Who this is for
Businesses spending money on ads or content without knowing which channel produced which enquiry. The symptoms are familiar: GA4 shows sessions but no key events, Google Ads reports conversions that nobody can find in the CRM, Meta claims leads the sales team never saw, and the monthly report is a screenshot of impressions. If any of that sounds like your account, tracking is the problem to fix before spending another rupee on traffic.
What a working measurement setup looks like
Every setup I build has the same four layers, each owned by a separate service page:
| Layer | What it does | Service page |
|---|---|---|
| Tag management | One container that loads every script and defines what counts as an event | Google Tag Manager setup |
| Analytics | GA4 property configured with events, key events, channel groups and data retention that match the business | GA4 setup and audit |
| Ad platform conversions | Google Ads conversion actions and the Meta Pixel plus Conversions API, fed from the same GTM events so the numbers agree | Google Ads conversion tracking and Facebook Pixel and Conversions API |
| Reporting | A dashboard that joins spend, sessions, leads and cost per lead by channel, refreshed automatically | Looker Studio dashboards and reporting |
The ownership matters. GA4 and GTM live here in Marketing because they serve every channel. Conversion tracking inside Google Ads and Pixel and Conversions API inside Meta live in their ad silos because they are configured inside those platforms and reported there. The four pages link to each other so you can start anywhere.
What an analytics and tracking engagement includes
- Measurement plan: a one-page list of the actions that matter (form, call, WhatsApp click, booking, purchase), what each is worth and where it must be recorded.
- GTM container built or rebuilt with named triggers and variables, a data layer where the site needs one, and a version history you can roll back.
- GA4 configured: events, key events, internal traffic filters, cross-domain tracking, Search Console and Google Ads links, and data retention set to the maximum.
- Conversion actions in Google Ads and events in Meta mapped to the same GTM triggers, with enhanced conversions or Conversions API where the site allows it.
- Phone call and WhatsApp click tracking, which in Nepal is usually the majority of leads and the part most setups miss.
- UTM convention documented and applied to every email, social and paid link, plus a UTM builder you can use yourself.
- Consent handling where the audience is in the EU, UK or Australia, so tags respect consent mode.
- Verification: every event tested in GTM preview, GA4 DebugView and the ad platform before sign-off, with a written test log.
- Dashboard in Looker Studio and a 30-minute walkthrough so the owner can read it without me.
How I run a tracking project
- Audit (days one to three). I inspect the site, GTM, GA4, Google Ads and Meta and list what fires, what double-fires and what never fires. The free version of this is the tracking audit.
- Measurement plan (day four). We agree on the list of key events and what counts as a lead. Disagreement here is the reason ad platforms and CRMs never match, so it is settled in writing.
- Build (week two). GTM, GA4 and ad-platform conversions configured in a GTM workspace, not on the live container, until tested.
- Test and publish (end of week two). Each event checked end to end: click on the site, event in DebugView, conversion in the ad platform, row in the sheet or CRM.
- Dashboard and handover (week three). Looker Studio report connected to GA4, Google Ads, Meta and Search Console, plus documentation of every tag.
- Monthly check (optional). Sites change; a form plugin update can silently break a trigger. A monthly verification catches it before a month of data is lost.
Common tracking mistakes I fix in Nepal and abroad
- GA4 installed through a plugin and through GTM at the same time, doubling every pageview.
- “Conversion” defined as a visit to the contact page rather than a submitted form.
- Google Ads importing GA4 key events and also firing its own tag, so one lead counts twice.
- Meta Pixel with no Conversions API, losing a large share of events on iOS.
- Thank-you pages that visitors can reach directly, inflating conversions.
- No UTMs on WhatsApp, email or social links, so GA4 files them under direct traffic.
- Agency-owned GTM and GA4 accounts the business cannot access after the contract ends. Everything I build is created in your accounts.
Proof
I set up analytics and reporting for Global IME Bank and Angel Fertility Clinic in Nepal, and rebuilt tracking for an Australian business whose previous agency had left it with duplicate tags and no UTM convention. In the Better Broking Google Ads case study, GTM-based conversion tracking was the first fix and the reason the later bid strategy change worked.
Pricing pointer
Tracking setup is a fixed-price project scoped after the audit; GA4 and GTM setup for a standard site, an eCommerce setup with purchase data, and a multi-platform build with server-side tagging sit in different bands. Dashboards and a monthly verification retainer are priced separately. Current figures are on the packages page.
Next step
Request the free tracking audit and I will tell you what is firing, what is not and what it will cost to fix. If tracking is fine and the problem is elsewhere, the digital marketing hub lists every other service.