Are you curious about the Google Analytics events tracked by ExactMetrics?
ExactMetrics automatically tracks various types of visitor-triggered events once installed and activated on your WordPress site.
If you need help coming up with goals for your website, read through this guide to learn more about these events and their properties.
What is an Event in Google Analytics?
Site visitor interactions on your website are called Events in Google Analytics.
Examples of events tracked in ExactMetrics:
- File downloads
- Outbound link clicks
- Telephone link clicks
- Affiliate link clicks
- Form impressions and submissions
Why Do You Need Event Tracking?
Outside of event tracking, Google Analytics tracks what pages are viewed. Without event tracking, page views alone are not very insightful or useful when trying to track your site’s performance.
With event tracking, you can deduce:
- What your users are doing.
- If your users are completing certain actions (or your site goals, like using a form).
- If your users are interacting with your website as expected (clicking a play button and etc).
Event tracking makes goal tracking much more feasible, allowing website owners to see meaningful progress or help make meaningful improvements to their site.
Events Types Available in Each Plan
ExactMetrics tracks the following out of the box:
- Outbound link tracking
- Download link tracking
- Telephone number tracking
- Affiliate link tracking
This tracking is available in all versions of ExactMetrics. Data for these custom events can be viewed within Google Analytics.
Viewing reports:
Overview of ExactMetrics Events
| Event Name | Gets tracked when a site visitor... |
|---|---|
| tel | Clicks on a "tel:" link. |
| mailto | Clicks on a "mailto:" link. |
| scroll_depth | Scrolls 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the page. |
| file_download | Clicks on a download link |
| click | Clicks on an outbound or affiliate link |
For click events, the following information will be tracked, depending on your settings:
| Click | Conditions |
|---|---|
| Is Outbound | Set as true if clicking on a link sends a site visitor to a different domain or external site. |
| Is Affiliate Link | Set as true if clicking on a link that contains the configured affiliate path such as /go/ or /refer/, depending on what is set for affiliate link tracking. |
More ExactMetrics Events:
| Event Name | Gets tracked when a site visitor... |
|---|---|
| form_impression | Opens a page with a form. |
| generate_lead | Successfully submits a form. |
| impression | Open a page with an embedded video. |
| video_start, video_progress | Watches an embedded video on the page. |
| video_complete | Watches a video until the end. |
| view_item_list | Browses a product category. |
| view_item | Views a single product page. |
| select_item | Selects a product type while viewing a single product. |
| add_to_cart | Adds a product to their cart. |
| begin_checkout | Starts the check out process. |
| purchase | Successfully completes a transaction. |
That’s it! Now you’ve seen an overview of the custom events tracked in ExactMetrics.
What’s next? Create some Goals in Google Analytics through our guide: 4 Types of Goals in Google Analytics That Are Critical to Your Business.