| name | analytics-setup-guide |
| description | Plans web analytics implementation with event tracking, goals, conversion setup, and dashboard configuration. Use when setting up Google Analytics or similar tools from scratch. |
| allowed-tools | Read Write Glob |
| metadata | {"author":"matthewhitcham","version":"1.0"} |
Analytics Setup Guide
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when you need to:
- Set up Google Analytics (GA4) or another web analytics platform from scratch
- Plan event tracking for a website or web application
- Define goals and conversion tracking for a business
- Design analytics dashboards that drive decisions
DO NOT use this skill for social media analytics, email marketing analytics, or financial reporting dashboards. This is for website and web app analytics implementation.
Core Principle
TRACK WHAT YOU WILL ACT ON — EVERY EVENT AND GOAL MUST CONNECT TO A BUSINESS DECISION OR IT IS NOISE.
Phase 1: Brief
Required Inputs
| Input | What to Ask | Default |
|---|
| Website type | "What kind of site? (e-commerce, SaaS, blog, lead gen, portfolio)" | Lead generation site |
| Platform | "What analytics tool? (GA4, Plausible, Mixpanel, Amplitude)" | Google Analytics 4 |
| Business goals | "What are your top 3 business outcomes this site should drive?" | Leads, sales, engagement |
| Current setup | "Do you have any analytics installed already?" | None — starting fresh |
| Tech stack | "What is your site built on? (WordPress, Shopify, custom, etc.)" | WordPress |
| Key pages | "Which pages matter most? (homepage, pricing, signup, checkout)" | Homepage, pricing, contact |
GATE: Confirm brief before proceeding.
Phase 2: Plan
Tracking Plan Structure
- Page-level tracking — what pageviews matter and why
- Event tracking — user actions to capture (clicks, form submissions, scrolls, video plays)
- Conversion goals — primary and secondary conversion definitions
- Custom dimensions — user properties worth segmenting by
- UTM strategy — campaign tagging conventions for traffic sources
- Dashboard layout — what reports to build and check weekly
Event Naming Convention
Use a consistent schema: category_action_label
cta_click_hero — hero section CTA button clickedform_submit_contact — contact form submittedpage_scroll_50 — user scrolled 50% of page
GATE: Present the tracking plan and wait for approval.
Phase 3: Build
Deliverables
1. Complete Tracking Plan Spreadsheet
- Every event with name, trigger, parameters, and business purpose
- Conversion goals with value assignments
- UTM naming convention with examples
2. Implementation Guide
- Step-by-step setup instructions for the chosen platform
- Tag Manager configuration (if applicable)
- Code snippets for custom events
- Testing checklist to verify each event fires correctly
3. Dashboard Blueprint
- Recommended widgets and metrics per dashboard section
- Overview dashboard: traffic, conversions, top pages, sources
- Acquisition dashboard: channel breakdown, campaign performance
- Behavior dashboard: engagement, scroll depth, click maps
4. UTM Tracking Template
- Spreadsheet template for generating consistent UTM parameters
- Naming conventions for source, medium, campaign, content, term
Phase 4: Polish
Weekly Review Checklist
- Check conversion rates vs. previous week
- Review top traffic sources and any anomalies
- Verify event tracking is still firing (no broken tags)
- Note any data gaps or unexpected patterns
30-Day Post-Launch Audit
After 30 days of data collection, review: Are all events firing? Are conversion goals accurate? Is the data answering business questions?
Example 1: Lead Gen Website (WordPress, GA4)
Key events: CTA clicks (3 locations), contact form submission, pricing page visit, blog post scroll 75%
Conversions: Primary = form submission. Secondary = pricing page visit.
Dashboard: Weekly traffic, conversion rate, top landing pages, source breakdown.
Example 2: E-commerce Store (Shopify, GA4)
Key events: Add to cart, begin checkout, purchase, product view, collection filter use
Conversions: Primary = purchase. Secondary = add to cart.
Dashboard: Revenue, AOV, conversion rate by source, top products, cart abandonment rate.
Anti-Patterns
- Tracking everything — 200 events with no plan produces data paralysis. Start with 10-15 events that map to business decisions.
- No conversion goals — pageviews without goals is vanity metrics. Define what "success" means for the site.
- Inconsistent UTM tags —
facebook, Facebook, fb, and FB are four different sources. Standardize and document.
- Never checking the data — analytics you do not review weekly are wasted setup time. Build a review habit.
- Ignoring data sampling — GA4 samples data at high volumes. Know when your reports are sampled and account for it.
Recovery
- User overwhelmed by GA4: Start with 3 events and 1 conversion goal. Add complexity after the basics work.
- Existing messy setup: Audit current tags, remove duplicates, document what exists, then add missing pieces.
- No technical skills: Provide Tag Manager instructions with screenshots and click-by-click steps.
- Privacy concerns: Recommend cookie consent setup and configure GA4 data retention and anonymization settings.
