Google Analytics Audit Test #

108

X / Twitter Attribution for All 'twclid'

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 checks whether sessions that include Twitter’s ad click ID (twclid) are being correctly attributed to Twitter Ads traffic in Google Analytics.

Twitter/X Ads appends the twclid parameter to URLs, but Google Analytics does not automatically attribute this traffic correctly unless UTM tagging or custom channel grouping is used.

If this traffic is misattributed, it may show up as:

  • Direct traffic
  • Referral traffic from t.co
  • Unassigned traffic in channel groupings
  • Lost attribution in your ROAS, CAC, or campaign-level performance reports

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In Google Analytics > Explore, create a Free-form report:
    • Dimensions: Landing page + query string, Session source/medium
    • Filter for landing pages that include twclid=
    • See whether these sessions are attributed to twitter / cpc or twitter / paid_social

Advanced QA

  • In BigQuery, run this query:
    SELECT session_source, session_medium, page_location
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`
    WHERE page_location LIKE '%twclid%'
    ORDER BY session_source, session_medium;
  • If twclid sessions are not showing up under Twitter Ads in GA4, you're losing visibility into paid campaign performance.

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How To Fix

  • Use manual UTM tagging on all Twitter Ads:
    • utm_source=twitter
    • utm_medium=cpc
    • utm_campaign=your_campaign_name
  • Additionally, set up a Custom Channel Grouping in GA4:
    • Rule: If page_location contains twclid=, assign channel as Paid Social
  • Make sure redirects and landing pages preserve the twclid parameter
  • In Google Analytics DebugView, verify that sessions arriving from Twitter Ads:
    • Retain UTMs and/or twclid
    • Show up under the correct source/medium
  • Hire a pro to ensure your Twitter Ads traffic is properly tracked—so your reporting reflects the full impact of your spend.

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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