions that site raises.
- Do not pay for a dashboard you will not open. The standard report of enquiries by source already answers whether the site brings in work, and from where.
- If traffic is still low, the numbers cannot tell you much yet. The people who did get in touch can, so ask them how they found you.
- If your current setup records enquiries correctly and the banner holds back what it should, keep it. Rebuilding working measurement because a newer tool exists buys you nothing.
Questions buyers ask
Do I need a cookie banner?
If your site uses advertising tags or cookies that recognise visitors, yes, and the banner has to hold those tags back until the visitor agrees. A banner that loads everything first and asks afterwards does not meet EU rules. A lighter setup that collects no personal data reduces what the banner has to cover, and which one fits your site is decided when the measurement is planned.
Google Analytics or something simpler?
Google Analytics 4 is free, connects directly to Google Ads and Search Console, and handles shops and apps, but it takes more configuring and more consent. If a site only needs enquiries by source, a simpler tool is easier to read and to keep compliant. If you run Google Ads, GA4 earns its extra setup.
Why do my ad account and my analytics show different numbers?
They count different things. An ad platform counts clicks and credits conversions to its own ads by its own rules, while analytics counts visits and looks at every source that brought them. Visitors who refuse consent or block tags drop out of one or both. Pick one source for each decision instead of trying to make them match.
Can you fix the setup on my existing site without rebuilding it?
Yes. That is SEO foundation, a one-off EUR 450 to EUR 750, and it works on the site you have. If the site itself cannot send reliable events, for example because the form gives no confirmation after sending, we tell you what needs changing and quote that separately.
Send us your site address and the decisions you want your numbers to help with, and we will tell you what to measure. Get in touch.
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