Keep away from Duplicate Conversions and Recreating the Conversion Funnel for GA4

As you’re most likely all too conscious at this level, GA4 is coming. Outdated variations of Google Analytics might be switched off for just about everybody come June 2023.

Whereas GA4 is bettering on a regular basis, there are fairly a number of issues that persons are used to seeing in previous variations of Analytics which, on the very least, take a little bit of creativity within the new world.

One instance is how conversions are dealt with. Within the previous variations of Google Analytics, a conversion may solely hearth as soon as per session. In GA4 conversions are simply one other sort of occasion, so it’s doable for a conversion to fireplace a number of occasions in a single session.

Downside is, you may be very if somebody indicators up by way of your contact-us kind as soon as. However that particular person may reload the thank-you web page, or join one thing else by way of a special kind on the location. That doesn’t imply you essentially wish to observe two conversions.

Talking of signing up by way of completely different kinds, on some web sites, customers might wind up on the identical thank-you web page having taken very completely different routes to get there. If we don’t have that a lot management, and we’re having to depend on thank-you web page views to trace conversions, it may be exhausting for us to separate out completely different varieties of conversions.

In previous variations of GA you would use funnels with a “required” step. You may need one purpose with a funnel requiring your occasion web page, one other purpose with a funnel requiring a special web page, and depend on them to provide you completely different conversions. There additionally isn’t an apparent method to do that in GA4.

On this publish, I’m going to take you thru how one can:

• Keep away from double counting in GA4.

• Mechanically ignore suspicious conversions (like folks touchdown direct on the conversion web page).

• Recreate the sort of funnels we anticipated in Common Analytics (in reality we’ll make them higher).

I’ll take you thru a number of bits in GA4 and others utilizing Google Tag Supervisor. The GA4 strategy is extra simple, however the Tag Supervisor is extra strong and will help you be sure that all of your conversion pixels are displaying roughly the identical info (as a result of we’re long gone the purpose the place GA is the one place we’re recording conversions).

Managing conversions in GA4

This part is about modifications we are able to make purely via the GA4 interface. So long as you’re sending your web page views conversion occasions to GA4 it is best to be capable of use these techniques with none code modifications.

Nevertheless: There are some limitations of doing issues via GA4, for instance it could actually imply that your GA information doesn’t line up with conversions recorded by way of different platforms.

Avoiding double-counting

Julius Fedorovicius (of Analytics Mania fame) has produced a fantastic guide to making sure that conversions are only recorded once per session.

You must have a learn however broadly:

• You create a customized viewers based mostly on a sequence that begins with “session_start”

• You hearth an occasion when somebody enters that viewers

• You utilize that occasion as your conversion.

No shock that Julius has give you a very good solution to deal with the issue of double-counting:

For those who’ve created Segments in Common Analytics Viewers sequences in GA4 look very just like the sequences we used to create for Segments. Nevertheless, the previous Segments had been only a method of visualizing information, whereas Audiences in GA4 are a method of grouping information. We are able to use Audiences to create one thing new.

That distinction is essential as a result of we are able to do cool issues like hearth customized occasions when somebody enters an viewers (which Julius makes use of on this answer).

Common Analytics Section sequence creator

GA4 Viewers sequence creator

The restrictions of utilizing Google Analytics audiences

This isn’t actually a limitation so far as GA goes however it’s a consideration nonetheless. Julius’ answer is nice for ensuring we’re not double-counting conversions in GA, however GA most likely isn’t the one method we’re recording conversions.

The typical website most likely has a bunch of separate conversion monitoring pixels and people may find yourself double-counting conversions.

For instance: Facebook and Google each describe how they keep away from double-counting conversions, however their options largely depend on precisely matching transaction IDs, and even when they’re dealing with it okay, there’s a bunch of smaller fish on the market which might be additionally providing conversion monitoring and might want a bit extra hand-holding.

If we wish to be sure that we’re solely recording one conversion per session, it’s helpful to ensure all of our conversion monitoring is working in an analogous method. Tag Supervisor is a good answer for that (I describe an answer within the Tag Supervisor part beneath).

It’s also possible to run into issues if, for instance, your affirmation web page is by some means listed or bookmarked by customers — folks touchdown instantly on it could actually result in bizarre sudden conversions. We are able to additionally use Tag Supervisor to protect towards that a bit of bit.

Recreating the conversion funnel

Sticking with the GA4 interface for now, we are able to additionally adapt the AnalyticsMania strategy to create our funnel-based conversions too by including further steps to the sequence.

For what it’s price, conversion funnels are not the perfect solution to categorize conversions. If you should use something extra direct (just like the id of the shape they’ve crammed out, a separate thank-you web page) then that’s a a lot extra dependable solution to categorize conversions. That mentioned, we don’t stay in an ideal world, and generally there isn’t the choice to fully rebuild your conversion course of.

In Fedorovicius’ instance we simply have two steps in our viewers sequence:

1. Session_start
   Not directly adopted by

2. Conversion

Which principally means “somebody lands on the location after which at any level throughout their session, they convert”.

To recreate the purpose funnels you may be utilizing in Common Analytics – we are able to simply add one other step to the sequence. As an example:

1. Session_start
   Not directly adopted by

2. Visiting our event_page
   Not directly adopted by

3. Touchdown on our thanks web page/changing

That ought to imply we are able to create one conversion which is: Customers who went via our occasion web page after which transformed.

And one other conversion which is: Customers who went via our sponsorship web page after which transformed.

There are some limitations right here although, for instance, what if somebody:

1. Landed on the location

2. Visited our occasion web page

3. Then visited our sponsorship web page

4. Transformed utilizing the shape on both.

They might fulfill the factors for our occasion conversion and the factors for our sponsorship conversion. We’d report a conversion for every and we’d find yourself double-counting in any case.

That is additionally a limitation of the previous Common Analytics funnels: Simply because a step within the funnel was required doesn’t imply the person can’t wander away across the website between that step and their closing conversion. So, if it’s any comfort, this isn’t any worse than previous Common Analytics funnels (however we are able to nonetheless do higher).

The issue with utilizing “instantly adopted by”

You may say “properly that’s simply solved — in the intervening time the sequence says is not directly adopted by and we are able to simply change that to is instantly adopted by”.

Absolutely that may imply that somebody is on the sponsorship web page and goes instantly from the sponsorship web page to the thanks web page, proper?

Sadly that’s often not what “instantly adopted by” means as a result of there’s every kind of issues that may get recorded in analytics which aren’t web page views.

For instance if somebody lands on the sponsorship web page, after which scrolls down and lands on the thanks web page, the thanks web page view doesn’t instantly comply with the sponsorship web page view. It goes:

• Web page view: sponsorship

• Scroll

• Web page view: thanks

So “instantly adopted by” isn’t a straightforward answer.

How about “inside x minutes”?

GA4 has a very cool characteristic within the sequence builder the place we are able to set a timer in-between steps. Even exterior of monitoring conversions inside a session we are able to use it to maintain observe of cool issues like individuals who got here to our website, didn’t convert that point, however got here again and transformed inside the subsequent couple days.

Jill Quick has been speaking a bunch about how highly effective these choices are.

We may use this to say one thing like: particular person landed on our occasion web page after which landed on our thanks web page inside 10 minutes.

However as I’m certain you’ve guessed, that finally ends up being a sort of arbitrary reduce off, possibly somebody spends a while eager about how one can fill out our kind, or possibly somebody actually shortly goes to one in all our different pages and converts there. This may be higher than the fundamental funnel, however we may additionally find yourself ignoring fully legit conversions.

So what will we do?

Utilizing GA4 sequences for that is sort of effective, as I say above it’s definitely not worse than Common Analytics, however we may do higher with Google Tag Supervisor.

Managing conversions in Google Tag Supervisor

These approaches require you to run all of your monitoring by way of Tag Supervisor. Although even apart

from this, if you happen to’re not already utilizing Tag Supervisor, I’d advise you to look into it!

Since we have to preserve observe of what’s occurred to a person throughout a number of pages, these options are additionally going to utilize cookies. In case that fills you with dread, don’t fear:

• I’m going to stroll you thru how one can create and delete these cookies (it takes a bit of Javascript however it’s copy-paste and simpler than you suppose!)

• These aren’t the sorts of cookies designed to provide away folks’s info to different companies.

To reiterate what I say above: Whereas this strategy takes a bit extra effort than simply doing issues via Google Analytics it permits us to do two issues:

1. Be certain that all of our numerous monitoring tags are firing in the identical method

2. Have extra effective grained management, significantly if we’re making an attempt to classify completely different paths to conversion.

Avoiding double-counting

To recap what we wish to do right here, we wish to be sure that if somebody visits our website and converts we hearth a conversion. Nevertheless, in the event that they revisit a thanks web page, or undergo a special conversion, we don’t hearth a second conversion that session.

To do this, we’re going to:

• Set a cookie when a person converts.

• Make it possible for the cookie robotically disappears after half-hour of inactivity (this is the default timeout for GA4 sessions however if you happen to suppose that’s too quick you’ll be able to set it to no matter you need).

• Each time we go to fireplace a conversion, examine if that cookie is current and, whether it is, don’t hearth the conversion.

That ought to imply that if somebody involves our website and converts, we’ll set the cookie, and that may cease us from firing any extra conversions (GA4 or in any other case) till the person has taken a bit of time away from the location.

Setting a cookie in JavaScript

The very first thing you’ll want to know is that we are able to use Tag Supervisor to run any JavaScript we wish. The second factor to know is that we are able to use JavaScript to set cookies.

So first: Go to Google Tag Supervisor, create a brand new Tag and choose the Customized HTML sort

Give the tag the title “[Tag] setCookieConverted” and within the html content material paste:

<script>

// Get time half-hour from now (it is because the default GA session outing

// is half an hour and we wish our cookie timeout to match)

var minutesToAdd = 30

var currentTime = new Date(); // Get present time

var newDateObj = new Date(currentTime.getTime() + minutesToAdd*60000); // Add our minutes on

// Set the area your’re engaged on, it is because we wish our cookies to be

// accessible in subdomains (like check.instance.com) if wanted

var yourDomain = “instance.com”

// Set a cookie known as ‘transformed’ with the worth being ‘true’ which expires in half-hour

doc.cookie = “transformed=true; path=/; area=”+yourDomain+”; expires=”+newDateObj+”;”

</script>

It ought to seem like this:

The customized HTML tag will add the content material there to the web page, and as quickly because the web page detects a brand new script (the one we’ve written) it’ll run that script.

What our script does is:

• It finds the present time, and what time it’ll be in half an hour.

• It makes use of that, and your area, to set a cookie known as “transformed” which may be learn by any web page in your web site.

If you go to save lots of your tag it’ll most likely say “No Triggers Chosen”.

For now we’re going to click on “Add set off” and select the “All Pages” set off.

That is purely in order that whereas we’re placing this collectively we are able to simply check it..

Studying our cookie worth

Tag Supervisor has a built-in solution to learn cookie values utilizing variables. So go to the variables part, create a brand new variable known as “convertedCookie” and set the Cookie Title as “transformed”.

Now, if you happen to click on the “Preview” button and open up your website we are able to begin to have a look at what worth the convertedCookie variable pulls via for you.

Click on into the “Variables” tab and it is best to see convertedCookie someplace within the record. Right here’s an instance with different cookies blocked out so what to search for.

So now we are able to use the worth of that variable in Tag Supervisor as a part of our logic.

Utilizing conversion cookie in our conversion logic

Everybody’s conversion setup would be the completely different so this may not match what you’re doing precisely however if you happen to’re contemplating utilizing GTM I’m assuming you might be firing conversions one thing like this:

1. You may have a set off based mostly on some situation (most likely both a customized occasion or a pageview)

2. You may have a tag (or a number of tags) that ship your conversion info every time that set off is activated.

What we’re going to do is tweak your set off so as to add one other situation.

Think about that your set off was beforehand firing on each thank-you web page go to:

What we’re going to do is add a second situation to the set off:

convertedCookie doesn’t include true

Whereas this instance makes use of the thanks web page path, it doesn’t must, it may be something.

When you make this modification, you’ll be able to go and check your conversion. As a result of you will have one other tag including the transformed cookie on every web page view, your conversion shouldn’t hearth when it usually would.

Now we simply want to vary our transformed cookie in order that it solely seems after somebody has transformed.

In the intervening time we’re setting the “transformed” cookie on each web page view, so we’ll by no means get any conversions.

We have to replace that so:

• We set a cookie when somebody converts.

• Each time we load a web page, if the particular person is marked as “transformed” we reset the cookie (I‘ll clarify).

Setting a cookie solely when somebody has transformed

First: we have to take away the set off from [Tag] setCookieConverted so it doesn’t hearth in any respect.

Then we go to no matter tag we’re utilizing to ship our conversion, open up “Superior Settings”, click on “Tag Sequencing” and choose “Fireplace a tag after”.

Then we choose our setCookieConverted tag and examine “Don’t hearth if conversion tag fails”.

This could imply that every time we ship our conversion, we’ll robotically then activate our cookie tag and mark the person as transformed.

So now our logic is:

• If somebody converts, we examine if there’s a cookie saying they just lately transformed already.

• In the event that they don’t have that cookie we ship a conversion.

• Then we robotically set that cookie.

To check this, you’ll be able to both clear the cookie or look forward to it to run out. Here are instructions for how to clear cookies in Google Chrome (which you’re most likely utilizing if you happen to’re working with tag supervisor).

Now, if you happen to acquired into GTM preview and click on round it is best to be capable of take a look at your variables and see that convertedCookie is again to being ‘undefined’.

For those who convert, it is best to see that each tags hearth — your conversion tag and your setCookieConverted tag.

However if you happen to convert once more (reload the web page, re-fill the shape, no matter you’ve acquired to do) it is best to see that neither tag fires.

Congratulations! You’re filtering your conversions to keep away from recording a conversion greater than as soon as for somebody in a 30 minute window.

We simply wish to make one final tweak now.

Refreshing the cookie if it has been set

Our cookie has a 30 minute expiration. Which means it’ll stick round for half-hour after which robotically be deleted from the browser. However what if somebody hangs round on our web site for greater than half an hour, studying a weblog publish or one thing, and converts once more?

To assist take care of that, we’re going so as to add one other set off which checks if the person has just lately transformed, and if they’ve, refreshes the cookie with every new web page load.

Head again to [Tag] setCookieConverted

At this level it should not have any firing triggers. We’re going so as to add one again in.

Click on the blue plus signal on this display screen, and once more within the subsequent display screen that comes up, we’re going to create a brand new set off.

Within the new set off, we set it to fireplace solely on web page views the place convertedCookie comprises true.

So this will get a bit of bit round, however principally:

• When somebody converts we set a “transformed” cookie for the subsequent half hour.

• Each time somebody masses a web page, if they’ve a “transformed” cookie we reset that cookie for one more half-hour.

• If at any level the person doesn’t load a brand new web page for half-hour, the cookie will expire, which implies our refresh received’t be triggered.

You may check this by clicking round your website with the GTM preview. When you’ve transformed, the [Tag] setCookieConverted ought to hearth on each new web page load.

Wrapping up

All you’ll want to do now’s be sure that all of your conversion tags use that very same set off (the one which has the situation that convertedCookie isn’t “true”). As soon as that’s arrange, they need to all behave the identical — solely recording one conversion per session except somebody clears their cookies or simply hangs round on one web page for a very very long time.

What if we discover we’re getting bizarre conversions the place customers haven’t visited another pages on the location?

I’ve labored with websites prior to now the place:

• There’s helpful info on the thank-you web page and customers have been retaining it open/coming again to it.

• Affirmation pages have been listed in Google or persons are discovering their solution to the conversion web page another method.

That may result in bizarre tracked conversions that don’t correspond to precise conversions. Whereas these issues must be solved at supply, we are able to additionally clear up our analytics utilizing the steps in “Making a conversion funnel” beneath.

Making a conversion funnel

This builds on the cookie meddling we’ve achieved within the final part, so if you happen to haven’t learn that bit, it’s price looking!

For those who’re right here not since you desire a particular funnel however since you wish to take care of bizarre conversions the place customers simply land straight on the conversion web page – don’t fear you comply with these directions precisely the identical, you simply set the set off for each web page besides your conversion web page (I’ll take you thru that).

Setting a “path” cookie

Identical to the “transformed” cookie earlier than, we’re going to create a brand new cookie that data the situation of the present web page.

Create a brand new Tag known as [Tag] setCookiePath, select “Customized HTML” and add the next JavaScript

<script>

// Get time half-hour from now (it is because the default GA session outing

// is half an hour and we wish our cookie timeout to match)

var minutesToAdd = 30

var currentTime = new Date(); // Get present time

var newDateObj = new Date(currentTime.getTime() + minutesToAdd*60000); // Add our minutes on

// Set the area your’re engaged on, it is because we wish our cookies to be

// accessible in subdomains (like check.instance.com) if wanted

var yourDomain = “therobinlord.com”

var pagePathName = window.location.pathname // Get location of present web page

// Set a cookie known as ‘transformed’ with the worth being ‘true’ which expires in half-hour

doc.cookie = “conversionPath=”+location+”; path=/; area=”+yourDomain+”; expires=”+newDateObj+”;”

</script>

It ought to seem like this:

It will save a cookie that data the situation of the web page. The primary time it’s loaded it would create a brand new cookie with that info, each time after it’ll exchange the worth.

We’ll use this to be sure that whichever funnel web page our person interacted with final is the one we report.

Triggering in your funnel pages

In creating our “funnel” we’re assuming that there are particular pages a person passes via so as to convert. So we’re going to set this to set off solely when a kind of funnel pages is concerned.

In your [Tag] setCookiePath tag – click on so as to add a brand new set off and create a brand new set off.

We’re going to configure our tag to activate on each person click on. Which means that if a person is hopping between completely different funnel pages, each will overwrite the cookie as they click on round however solely the one they interacted with final would be the one which sticks round within the cookie worth.

Getting our funnelCookie

As within the double-counting directions, create a brand new variable. However this time, name it funnelCookie and set the “Cookie Title” to conversionPath.

When you’ve achieved that it is best to be capable of check by utilizing preview, going to any previous web page of your website (so long as it’s not one in all your funnel pages) and checking funnelCookie within the Variables (it must be undefined).

Then go to one in all your funnel pages, it is best to be capable of see the cookie change.

As you go to different pages on the location, funnelCookie ought to keep the identical, except you go to one other funnel web page.

Altering our conversions based mostly on the funnelCookie

Now, there are good issues you would do right here with extracting the worth of funnelCookie and placing that right into a variable in your conversion tag however the setup for each tag might be completely different and I wish to offer you an choice for if you happen to’re not in a position to try this.

It will create a little bit extra mess in your Tag Supervisor account since you’ll be duplicating a few of your set off and conversion tags.

First, let’s return to the conversion set off we had been engaged on earlier than. It appeared like this once we left it:

We’re going so as to add in one other situation:

funnelCookie comprises event-page

This implies now that this conversion will solely hearth if the final funnel web page our person handed via was the event-page.

After this we are able to duplicate this set off, our conversion tags, and, for our different set of conversions, change the funnelCookie worth for the set off.

Perhaps as a substitute we make it:

funnelCookiecomprises form-page

Now you will have two units of conversions, every of which can hearth based mostly on which funnel web page the person handed via. From there you’ll be able to edit the values despatched.

A pair caveats

As a substitute of duplicating our conversion tags it will be a lot higher to tug within the worth of the funnelCookie variable and use that to only dynamically change a few of the values we’re sending as a part of the conversion.

With this strategy, you additionally run the chance of not recording any conversions in any respect if a person hasn’t handed via one in all your funnel pages. That may be what you need, however it’s price bearing that threat in thoughts in case you suppose folks may take legitimate-but-unusual routes to conversion.

Whereas I can’t take you thru the method of updating your entire conversion tags, one choice to make this info extra prepared for filling out conversion tags (and to optionally set a fallback in case you wish to keep away from shedding conversions) is to make use of a lookup desk like this, the place you’re taking the funnelCookie worth and categorise the values.

Then as a substitute of including the funnelCookie worth in your set off, you retain the set off the identical and pull within the lookup desk worth.

Triggering on any web page besides your conversion web page

For those who’re not involved about establishing web page funnels however you wish to be sure that customers have visited at the least one web page earlier than changing. There are a pair modifications:

• You don’t hassle creating completely different conversion flows, you simply have one stream, however you continue to add a funnelCookie requirement which says that your funnelCookie needs to be some web page reasonably than undefined

Conclusion

Hopefully this has helped you get an concept of how one can get extra management of the conversions being recorded in your website, whether or not that’s totally via GA4 or utilizing the facility of Tag Supervisor.

Joyful monitoring!