Accurately tracking subdomains in Google Analytics is crucial for understanding user behavior and optimizing your website’s performance. If your setup isn’t configured correctly, you might lose valuable insights, leading to misguided business decisions. This guide will walk you through the process of verifying your subdomain tracking to ensure you capture every interaction across your main domain and subdomains.

Why Verifying Subdomain Tracking is Essential

Accurate Data Collection
Correctly tracking subdomains ensures that you can:

●     Distinguish Traffic Sources: Identify where your traffic originates, whether from the main domain or specific subdomains.

●     Analyze User Behavior: Gain insights into how users interact with different sections of your site.

●     Optimize Performance: Make informed decisions to enhance user experience and site functionality based on precise data.

If your tracking setup is faulty, you might miss critical data, impacting your ability to make data-driven decisions. This guide will help you verify your Google Analytics configuration to ensure it’s capturing all necessary information.

Step-by-Step Verification Process

1. Checking Your Cookie Domain Configuration

Using GA Checker

1. Visit GA Checker: Navigate to GA Checker.

2. Enter Domain and Subdomains: Input your main domain and subdomains, ensuring "Universal Analytics" is selected.

3. Manual Input: If GA Checker doesn’t find all subdomains, input each one manually.

Consider Migration

●     If you're still using Classic Google Analytics, consider migrating to Universal Analytics for improved tracking capabilities. This is outside the scope of this SOP but worth considering.

2. Verifying Google Tag Manager Configuration

Checking Tag Setup

1. Access Google Tag Manager: Go to Google Tag Manager and sign in.

2. Select Your Container: Choose the container associated with your website.

3. Find Tags: Click on "Tags" and search for "Universal Analytics."
   If No Tags Found:

○     Your cookieDomain settings should be fine.

4. If Tags Found:

○     Ensure at least one tag tracks Pageviews and triggers on “All Pages.”

○     Click on the tag and check the Google Analytics Settings field.
If Settings Variable Is Not Used:

■     Click "More Settings" → "Fields to Set."

■     Add:

■     Field Name: cookieDomain

■     Value: auto

■     Save, submit, and publish your tag.

5. Checking Variable Setup:

○     Navigate to "Variables" and select your Google Analytics settings variable.

○     Ensure cookieDomain is set to auto.

3. Verifying Referral Exclusion List

Check Referral Exclusion List

1. Access Referral Exclusion List: Open your Google Analytics account settings or click “Admin” in the sidebar.

2. Select Account and Property: Ensure you have the correct account and property selected.

3. Navigate to Tracking Info: Click "Tracking Info" → "Referral Exclusion List."

4. Verify Root Domain: Ensure your root domain is listed. If not:

○     Click “+Add Referral Exclusion.”

○     Enter your root domain and click “Create.”

4. Adding a Hostname Filter (Optional)

Implementing a Hostname Filter

1. Log In to Google Analytics: Access your Google Analytics account.

2. Check Existing Filters: Look under "Filters" or go to Behavior → Site Content → All Pages.

3. Review Page Path Data: By default, Google Analytics aggregates data from all subdomains, so the page “/” might represent multiple homepages.
   To Display Subdomain Information:

○     Follow Displaying subdomains in your Google Analytics Reports.docx to add a hostname filter that separates subdomain data.

Best Practices for Subdomain Tracking

1. Regularly Review Your Setup

●     Periodic Checks: Regularly verify your tracking setup to ensure ongoing accuracy.

2. Maintain Consistency Across Tags

●     Unified Tag Management: Ensure all tags and settings are consistently applied across your site and subdomains.

3. Update Goals and Reports

●     Adjust Goals: Update your goals and custom reports to align with any changes in tracking setup.

4. Educate Your Team

●     Share Knowledge: Ensure that all team members responsible for analytics understand the tracking setup and any changes made.

Conclusion

Verifying that your subdomains are correctly tracked in Google Analytics is crucial for accurate data collection and analysis. By following these steps, you can ensure that your setup captures and reports subdomain traffic effectively, allowing you to make informed decisions and optimize your website’s performance.