Case studies

How a Charity Improved Paid Search Traffic and Data Accuracy Through Server-Side Tagging (SST) Implementation

A prominent essential health and support services charity, which provides crucial medical response, community health programs, and first aid training. With a commitment to enhancing health and well-being, this charity plays a vital role in supporting communities nationwide

Project Overview

How a trusted charity’s collaboration with Sparkline to implement Server-Side Tagging (SST) significantly enhanced their data strategy by improving paid search traffic and increasing the reliability and accuracy of data capture points.

Goals

The charity's collaboration with Sparkline aimed to achieve the following goals:

  • Enhance the reliability and accuracy of data capture: Transition to server-side tagging to ensure precise and consistent data collection from various sources through implementation of SST.
  • Ensure privacy and security best practices: Implement secure data handling methods to protect user privacy and comply with data protection regulations.
  • Gain more control over data capture endpoints: Customize and manage data capture points effectively to meet current and future tracking requirements.

Project Execution

  1. Audit Existing Setup and Set Up Tagging Server: Sparkline began by thoroughly auditing the charity's existing analytics setup to identify gaps and areas for improvement. They then established a robust server-side tagging environment to ensure reliable data capture.
  2. Create GA4 Tags on Server Side: Sparkline configured Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tags on the server side. This setup improved the accuracy and control of data collection processes.
  3. Testing Support and Data Validation: Throughout the implementation process, Sparkline provided rigorous testing support and data validation on the GA4 property. This ensured the accuracy and integrity of the data, allowing the charity to make data-driven decisions confidently.

Project Results

  • Overcomes Browser and Ad-Blocker Challenges: Adopting SST ensured that cookies and scripts continued to function despite ad blockers and platform restrictions. This allowed uninterrupted tracking and data collection from the charity's brands, ensuring precise and consistent data collection from various sources, all while adhering to stringent privacy regulations. Comparing data before and after implementation Nas done, we observe traffic from browsers increased, demonstrating that SST effectively overcame ad blocker and cookie restrictions.
  • More accurate Analytics: SST provided the charity with more reliable data, addressing the significant discrepancy in Google Analytics 4. This improvement allowed the charity to achieve up to 100% accuracy for order data through an increase in revenue observed within the same date range.
  • Improved Paid Search Traffic: Following the resolution of the Paid Search issue after implementation, an increase in traffic from this source was anticipated and realized after SST went live.
  • Sparkline's SST solution enabled the charity to effectively customize and manage data capture points, enhancing control and meeting tracking requirements. This foundation also paved the way for converting more data capture endpoints to the first-party domain, boosting control and actionable insights from analytics data.