Revenue tracking self-check: nine things to test today

1. Do your contact buttons lead anywhere?

   Open your site in a private browser window and click every button that asks for contact: enquire, book, contact us. Send one test enquiry and confirm it arrives in an inbox someone reads every day.

   Seen in a real audit: Our own previous website pointed every contact button at a form that had been deleted. Nobody noticed, because nobody clicked.

2. Can search engines index your site?

   Search Google for site:yourdomain.com. Then open any page, view the page source and search for noindex. If you find it on a page you want found, search engines have been told to ignore that page.

   Seen in a real audit: Our previous website carried noindex on every page because of a setting in the platform it was built on.

3. How many GA4 key events do you have?

   In Google Analytics 4, go to Admin and open the key events list. Key events should be the few actions that matter to the business, usually a purchase, a lead form or a booking. If page views, scrolls, clicks or session starts are on the list, your conversion rate means nothing.

   Seen in a real audit: One ecommerce brand had all nine of its events marked as key events, so 99.64% of sessions counted as conversions.

4. Does GA4 revenue match your actual sales?

   Pick the last 28 days. Compare the number and value of purchases in GA4 with the orders in your shop or invoicing system for the same dates. The counts should be close and the values should not be zero.

   Seen in a real audit: In one audit the purchase count matched the shop's orders, but every purchase arrived in GA4 with a value of zero.

5. What is Google Ads optimising for?

   In Google Ads, open Goals and then the conversions summary. Each conversion action is either primary, which the bidding uses, or secondary, which is for reporting only. Your primary actions should be sales or qualified leads.

   Seen in a real audit: One account had 12 conversions on record: 11 add to basket, 1 checkout started and no purchases. Its campaigns were set to optimise for baskets.

6. Do your Google Shopping details match your website?

   If you sell through Google Merchant Center, compare its shipping and returns settings with the shipping and refund policies published on your website. Google shows shoppers what Merchant Center says.

   Seen in a real audit: One shop's Merchant Center told Google that returns were free. The shop's own policy said the customer pays return postage.

7. Does declining cookies actually decline them?

   Open your site in a private window, decline cookies on the banner, then check which cookies the browser holds. In Chrome that is Developer tools, Application, Cookies. Analytics and advertising cookies such as _ga, _fbp or _ttp should not be there.

   Seen in a real audit: Our own previous website set Google Analytics cookies on page load without any cookie banner at all.

8. How long does GA4 keep your detailed data?

   In GA4 Admin, open the data retention setting. Event data retention is two months unless someone changes it, which limits how far back detailed reports can go.

   Seen in a real audit: One property was still on two months. It took a minute to extend to fourteen.

9. Who owns your accounts?

   List the admins on your domain registrar, website platform, GA4, Tag Manager, Google Ads, Merchant Center and Meta Business. Each should have at least one admin on a business email address, and the registrar's contact email must be one someone reads.

   Seen in a real audit: Our own domain registrar reported it could not reach the account's email address, which means renewal notices were bouncing.

What to do with the results

If every check passes, your measurement is in better shape than most. If two or more fail, the numbers you use to make decisions are probably wrong, and fixing them comes before spending more on ads or new channels.

If you'd like the checks done for you, with every finding evidenced and every fix logged, that is what the revenue systems audit covers.