I think this has something to do with Google Tag Manager. The plugin is pulling Adsense from the Google Tag Manager snippet that this plug in inserted.
Several years ago, I created a Tag to track outbound click events so that I could see them in Analytics to know which links were being clicked to leave my site. The numbers that are being reported in Analytics since I deleted the analytics snippet from my header are in line with the number of events that are associated with that Tag. Its not exact, but its in line.
So I’m concerned that Analytics is showing my numbers for that Tag because this plug in is pulling Analytics through the GTM code. Thoughts?
@stacylynn624 thanks for reaching out!
To confirm the state of the site currently, could you provide your site URL and your Site Health information through this form so we can check Site Kit’s status on the site?
Thank you for responding! I filled it out from my phone. Did you get it? My screen went white and I couldn’t tell if it went through.
After I wrote this question, I removed Google Tag Manager from my Site Key Plugin, then made the plug in place the Analytics code on my site, and my page views shot back up to where they usually are.
So I think it’s something with the GTM code snippet. I wish there was an easier way to track which links people use when they leave my site. That’s why I was using GTM (and it wasn’t perfect). When I used Jetpack, it would tell me exactly what links people were clicking so that I knew what affiliate items I linked were popular with my readers. Jetpack dragged my site down so I deleted it. I just wish that information was as easy to find & track on Google Analytics as it is on Jetpack. I’m not very technical, and GTM is really complicated.
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This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by
StacyLynn624.
@stacylynn624 thanks for the update! I did receive your Site Health information.
I can see the updates you mentioned reflected in the form: you have the Analytics module connected using Site Kit’s Analytics code snippet.
With that said, when I view the site’s source code, I see this configuration on the interior pages of the site. The homepage still has the GTM snippet present without the Analytics code.
– Could you clear and temporarily disable your caching or optimization plugins? Perhaps that will provide the most update version of the homepage to inspect.
– I’m not exactly sure what occurred before, but Site Kit checks if you have the Analytics tag configured in Google Tag Manager. If it detects the Analytics tag, it will remove its Analytics snippet and rely on that for tracking.
You may have been using this configuration to track outbound links with GTM, which uses the Analytics Tag. If there was further configuration required to track pageviews, then that may be related to the drop in reported traffic.
We have a feature request open for Site Kit’s snippet to support tracking outbound links. So that’s something to keep track of for future versions of the plugin.
Thank you.
I’ve cleared the cache & disabled Autoptimize.
Right now, I have the GTM connection deleted from Site Key, and my Google Analytics is back to normal. It’s just not recording the outbound click events anymore in Analytics.
Previous to me installing Site Key, I had a Google Tag Manager plugin for my event tracking. I never understood why Google Analytics didn’t automatically tell you what links people were clicking on to leave your site. That seems like a no brainer that people would want to know those analytics.
I installed Site Key on Saturday.
On Sunday, I deleted all of the independent code snippets from my header using CSS Customization. I then deleted the separate GTM plug in I was using. THAT is when Google Analytics (not just in Site Key, but my Analytics dashboard on Google) was only recording the event traffic from the tag, or something similar.
Yesterday, I removed GTM from my Site Key mid-day, and my Google Analytics starting recording the correct traffic.
I guarantee that I had the tag to record the outbound clicks set up incorrectly. I did it over two years ago when I deleted Jetpack with the sole purpose of seeing in my Google Analytics which outbound links were being clicked. It was so complicated and not user friendly to set up.
I really don’t understand why Google Analytics doesn’t show you outbound clicks by default without jumping through complicated GTM hoops. Jetpack does it. Every Affiliate program can record it. This is a basic tool that websites need.
for future reference; you can disable Autoptimize on a per-request basis by adding ?ao_noptimize=1 to the URL.
if the problem is not there at that point, some autoptimize (re-)configuration might be needed to fix this. there are troubleshooting tips and info on how to exclude in the AO FAQ.
hope this helps (future) debugging,
frank (ao dev)
@stacylynn624 thanks for the additional info. @optimizingmatters thanks for the tip. When I visit the homepage with ?ao_noptimize=1 added to the end of the URL I can clearly see Site Kit’s snippet on that page. Perhaps some adjustments to the optimization settings as recommended are needed.
Right now, I have the GTM connection deleted from Site Key, and my Google Analytics is back to normal. It’s just not recording the outbound click events anymore in Analytics.
Yes, I can confirm that in the submitted info and on the interior pages of your site. If the configuration for the outbound clicks was in GTM, then the container not being present is why it is not recording.
On Sunday, I deleted all of the independent code snippets from my header using CSS Customization. I then deleted the separate GTM plug in I was using. THAT is when Google Analytics (not just in Site Key, but my Analytics dashboard on Google) was only recording the event traffic from the tag, or something similar.
Your GTM Analytics configuration should be able to track pageviews. Since our scope of support is for the Site Kit plugin which inserts the container code, to ensure both pageview and outbound click events tracking are configured it may be best to reach out to Google Tag Manager Help.
I’ll share your feedback as we develop Site Kit’s ability to track outbound clicks with its Analytics snippet.
Perhaps some adjustments to the optimization settings as recommended are needed.
Assuming this concerns inline JS, disabling the “also aggregate inline JavaScript” might suffice.
Thanks.
I really don’t understand GTM & containers and all of that stuff. To me, if Google Analytics is default measuring pageviews/sessions/demographics/etc, then creating a Tag in GTM to track a different metric should be in addition to what GA is tracking, not take the place of it, if that makes sense. GTM is way too in the weeds for me.
Jetpack was great because you could just see all of the analytics on one screen within your dashboard. I’ve never understood why GA tracks all of the things it tracks, yet it doesn’t default track outbound click destinations as well. That’s a basic analytic need. We shouldn’t have to create something complicated and separate to track that. It should just do that anyway.
For now, I’ll just delete the tag and be done with GTM and just guess what people are clicking I suppose. It’s not worth the trouble to try to figure out, especially if you’re working on a way to track it in Site Kit anyway.
Thank you!
@optimizingmatters I don’t have that option enabled currently.
@stacylynn624 thanks for the update and feedback! I see Site Kit’s Analytics snippet on the homepage now, so your adjustments helped. Feel free to subscribe the Github issue to keep track of the feature.
