You Can't Improve What You Can't Measure
Most small business websites are set up, launched, and then mostly ignored. The owner assumes it's working if the phone is ringing, and assumes it isn't if it goes quiet. But that's not the same as knowing — and not knowing means you can't do anything about it.
Analytics gives you something concrete. How many people are visiting? Where are they coming from? Are they finding what they came for, or leaving immediately? Is anyone actually filling in your contact form? These questions have answers, and knowing them changes what you do next.
What I Set Up
I configure two essential tools for every site, both free from Google:
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Tracks visitors, sessions, traffic sources, page engagement, and conversions. I configure goal tracking so that contact form submissions and phone number clicks are recorded as conversion events — meaning you can see, month by month, exactly how many enquiries your website is generating.
Google Search Console
Shows you how your site performs in Google search results: which queries your pages appear for, how often they're clicked, your average position, and any technical problems Google has detected. This is particularly useful for monitoring the effect of new content and tracking your local SEO progress over time.
Monthly Reporting — In Plain English
I send a monthly report covering the numbers that matter for your business. No dashboards to log into, no jargon, no tables of numbers without context.
A typical report covers:
- Traffic — total sessions, and how that compares to last month and last year
- Sources — how much traffic came from Google search, direct visits, social media, and referrals
- Top pages — which pages attracted the most visitors
- Conversions — how many contact form submissions and phone clicks the site generated
- Rankings — movement in Google for your key local search terms
- Flags — anything unusual, positive or negative, and what I'm doing about it
The goal is that you can read your report in five minutes and know whether your website is doing its job.
Goal Tracking
The single most valuable thing analytics can tell a small business owner is: how many enquiries did my website generate this month?
This requires proper goal (conversion) tracking — something many websites simply don't have configured. Without it, Analytics will tell you how many people visited, but not how many became leads.
I set up conversion tracking for:
- Contact form submissions
- Phone number clicks
- Email address clicks
- Any other key actions specific to your site (booking forms, quote request buttons, etc.)
Once this is in place, you have a direct line of sight between your website and your enquiries.
Included With Every DCS Website
Analytics and Search Console setup is included as standard with every website I build. I configure both tools at launch, verify they're recording correctly, and include the first month's report as part of the handover.
If you have an existing website that's missing analytics or has it configured incorrectly, I offer setup as a standalone service. Get in touch and I'll take a look.