You can have the most beautiful website in London, but if you don't know how users are interacting with it, you are flying blind. In 2025, "hits" and "pageviews" are vanity metrics. To truly grow your business, you need to track actionable data that tells you why customers are buying—or why they are leaving.
At Custom Coded Websites, we build analytics architectures that go far beyond the basics. Whether you are using Google Analytics 4 (GA4) or a custom server-side solution, this cheat sheet covers the essential metrics you need to monitor.
1. The Big Shift: GA4 & Engagement Rate
If you are still looking for "Bounce Rate," stop. In the modern analytics era (GA4), Bounce Rate has been replaced by a much more useful metric: Engagement Rate.
An "engaged session" is defined as a visit that lasts longer than 10 seconds, has a conversion event, or has at least two pageviews.
- Why it matters: A user might land on your blog, find the answer immediately, and leave. In the old world, that was a "Bounce" (bad). In GA4, if they stayed for 30 seconds reading, that is an "Engaged Session" (good).
- Target: Aim for an engagement rate of above 55% for B2B sites and above 70% for e-commerce.
2. Core Web Vitals (The Google Ranking Factors)
Google doesn't just rank you on what you say, but how fast you say it. These three metrics are non-negotiable for SEO in 2025.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
What it is: How long it takes for the main content (usually the hero image or headline) to load. Target: Under 2.5 seconds. The Fix: Custom coding allows us to "preload" these assets, ensuring they appear instantly, unlike heavy WordPress themes that lag.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
What it is: Responsiveness. When a user clicks "Add to Cart," how long until the site visually reacts? (Note: This replaced FID in 2024). Target: Under 200 milliseconds. The Fix: We remove bloated JavaScript libraries that block the main thread, ensuring the site feels "snappy."
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
What it is: Visual stability. Does the text jump around while the page loads? Target: Score of less than 0.1. The Fix: We hard-code width and height attributes for all images and ad slots to reserve space before assets load.
3. Server-Side Tracking: The Secret Weapon
In a world of ad-blockers and privacy browsers (like Safari's ITP), standard analytics often miss 20-30% of your data. Client-side scripts simply get blocked.
The Solution: Server-Side Tracking. Because we build with Python and Django, we can track key events (like purchases or lead form submissions) directly on the server, before the data even reaches the user's browser.
- Accuracy: You get 100% true data, unaffected by ad blockers.
- Privacy: You can strip out personal data (PII) before sending it to Google, ensuring full GDPR compliance.
4. Conversion Events vs. Traffic
Traffic is vanity; revenue is sanity. You must configure specific Key Events (formerly Conversions) in your analytics dashboard.
Don't just track "Thank You Page" views. Track the micro-steps leading up to it:
- form_start: User started typing in the contact form.
- view_item_list: User viewed a category page.
- add_to_cart: User showed intent to buy.
- purchase: The final goal.
By tracking the drop-off between form_start and purchase, we can identify exactly where your user experience is failing.
5. UTM Parameters for Marketing Attribution
If you are running ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google, you need to know which pound is performing. Never run an ad without a UTM parameter.
This is a snippet of text added to the end of your URL (e.g., ?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=cpc). It tells your analytics exactly where the user came from, allowing you to calculate the precise ROI of every marketing channel.
Conclusion: Data Drives Design
You cannot improve what you do not measure. By moving beyond basic pageviews and focusing on engagement, technical performance, and server-side accuracy, you gain a competitive edge in the crowded UK market.
Is your tracking setup accurate?
Book an Analytics Audit with Custom Coded Websites. We will help you see the full picture of your business performance.