Expertise / 08
Analytics, tracking and reporting
One definition for every number.
GA4, Tag Manager, Search Console, the ad platforms and the CRM, joined so that the number on the board slide is the number in the tool. The job is less about dashboards and more about the rules: what counts as a lead, what counts as organic, how two periods are compared, and what a week with nothing looks like in a report.
Highlights
6decisions changed by a number, on the home page
1definition per number, written down, used in every review
Weeklyreported leads reconciled with the sales tracker
Monthlyplatform spend reconciled to invoices and statements
3Google sources in one data warehouse
A board slide once used a share figure on one basis and a follower total on another. Every number has had a one-line definition since.
What this covers
01TrackingTag Manager containers, GA4 events, conversions that fire once per form, click IDs captured with every lead, consent management, and a cost and speed audit of everything that loads.
02DefinitionsOrganic share by first-user channel. Followers added, not total. Reach deduplicated. A lead is a genuine enquiry judged on what was written and the designation. Like-for-like periods only.
03ReportingWeekly in plain words, monthly reviews, quarterly board sections. Derived numbers show formula and inputs. Ads credited next to organic. A week with no leads is said in words.
04ReconciliationPlatform spend against invoices and card statements every month. Reported leads against the sales tracker every week. Gaps explained, not smoothed.
05Pipelines and automationGA4, Search Console and Google Ads in one SQL model. LinkedIn Ads reporting with 90+ metrics automated. The weekly report generated with the house rules coded in.
06AuditsWhere leads are lost between a form and a full CRM. Why a headline growth figure was mostly employee logins. Why a user decline was a tagging change. Who found it is named: a test, an agent or a real visitor.
How it runs
1DefineOne line per number: what it counts, what it excludes, which tool it comes from.
2InstrumentEvents and conversions set so the definition can actually be measured. Click IDs saved. Nothing counted twice.
3ReconcileLeads to sales weekly, spend to invoices monthly, traffic to page groups quarterly.
4ReportPlain words, tables first, the same basis every time. Formula and inputs on the slide for anything derived.
5DecideThe number is shown, the decision follows, and the result is recorded next to it.
Work
| Work | What was done | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Six decisions from six numbers 2025 to 2026 | Placements leaking a quarter of search spend, impressions lost to rank with no competitor, nine in ten conversions from one event, a growth figure that was employee logins, a LinkedIn cut that silenced target companies, a board slide on two bases. | Each one changed a decision. The table |
| Lead capture audit 2026 | Traced every ad-driven form submission from the page to the CRM and found where leads were being lost when the CRM hit its limit. | The gap closed, the count trusted. |
| Marketing data warehouse 2026 | GA4, Search Console and Google Ads in one model with joined views and dashboards. | About two thirds of search spend found on queries already ranking top three; that spend was cut. Builds |
| Board and quarterly reviews 2025 to 2026 | Quarterly sections on brand and digital presence, an AI search card, a website card, each with like-for-like periods and the definition under every number. | Same basis in every review since. |
| Audience We Lost 2026 | Engagement from named target companies before and after a budget cut, set against website enquiries that held. | LinkedIn rebuilt rather than switched off. |
| Spend reconciliation 2025 to 2026 | Monthly expense sheet with platform spend matched to invoices and card statements, by campaign and category, with the supporting documents collected. | Finance and marketing see the same number. |
Rules
- No traffic number without a like-for-like comparison and a page breakdown.
- Activity is not a result. No emails-sent, impressions-only or click-rate lines in a report.
- Genuine enquiries are the MQLs. Never both columns, never filler rows.
- Say who found it. A test, an agent, or a real visitor. Never a vague "readers".
TrackingGA4, Google Tag Manager, Search Console, consent management
SourcesGoogle Ads and LinkedIn Ads APIs, HubSpot, Twenty CRM, Bing Webmaster Tools
AnalysisPython, SQL, Excel and Google Sheets, Looker Studio
DeliveryPowerPoint, generated decks, one-tab sheets
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