April 2, 2025
Your analytics is probably wrong about where leads come from
GA4 will happily tell you a story about your best channel that your bank account disagrees with. Here is where the gaps usually are.
Direct traffic is a filing cabinet, not a channel
A large direct figure usually means tracking is losing attribution somewhere, not that people are typing your URL. Check for missing campaign tags, redirects stripping parameters and links shared in apps that pass no referrer.
Last click flatters the bottom of the funnel
Default reporting credits whatever happened immediately before the conversion, which is almost always brand search or direct. That makes your awareness activity look worthless and your brand campaigns look like geniuses. Neither is true.
Your CRM holds the answer
Server side conversion data from your CRM, matched back to the original source, is the only version of the truth that accounts for deals that take weeks to close. Until that loop is closed, you are optimising on a proxy.
Ask people, it still works
A single open text field on your enquiry form asking how someone heard of you catches things no analytics tool can see, from a podcast mention to a recommendation in a group chat. Read it monthly.
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