Questions before events
Choose the decisions you need to inform before defining what to measure.
Analytics and Conversions
Measuring website use, with respect for visitors' choices, to understand what helps people take useful next steps.
In plain language
Analytics measures selected interactions. A conversion is a useful outcome, such as an enquiry, booking, or purchase.
Data is incomplete. Consent, blocked scripts, devices, offline actions, and attribution models affect what reports can show.
The foundation
What matters in Analytics & conversions
Meaningful outcomes
Measure useful results and the actions that lead to them.
Consent and context
Consider privacy choices, collection limits, attribution, and missing data.
Applied by The Forge
How we put it into practice
We collect only what helps answer a useful question, then interpret it alongside feedback.
Create a measurement plan
Agree on questions, events, conversions, responsibilities, and review dates.
Implement consent-aware collection
Respect consent and collect only what the agreed purpose needs.
Validate the implementation
Test events, duplicates, referrals, and conversion flows before using reports.
Review and improve
Review traffic, outcomes, and costs together to decide what to improve.
Organic and paid discovery
When paid advertising can help
Paid campaigns can complement organic visibility when the audience, purpose, and budget are clear.
Explore Google Ads campaignsA useful boundary
Limits to keep in mind
- More visits do not necessarily mean more value or better-fit customers.
- Attribution assigns credit through a model; it does not prove exactly what caused a decision.
- Tracking every possible interaction is not more useful—and may create unnecessary privacy and maintenance costs.
A concrete example
A service enquiry journey
A practice measures enquiries and supporting actions, then reviews traffic sources and landing pages while respecting consent and data gaps.
Further reading
Primary sources
Check the sources behind these explanations.
Related concept
SaaS: Software as a Service
Software you use online while a provider runs and maintains the application.