Google Analytics Audit Test #

79

Match Between Clicks in Google Ads to Analytics Sessions

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding where your traffic is coming from and assigning appropriate credit.

Industries:

All

Checks For:

Accuracy

How accurate is your recent data?

Insight Category:

Attribution

Can you tell which marketing efforts are working?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test compares clicks reported in Google Ads with sessions reported in Google Analytics for paid Google traffic.

While some difference is expected due to user behavior (e.g., bounce before tag fires), large discrepancies often indicate issues like:

  • Broken or missing gclid (Google Click ID)
  • Auto-tagging turned off
  • Redirects or landing pages stripping query parameters
  • Tagging or tracking loading too slowly or not at all

A significant mismatch can make performance reporting unreliable and cause under-attribution in Google Analytics.

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In Google Ads, go to Campaigns > Columns > Performance, and pull Clicks for a recent date range.
  • In Google Analytics, go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, and filter:
    • Session source/medium = google / cpc
  • Compare clicks (Google Ads) vs. sessions (Google Analytics) at the campaign level.
  • Expect some gap (10–20%) depending on bounce rates and browser privacy. Gaps larger than that may point to tracking or tagging issues.

Automated, Free Audit

Run our Instant Audit to check for accurate attribution of your Google Ads campaigns in Google Analytics.

Unsure how to evaluate or fix your Google Ads attribution in Google Analytics? Hire a pro.

How To Fix

  • In Google Ads, confirm auto-tagging is ON (Settings > Account Settings > Auto-tagging).
  • Test your landing pages:
    • Are gclid parameters retained during redirects or in final URLs?
    • Is the Google Analytics tag loading before users bounce or navigate away?
  • Avoid unnecessary redirects or page reloads before Google Analytics has time to fire.
  • Use Google Tag Assistant or Google Analytics DebugView to verify that sessions are being recorded correctly when clicking from live ads.
  • If needed, supplement Google Analytics with offline conversion imports or CRM-based attribution to close gaps.
  • Hire a pro to maintain accurate click-to-session ratios and maximize the reliability of your advertising ROI.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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