Overview of Projects
Conversion tracking is complicated. It's by far the most technically complicated topic in our curriculum. We want to give you an overview so you can chart your path more easily.
There's no one way to set up conversion tracking, but we will be as opinionated as possible to keep things simple.
Here’s an overview of the projects we’ll be doing to set up conversion tracking.
📌Think of this as a master reference doc and flowchart. When you forget what the next step is, come back here. Don't do every project in the sidebar.
Please read this in its entirety before jumping into the projects.
Before you begin
- Check with your team to see if they don’t already have conversion tracking set up for your ad channels. If they do, then you can probably re-use the mapping they had already set up for Step 1 below.
- Check if they’re using Google Tag Manager, Segment, or doing it manually. We generally recommend keeping with the system you already have in place.
Step 1: Planning
First, we'll list what conversion events we want to track on our site and/or app. Then, map those events to the ad channels' corresponding event names (we'll explain what this means in the project).
You'll do this in Conversion Tracking > Project: Conversion Events.
Step 2: Set up
Next, we'll set up and configure all the channels. We'll also copy/paste their pixel code to the Conversion Events document in Step 1 for future reference.
You'll do this in Conversion Tracking > Project: Configure GA and Ad Channels.
Step 3: Integration
Finally, we'll install the pixels on your site/app. You can take different tracks depending on your product (web/mobile/Shopify) and situation (DIY/delegate to an engineering team).
Pick the one that best suits you:
- Track 1: Web 🖥
Choose this track if you have a website not built on Shopify (or equivalent), and need to add conversion tracking to it by yourself without having access to a dedicated engineering team. You can do so using Google Tag Manager OR Segment.- 👉Google Tag Manager: This is the main track we recommend for students setting up tracking for the first time. We'll use GTM for its simplicity and set everything up from scratch. You'll be inserting the code snippets yourself via GTM's interface.
- Segment: See our readings and projects if you're already using Segment. Otherwise, we recommend using GTM, which will be much simpler.
- Track 2: Mobile Apps 📱
This is for mobile app companies.- You'll use AppsFlyer to install tracking on your mobile app.
- Note: If your product also has a website, do Track 1 as well.
- Track 3: Shopify 🛍
Choose this track if your site is built on Shopify (or BigCommerce or WooCommerce).- If you're using Shopify, you can use their native integrations for GA and ad channels like Facebook and Google Ads. It'll track the main conversion events in the checkout process automatically.
- Bonus: In most cases, Shopify's native event tracking is more than enough. But if you want to track new events that aren't supported out of the box, then follow Track 1 and install GTM. Note that you won't need to install the base pixel again (it'll duplicate your data).
- For example, if you want to track a specific button click and report it to Facebook, you'll only need to set up the trigger and tag for that button click in GTM. The base FB pixel will already be installed on your site via Shopify's integration. So, when you go through Track 1's projects, skip the steps that tell you to install a base pixel on every page.
- Track 4: Delegate to your engineering team ☕️
Choose this track if you have access to an engineering team to do the setup for you.- Send them your Conversion Events doc from Step 1 and send them documentation on how to install the pixels.
Step 4: Install Hotjar
Skip this step if you did the GTM project.
Install Hotjar on your site to record heatmaps and user recordings.
Step 5: Verify
We'll now do a final check using Chrome Extensions to ensure all the pixels are firing correctly.
Additional support
If you need additional help with your conversion tracking setup that goes beyond the scope of our video tutorials and readings, using Hopps could be a great solution.
Hopps is a team of expert marketers with years of experience. They can jump on a screen share to help you debug tech issues, clarify concepts, and provide marketing advice on navigating various platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook pixels, Google tags, and more.
