Category
Tracking infrastructure for digital marketing agencies
Tracking infrastructure is the set of GA4 properties, GTM containers, ad pixels and conversion APIs behind each client's reports, and how they connect. Posts in this category cover measurement plans, UTM naming conventions, what to record for every client, cookie deprecation and first-party data, measuring AI search traffic, and exporting ads data to BigQuery.
Posts in Tracking infrastructure
June 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Tracking AI search traffic: how AI Overviews and ChatGPT show up in GA4 (and how they don't)
AI search traffic: how to track ChatGPT and Perplexity referrals in GA4, spot AI Overview CTR erosion in Search Console, and what still isn't measurable.
June 21, 2026 · 4 min read
A UTM naming convention that survives a whole agency
Inconsistent UTMs split one channel into three rows and dump traffic into Unassigned. The naming rules, GA4's recognized mediums, and how to enforce them.
June 21, 2026 · 4 min read
The measurement plan every agency should build per client
A measurement plan maps a client's goals to the exact events you track, before you touch a tag. The five-column template, and how to keep it alive per client.
June 21, 2026 · 4 min read
Local SEO measurement: tracking GBP, calls, and the map pack
Local SEO measurement beyond GA4: track Google Business Profile calls, direction requests, and map-pack rank, and attribute the traffic the profile sends.
June 21, 2026 · 4 min read
GA4 alternatives and privacy-first analytics: when (and whether) to switch
GA4 alternatives like Plausible, Fathom, and Matomo do simple, cookieless reporting well — but not Google Ads integration. A per-client rule for when to switch.
June 21, 2026 · 5 min read
First-party data for agencies: a practical 2026 starting point
First-party data for agencies, made concrete: capture a hashed email at every conversion, then activate it in Enhanced Conversions, CAPI, and Customer Match.
June 21, 2026 · 4 min read
Cookie deprecation and the agency response: what actually changes
Cookie deprecation breaks retargeting and view-through attribution, not first-party data. What actually changes, and the four moves that future-proof tracking.
June 12, 2026 · 6 min read
Exporting ad platform data to BigQuery: the agency hub
The agency architecture for exporting ad platform data to BigQuery: build-vs-buy math, one cross-platform spend schema, and the restatement MERGE pattern.
May 17, 2026 · 11 min read
GA4 + GTM Admin API for agencies: when to automate, when to skip
The GA4 Admin API and GTM API across agency portfolios: the five operations worth automating, the four that aren't, and the auth model that scales.
May 15, 2026 · 8 min read
The hidden cost of broken tracking: case math agencies don't run
A broken pixel costs more than a broken landing page. The math on six common tracking failures — and the case for real tracking discipline.
May 11, 2026 · 9 min read
AI marketing audit: what actually works in 2026 (and what's still hype)
Where LLM-driven marketing audits genuinely add value vs where they're noise — GA4, GTM, ad accounts, creative — and what to ask before buying one.
May 8, 2026 · 8 min read
The 21 things every agency must track per client (the master checklist)
The 21-item per-client tracking checklist agencies actually maintain — what each item is, why it matters, and how to verify it stays true.
April 23, 2026 · 4 min read
The tracking infrastructure map: a typed graph of everything you manage
Most agencies document their clients' tracking setup in a spreadsheet — and most of those spreadsheets are months out of date. Here's a better mental model.