The Swishiy blog
Practical guides on Google Ads, GA4 and tracking, written from real audits. Every number in a post says where it came from.
All 30 posts
The two kinds of double counting, where GA4, Google Ads and Meta each count a sale, the five duplicates inside one platform, and two ratios that tell them apart.
· 9 min read
Nine GA4 audit tools side by side: what they read, how many checks, what's free, and the one question almost none of them answer.
· 7 min read
GA4 only removes some repeated purchases. How to find duplicate transactions in your reports, what usually causes them, and how to stop them for good.
· 8 min read
What a GA4 key event does and doesn't do, which events to mark for shops, lead gen, SaaS and content sites, and how a key event ends up bidding in Google Ads.
· 8 min read
GA4 will never match your Shopify orders exactly. What a healthy gap looks like, the causes in the order they usually matter, and a 15-minute check.
· 10 min read
Payment pages show up as referrals in GA4 and take credit your ads earned. Which domains to exclude, where the setting lives, and how to check it worked.
· 8 min read
How negative keywords match in 2026, what to exclude for your kind of business, the words that are buyer words for someone, and how to check a list first.
· 8 min read
One practical measurement insight, nothing else.
Primary conversions are what Google Ads bids on. Which actions to make primary for shops and lead gen, and why Google's own prompts often point the wrong way.
· 10 min read
A 10-minute routine for the Google Ads search terms report: what it hides, which column to sort by, and when zero conversions really means waste.
· 10 min read
30 checks for a Google Tag Manager audit, grouped by area, each marked as something a tool can check or something that needs a person. With a sheet to download.
· 9 min read
Consent Mode v2 only controls Google's tags. How to set it up in Tag Manager, give every other tag its own consent check, and test the live site before and after a choice.
· 10 min read
Meta reliably counts a browser and server event once when both carry the same event ID. How to pass one ID through your web and server containers, and how to check it works.
· 8 min read
Meta Pixel Helper, now Meta Ads Data Advisor, checks the pages you click through, one at a time. What it misses, and the tools that check the whole purchase path.
· 8 min read
Shopify moved checkout tracking into apps and pixels. 12 checks to find out who sends your purchases to GA4, Google Ads and Meta, and whether any of them count twice.
· 9 min read
A tracking audit checks every layer between a click and an order: the site, consent, Tag Manager, GA4, the ad platforms and your orders. What to check and how.
· 9 min read
What server-side tracking really costs each month, using request volumes from client stores. Stape, Addingwell and Google Cloud compared.
· 9 min read
Server-side tracking recovered 15% of lost data in one client store, and 36% of purchases. What it fixes, what it can't, and when it's worth paying for.
· 12 min read
Meta CAPI sends purchases from your server so iOS and ad blockers stop hiding them. When you need it, how to check dedup and EMQ, and what usually breaks.
· 10 min read
Compare 12 Google Ads audit tools in 2026 by strengths and limitations to find the right fit for waste, tracking health or DIY control.
· 8 min read
Seeing too much Direct or Unassigned traffic in GA4? Learn what it means, why it happens, how to diagnose it, and how to fix attribution gaps.
· 9 min read
Use this 15-minute GA4 self-check to spot setup issues with data streams, events, key events, internal traffic, Enhanced Measurement and more.
· 8 min read
Find the GA4 conversion tracking mistakes that can inflate ROAS, from duplicate purchases and wrong values to misleading conversion signals.
· 7 min read
Is your Google Ads conversion tracking accurate? How duplicate conversions, counting settings, attribution windows and tracking gaps can distort your data.
· 8 min read
Wondering why your GA4 data doesn't match your CRM or backend sales? Learn what's normal, what isn't, and how to investigate the difference.
· 6 min read
Why do GA4 and Google Ads report different conversion numbers? The real reasons behind the mismatch, which platform to trust, and how to investigate it.
· 6 min read
Learn which Google Ads KPIs matter, which metrics you can ignore, and how to measure the performance that grows your business.
· 8 min read
Learn the difference between brand, non-brand, and competitor Google Ads campaigns and discover if your ads are truly bringing in new customers.
· 8 min read
Discover where your Google Ads budget is really going, uncover hidden wasted ad spend, and learn how to make every advertising dollar work harder.
· 9 min read
Learn how to audit your GA4 property step by step, from event tracking and key events to conversion errors, so your reporting reflects reality.
· 6 min read
Learn how to audit a Google Ads account in 2026, uncover wasted ad spend, improve ROI, and make smarter marketing decisions with confidence.
· 10 min read