How to identify goals for your website (non-profit)
When I start on any tag management project, the first step I usually take is to identify the goals we want to track and align these with my client. This guide focuses on the non-profit vertical and is part of a broader series where I demonstrate my approach to identifying goals. You don't need access to Google Tag Manager or Google Analytics to identify goals. In fact, I encourage you to approach each website just like a user would.
Who is this guide for?
- Marketers in the non-profit sector who want to tag their websites.
- Folks who are starting their careers in digital and are just curious about how the sausage is made.
Tools you need
- Google Chrome (all the extensions I use are chrome extensions)
- Screencastify or Vimeo (to visually document your work)
- Google Sheets
The process
At a high level, these are the steps I go through
- Visit the website and ask yourself these questions:
- What is the purpose of the website? I.e. the main action that I want to track. Macro goal.
- What are other actions a user can take on the website? Micro goals.
Write these down somewhere. I like to use a pen and paper during the initial pass on a website.
2. Try and complete these goals if you can. For example, if there's a lead form, try and fill this out to see what happens. This will give you an indication of how you'd set up the tracking in GTM.
3. Compile your findings in a Google Sheet.
Ready? Let's walk through an example.
Example - Waves of Wellness
Waves of Wellness are a charity that my agency Neo support. They provide an amazing service to the community in the mental health and well-being space.
Let's take a quick pass at the website. I have shared an unscripted video walkthrough below so that you can get insight into my process. It is a bit longer than my typical video and if you watch it on YouTube, you can jump straight to specific chapters.
Since this website is for a charity foundation, the key goal(s) would be to track donations and any major event(s) the charity is promoting.
We identified early on that many of the actual conversions happen on other domains. Since the GTM container on the website is not present on the other sites, it will be tricky to track the actual conversions. We will need to use button clicks that lead the user to those external pages as proxies for conversions.
Ok, let's summarise the goals we identified.
Macro goal(s)
- Donations
- Major event sign-up (like Ducktober)
Micro goals
- Newsletter subscription
- Register for a surfing experience (I missed an entire section buried here which is why it's great to have video documentation)
- Workplace well-being contact form
- Get in touch via email (button click)
- Book tickets to a movie
Engagement goals
- Embedded video watches
- Follow on Instagram
Final Thoughts
In this guide, we went through the process of identifying goals for a website in the non-profit sector. Your website may have different goals but the underlying process is the same. Identifying the right goals to track should be your first step and requires nothing more than an internet connection and 30 mins.
My final recommendation is that it is better to focus on a handful of goals that are most important to you and your organisation vs trying to tag everything on your website.
If you'd like a quick primer to Google Tag Manager and continue your tagging journey, (drumroll 🥁... shameless plug), my essential guide to google tag manager should get you up to speed.