{"id":34003,"date":"2020-03-03T19:02:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T00:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=34003"},"modified":"2025-07-21T10:15:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:15:56","slug":"google-analytics-tracking-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-analytics-tracking-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"13 Google Analytics Tracking Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you saw this traffic drop in your Google Analytics account\u2026<\/div>\n

\"1<\/p>\n

\u2026then you\u2019d probably want to prioritize improving SEO<\/a> for that page.<\/p>\n

But what if this data is flawed?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a high risk of making bad decisions if you\u2019re blindly relying on the data that you see in Google Analytics. You know the saying: garbage in, garbage out.<\/p>\n

This guide will help you minimize data skewing factors by fixing these mistakes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Missing or duplicate Google Analytics code<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Incorrectly set up interaction events<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Tracking hits from other domains<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Tracking your own sessions<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Not using bot filtering<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Tracking spam referrals<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Sloppy use of UTM parameters<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Not excluding query parameters<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Not merging the same sources and mediums<\/a><\/li>\n
  10. Not using a referral exclusion list<\/a><\/li>\n
  11. Tracking Personally Identifiable Information (PII)<\/a><\/li>\n
  12. Not firing page views for Single Page Applications (SPAs)<\/a><\/li>\n
  13. Not having backup and testing views<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/span><\/p>

    Out now: Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/div>
    \n

    Ahrefs<\/span> Web Analytics<\/span><\/a> is a simple Google Analytics alternative. Fast, privacy-friendly, and free for up to 1 million events per month per site.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n