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Support Center Settings Setting up goals (Conversion goals)

Setting up goals (Conversion goals)

Without a goal, Trustlytics stays a visitor counter. With a goal, it becomes a tool that tells you whether your work is paying off. Newsletter signups, orders, contact requests, demo bookings: you decide what counts, Trustlytics counts it.

Creating a goal takes two minutes. The first one is the most important, everything after that falls into place on its own.

How do you prefer to learn? Video or guide:

Watch video Step-by-step guide

The video is in the works. Until then, the guide will get you there.

Step-by-step guide

Where to find Setting up goals (Conversion goals)

In the top menu bar, click " (Settings)".

Where to find Setting up goals (conversion goals) - Step 1 - Trustlytics

The Settings menu opens on the left. Choose "Conversion goals".

Where to find Setting up goals (conversion goals) - Step 2 - Trustlytics

The Conversion goals page opens.

Where to find Setting up goals (conversion goals) - Step 3 - Trustlytics

What is a goal?

A goal is an action that matters to your business. Trustlytics counts how often that action was completed, how many of your visitors triggered it, and, if you want, how much revenue came together in the process.

Examples:

  • Someone fills out the newsletter form
  • Someone lands on the thank-you page after an order
  • Someone downloads a whitepaper
  • Someone books a demo

If you want to know how well your website actually works, the answer is the conversion rate of your goals. Not the visitor count.

Where to start? Take the one action that matters most to your business. For an online shop, that is the completed order. For a service business, the contact request. For a blog, the newsletter signup. Three to five goals are enough for most websites. Set up twenty and you end up with twenty numbers and still no answer.

Requirement for event goals

Only needed for event goals: if you want to count when someone submits a form or clicks a button, you have to tag that element beforehand. How that works is in the guide Setting up events. For page view goals, you do not need this.

Two types of goals

You can create two types of goals:

Type Triggers when Typical for
Page view the visitor reaches a specific page. Thank-you pages after an order or signup, confirmation pages.
Event the visitor triggers a tagged action. Submitting a form, clicking a button, downloading a file.

Which type fits? Rule of thumb: if a separate page appears after the action, use the page view. That is simpler, because you do not have to tag anything in the code. If the visitor stays on the same page instead, say because the form confirms right there, you need an event.

In both cases you enter a condition that Trustlytics uses to check whether the goal was reached.

Creating a goal

Let's walk through one from start to finish, using a newsletter signup as the example. Assuming you have already tagged the form:


<form action="/newsletter" method="POST" data-trustlytics-event="Newsletter signup">
 <input type="email" name="email" required>
 <button type="submit">Sign up</button>
</form>

Now you create a new goal under "Create new goal" and fill in these fields:

Field Entry/selection Why
Name Newsletter signup Descriptive, so you still understand it in three months.
Description Visitor signs up for the newsletter Optional. Helps when several people work on this.
When is the goal reached? Event Because the form is tagged and no separate thank-you page appears.
What has to match? contains So Trustlytics knows what to watch for.
Condition Newsletter signup The exact event name you set in data-trustlytics-event.
Revenue value No revenue In this example we skip revenue, but you decide how much a goal is worth to you.

Click "Create goal" and you are done. From now on, Trustlytics counts every newsletter signup.

Test it right away, not later: sign up yourself once, wait a minute or two, and check under Goals → Overview. If a conversion shows up there, everything is in place. If nothing shows up, something is off with the condition. Those two minutes save you from wondering later why nothing was counted for weeks.
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Creating a goal 1 - Trustlytics
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Creating a goal 2 - Trustlytics

The three match types

In the field "What has to match?" you pick how precisely Trustlytics should compare. That sounds technical, but it decides whether your goal counts reliably:

Match What it means Example
exactly equals The value has to match exactly. Condition /thanks only matches /thanks, not /thanks?utm=mailchimp.
contains The condition has to appear somewhere in the value. Condition Newsletter matches Newsletter signup, Newsletter confirmed and so on.
starts with The value has to begin with the condition. Condition /order matches /order, /order/checkout, /order?lang=en.
The single most important rule: for page addresses, almost always use "starts with". Here is why: extras attach themselves to your addresses all the time, like ?utm_source=newsletter from a campaign. With "exactly equals", Trustlytics does not count those visits, and your most important conversions are exactly the ones that get lost. This is the most common mistake during setup.

In short:

  • starts with for page addresses. The safe pick.
  • contains for event names that come in variants.
  • exactly equals only when you really need precision and know no extras will show up.
Setting up goals (conversion goals): The three match types - Trustlytics

Order examples

Order with a fixed value

After an order, the customer lands on /thanks. So that page is only reached when the order was actually completed.

  • Name: Order completed
  • When is the goal reached? Page view
  • What has to match? starts with
  • Condition: /thanks
  • Revenue value: Fixed value
  • Fixed value: 49.90

From now on, every visitor who lands on /thanks counts as a conversion, extras in the address included. And 49.90 flows into revenue.

Order with the real order value

You have varying order values and want to see the actual amount. Your thank-you page then looks something like this:


/thanks?amount=49.90
/thanks?amount=125.00
/thanks?amount=89.50
  • When is the goal reached? Page view
  • What has to match? starts with
  • Condition: /thanks
  • Revenue value: From URL parameter
  • URL parameter name: amount

Trustlytics reads the value from the amount parameter and counts it as revenue. The first visitor brings 49.90, the second 125.00, and the third 89.50.

The requirement for this: your shop actually has to write the amount into the address. If your thank-you page is simply called /thanks with no extras, this variant does not work. Then you have two options. Either you use the fixed value and enter your average order value there. Or you send the real amount along with the event, the way the next example describes.

Taking the order value straight from the event

Sometimes the amount is not in the address but is known at the moment of the click, like the current cart value. In that case, you send the value along with the event, and Trustlytics takes it as revenue.

Important: "From event value" only works with the Event type, not with Page view. Pick it for a page view goal anyway, and Trustlytics points that out and does not save.

You tag the "Buy" button or the order form as an event and add the attribute data-trustlytics-event-value with the amount. The value has to be a number, with a period as the decimal separator and no currency symbol:


<button data-trustlytics-event="Order completed" data-trustlytics-event-value="125.00">
  Buy now
</button>

Usually your shop system sets this value automatically to the real cart amount before the button appears. Like this, for example:


button.dataset.trustlyticsEventValue = String(cartAmount); // e.g. "125.00"

But you can also enter the amount by hand if you only have one value. Leave the attribute out or leave it empty, and the conversion still counts. Just without revenue.

  • Name: Order completed
  • When is the goal reached? Event
  • What has to match? contains
  • Condition: Order
  • Revenue value: From event value

That is it. With this pick there is no further field to fill in. Trustlytics automatically takes the value you sent along in the data-trustlytics-event-value.

From now on, every order counts toward revenue with its real amount: the first customer brings 125.00, the second 89.50, and the third 49.90. Depending on which value the event sends along.

Which of the two do you pick? With "From URL parameter", Trustlytics reads the amount from the address of the thank-you page, like ?amount=125.00. With "From event value", the amount comes along directly from the click or the form. Take whichever is easier to get on your website. If your shop writes the amount into the address anyway, the URL parameter is the shorter route. If you only know the amount at the moment of the click, there is no way around the event value.
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Examples - Order with a fixed value - Trustlytics
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Examples - Order with the real order value - Trustlytics
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Examples - Order value straight from the event - Trustlytics

More examples

Counting demo bookings

You have a "Book a demo" button that leads to an external booking service. You tag the button:


<a href="https://calendly.com/your-company" data-trustlytics-event="Demo booked">Book a demo</a>
  • Name: Demo appointment booked
  • When is the goal reached? Event
  • What has to match? exactly equals
  • Condition: Demo booked
  • Revenue value: No revenue

That way you see how often the demo button was clicked and which channels bring the bookings. One note in the interest of honesty: what gets counted is the click on the button, not the appointment that actually happened. Anyone who bounces after the click still counts.

Whitepaper download with a value per contact

A whitepaper download is worth 15 USD to you, because on average it turns into a contact. You tag the link:


<a href="/downloads/privacy.pdf" data-trustlytics-event="Whitepaper downloaded">
 Download privacy whitepaper
</a>
  • Name: Whitepaper download
  • When is the goal reached? Event
  • Event What has to match? contains
  • Condition: Whitepaper
  • Revenue value: Fixed value
  • Fixed value: 15.00

Every download now counts 15 USD toward revenue. The value does not have to be exact, it only has to keep the ratio to your other goals sensible.

Setting up goals (conversion goals): Examples - Counting demo bookings - Trustlytics
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Examples - Whitepaper download - Trustlytics

The two options

When creating a goal, you will see two additional checkboxes:

Match case

Default: unchecked. Trustlytics then ignores upper and lower case.

  • Unchecked: Condition newsletter matches Newsletter, NEWSLETTER and newsletter.
  • Checked: Condition newsletter only matches newsletter.

Leave this unchecked in the vast majority of cases. Otherwise, you miss conversions as soon as someone changes the spelling in the code.

Allow multiple conversions per visit

Default: unchecked. Then at most one conversion per goal counts per visit.

  • Unchecked: If a visitor submits the same form twice, only one conversion counts.
  • Checked: Every submission counts separately.

For newsletter signups, leave this unchecked, a person signs up once. For orders, checked can make sense if someone can place several orders in one visit.

Careful with thank-you pages: if someone reloads the thank-you page or lands on it again via the back button, that counts as a second conversion when the box is checked. So for page view goals, you are usually better off leaving it unchecked.
Setting up goals (conversion goals): The two options - Trustlytics

Changing or deleting a goal

Under "Your goals" you see a table with all the goals you created. Next to every goal are two buttons:

  • (Edit): Adjust name, condition, and revenue value after the fact.
  • (Delete): Remove the goal.

What happens to the numbers so far:

You do What happens to the conversions so far
Edit goal Conversions already counted stay exactly as they are. Only from now on does the new rule apply.
Delete goal Conversions already counted stay in the reports. New ones are no longer counted.
Careful when changing a goal that is already running: adjust the condition, and you create a mixed evaluation from that moment on. The old numbers come from the old rule, and the new ones from the new rule. In a comparison across several months, that can be confusing. If you want to measure something fundamentally different, create a new goal rather than rebuilding the existing one.
Setting up goals (conversion goals): Changing or deleting a goal - Trustlytics

Rules and limits

What Rule
Goal name 120 characters max
Description optional, 500 characters max
Condition 500 characters max
Fixed revenue value 0 to 1,000,000 (four decimal places)
URL parameter name 60 characters max, letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscore only
Goals per website unlimited

How to check whether it works

  1. Create the goal under Settings → Conversion goals.
  2. Trigger the action yourself, meaning submit the form or open the page.
  3. Wait a minute or two.
  4. Open Goals → Overview
  5. Your goal shows up with at least one conversion.
If nothing shows up: nine times out of ten the condition is off. For page view goals, check the address in your browser bar character by character. For event goals, check the spelling in the code. A single typo is enough for nothing to be counted. And check whether you accidentally picked "exactly equals" instead of "starts with".

A note on the display: conversions from the current day are counted right away. The aggregated evaluations like the heatmap and the trend are processed overnight and show up the next morning. So with a brand new goal, the picture is only complete on the second day.

Tips for good goals

  • Use names that say something. "Newsletter signup" beats "Goal 1". Otherwise, in three months you will not remember what it meant.
  • Start with three to five goals. More is not better. Measure everything and you end up deciding nothing.
  • Use "starts with" for page addresses so campaign extras do not get in the way.
  • Only set revenue where you actually want to do the math. Newsletter signups usually do not need a value.
  • Test it yourself once after creating it. Two minutes that save you weeks of guessing.

Common mistakes

Four things that most often go wrong during setup:

  • "exactly equals" instead of "starts with". The goal counts zero for days, even though signups are coming in. The reason: a campaign extra is attached to the address, and it no longer matches exactly. By far the most common mistake.
  • The event is not tagged at all. An event goal can only count what was tagged in the code beforehand. Without tagging, nothing happens, no matter how right the condition is.
  • The thank-you page is freely accessible. If anyone can call up /thanks directly without ordering first, Trustlytics counts those visits too. The number then looks better than it is.
  • Revenue entered everywhere. Give every goal a value, newsletter signup included, and you get a revenue figure that has nothing to do with your bank account. Only set values where you actually want to do the math.

Common questions

What is the conversion rate?
It answers this: out of 100 visitors, how many reached the goal? If 100 visitors come and 3 of them sign up, the conversion rate is 3 percent.

Why do I see conversions but no revenue?
Because you picked "No revenue". Then Trustlytics only counts the number. That is perfectly fine for signups or contact requests where the value is not known.

When do I see new conversions?
Conversions from the current day show up right away in the detail report under "Latest conversions". The aggregated evaluations like comparison bars, heatmap, and trend are processed after midnight for the previous day.

What happens when I change a goal?
Existing conversions stay with the old definition. New ones are counted according to the changed definition.

Are bots counted?
No. Trustlytics filters out automated visits. Your conversions come from real visitors.

Several goals on the same page, is that possible?
Yes. If one page view matches two goals at the same time, Trustlytics counts a conversion for both.

What currency is the revenue shown in?
In the currency you picked under Settings → Language and region. A change takes effect immediately for all existing conversions.

I do not sell anything. Should I still enter a revenue value?
It is worth it as soon as you want to compare several goals. Estimate what an action is worth to you on average. If ten contact requests typically turn into one order worth 2000 francs, a single request is worth 200 francs on paper. That suddenly makes fifty newsletter signups and three requests comparable.

Can I pause a goal temporarily?
No, a goal either counts or it is deleted. If you want to stop measuring, delete the goal. The conversions so far stay in the reports, there just will not be any new ones.

Do my own test runs count?
Yes. If you submit a form yourself to check, that is a conversion like any other. On smaller websites that carries weight, so expect the first numbers to come from you.

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