What Conversions Should an MSP Track in Google Analytics?

As a Managed Service Provider (MSP), it’s understandable to be skeptical about tracking technology that enables the tracking of web users. After all, your primary concern is protecting your clients’ privacy. However, with 96% of top MSPs using Google Analytics, it’s evident that this tool is beneficial despite valid concerns about Google’s domination of the online ecosystem.

Google Analytics aims to strike an appropriate balance between protecting user data while providing valuable marketing information for free. Its out-of-the-box tracking provides useful data such as the pages receiving the most traffic, the websites sending the most organic traffic, and basic demographics of people visiting the site. But to take full advantage of Google Analytics, you’ll need to customize it to set up conversion tracking.

So, what types of conversions can you track in Google Analytics?

1. Completed transactions: This is the most common type of conversion tracking, but it’s not relevant for most MSPs. To track completed transactions, you need to set up a “Goal” in Google Analytics. From there, you can select “Destination” and enter the URL of the thank you page or confirmation page where users land after completing a transaction. Alternatively, you can set up the goal as an event and place a tracking code on the confirmation button.
2. Contact Form submissions: This tracks how many prospects contact the sales team. Similar to tracking completed transactions, setting up a goal for contact form submissions requires selecting “Destination” as the type of goal in Google Analytics. You’ll need to enter the URL of the thank you page or confirmation page that visitors land on after submitting the form. You can also place a tracking code on the contact form button.
3. Phone call tracking: This type of tracking is very useful for MSPs but requires a third-party tool with a fee associated. The third-party tool offers a unique phone number assigned to your website. Each time a visitor calls that number, the call is forwarded to your business phone, and the third-party tool records the conversion data in Google Analytics.
4. Live chats initiated: To track live chats initiated, you can place a tracking code on the live chat button on your website. When a user clicks on the button, the code records the conversion data in Google Analytics.
5. Tickets submitted: Although not entirely clear how an MSP could use this data, you can track it if you’d like to. Similar to live chats initiated, you can track tickets submitted by placing a tracking code on the submit button of the ticket form. Once a user submits a ticket, the code records the conversion data in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a necessary evil for MSPs as there are endless things to track. But, for low-hanging fruits, tracking live chats and sales emails initiated can provide valuable insights into the customer’s behavior. Phone call tracking is a nice-to-have, but the associated fees may not make it feasible for every MSP.

With customization, Google Analytics can provide your MSP with invaluable insights that can help you optimize your website, improve your marketing strategy, and increase your conversion rates. While privacy concerns are valid, Google Analytics strikes a balance between user data protection and providing essential marketing information for free.