Measuring a website without lying to yourself

Without measurement every marketing decision is a guess. With bad measurement it is a confident guess, which is worse.

What should I actually measure?

Phone calls, form submissions, bookings and orders. Those are outcomes. Visits and page views are inputs — useful for explaining a change in outcomes, worthless as a goal in themselves.

What is Google Analytics and do I need it?

Free software that reports who visits and what they do. You need some form of measurement, or every marketing decision is guesswork. You do not need to read it weekly — monthly is plenty for most small businesses.

What is Google Search Console?

A separate free tool showing what people searched before they saw you, and any problems Google hit while reading your site. For most businesses it is more useful than Analytics, and far fewer people set it up.

What is a conversion, and how do I track one?

A conversion is the thing you wanted — a call, a booking, a sale. Tracking means telling your analytics when one happens, usually by marking the thank-you page or the tap on a phone number. Without it you can see traffic but not whether any of it worked.

What is a bounce rate and should I worry about it?

The share of visitors who leave without a second action. It is widely misread: someone who finds your phone number and calls has "bounced" and also converted perfectly. Judge it per page, and never on its own.

Why do my numbers disagree between tools?

Because they count differently and ad blockers and privacy settings hide some visitors from some tools. Expect disagreement. Pick one source for each question and watch the trend rather than reconciling absolute numbers.

Do I need a cookie banner?

If you use analytics or advertising cookies, you should ask first, and in some places you must. The version worth building blocks the tracking until someone agrees — a banner that sets cookies before you click it is decoration, not consent.

How do I know whether my advertising is working?

Count the enquiries it produced, not the clicks. That means either a separate tracking number, a question on your form, or conversion tracking set up properly. Clicks tell you the advert was interesting; only the enquiry count tells you it paid.

How long before I can judge a change?

Longer than feels comfortable. A small business gets few enough enquiries that a quiet fortnight is ordinary variation, not evidence. Compare like periods — this month against the same month last year — before concluding anything.