How to Set Up a Thank You Page to Track Goals in Google Analytics

If you’re a website owner, chances are you’ve delved into Google Analytics multiple times, seeking insights on visitor count, page views, and session duration. While these statistics are valuable, the real game-changer is determining whether visitors are actually reaching out to you through your contact form, and if so, where they originated.

Now, here’s the deal: most contact form setups fall short in tracking form submissions. But fear not! By implementing a few adjustments and employing the magic of thank you analytics, you’ll have the expertise to monitor conversions like a pro. This clever tactic involves creating a dedicated ‘thank you’ page or confirmation step for visitors to land on after submitting a form.

“Why should I care?” you may wonder. Imagine having precise insights into what works and what doesn’t on your site—no more guesswork. You can focus on the traffic sources that truly bring in results and refine your strategy accordingly. Having delved into website tinkering and analytics for years, we’ve witnessed firsthand how accurate data can transform speculation into a growth-oriented strategy.

In this article, we’ll explore the intricacies of implementing thank you analytics, covering everything from basic adjustments to advanced tips that will redefine your ability to track conversions. Whether you’re evaluating the success of your latest marketing campaign or simply curious about the origins of your most engaged visitors, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive in and revolutionize your website into a conversion-tracking powerhouse.

This is one of our more technical posts, but fear-not, therapists! We know you can tackle this (And if you wanted to sign up for a Brighter Vision website, we would do this for you under the umbrella of our Unlimited Technical Support).

How to Add Google Analytics to Your Therapy Website

The Google Analytics tracking code you’ll use to start tracking information on your website is the string of numbers that starts with UA.

This is the code that first appeared on your screen when you finished setting up your Google Analytics account, but you can find it any time by going to Admin (on the top bar of your Google Analytics page), then .js Tracking Info, and then clicking on Tracking Code.

You’ll see a tracking script code in a box in the center of the page which you can copy and paste just before the tag in the header.php file of your website.

But if you don’t know what that means and you don’t want to deal with HTML coding (we don’t blame you), here’s a more simple solution:

Install and activate the Google Analytics plugin . Then find it under Settings > Google Analytics in your dashboard sidebar. You will see a field to enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID. Paste the Tracking ID (including UA) here, save changes, and you’re all set!

How long does it take for Google Analytics to start collecting data?

It will take a bit for Google Analytics to start collecting data for your website, so do not panic if you don’t see anything in Google Analytics right away. This is because the tracking code that is installed on your website needs to gather enough data before meaningful insights can be derived.

During this initial waiting period, it’s a good idea to focus on setting up your goals and tracking parameters in Google Analytics. By defining your goals, you can align your website’s performance with your business objectives. For instance, you might want to track the number of form submissions, purchases, or newsletter sign-ups. These goals will not only allow you to measure the success of your website but also enable you to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and website optimizations.

Adding a Goal in Google Analytics

A “goal” in Google Analytics is an excellent way to track how your website is actually functioning in terms of pushing people toward your business. It’s great to have an informational page that people can read to learn about you and your services, but ultimately you want visitors to contact you to book a session. We’ll use setting up a goal as a completed contact form as an example.

By setting up a goal for a completed contact form, you can gain in-depth analytics on how many visitors are successfully submitting their information and reaching out to inquire about your services. This information is invaluable for assessing the effectiveness of your website’s design, content, and user experience in encouraging visitors to take action.

When configuring this goal in Google Analytics, you can specify the specific steps that users need to take to complete the contact form. For instance, you can define a series of required fields, such as name, email address, and message, that must be filled out for the form submission to be considered complete. By tracking these steps, you can uncover potential bottlenecks or areas where visitors may be dropping off, optimizing your contact form for a seamless user experience.

Create a Thank You Page

The default setting for a contact form is to show a quick message on the page after a contact form has been submitted on your site. Unfortunately, this is difficult for Google to track as an “event” so that you can track your goal. A great solution to this is to create a Thank You page that displays after a contact form submission. Then, each time someone arrives at that page, Google can count it as a contact form submission.

Add a new page specifically for this purpose with a message of “Thank you for contacting us, we will respond shortly” (or something similar). It is also a good idea to place additional links on this page to social media or relevant FAQ and resource pages to further direct visitors to useful information.

In addition to expressing gratitude, you can utilize the Thank You page as an opportunity to provide additional value to your visitors. Consider incorporating links to your social media profiles, enabling them to connect with your brand on various platforms. This can help foster a stronger online presence and encourage further engagement with your audience.

Creating a Redirect

Gravity Forms

At Brighter Vision, we recommend Gravity Forms for all types of contact forms for our clients’ websites.

Once you install the Gravity Forms plugin, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Go to Forms in the sidebar
2. Click “Forms,” edit the form you wish to track
3. Go to Form Settings, and then select the Confirmations menu.

The default confirmation in Gravity Forms is Confirmation Message Text, which simply displays text on the same page after a client has submitted a contact form informing them that their message was sent successfully.

But for tracking a goal, we want them to be redirected to a Thank You page that we can track in Analytics.

To do this, either edit your Confirmation Type to be “Page” (this means the visitor will be redirected to this page once they have completed the form) and select the Thank You page from the drop down menu that you just created.

Contact 7 Form

With Brighter Vision, we install and set up Gravity Forms for all our clients. But if you’re not a Brighter Vision client (**frown**), and want to use a free solution, Contact 7 is a great option!

Here is how to create a redirect for Contact 7:

Go to “Contact” in your sidebar and click edit for the form you wish to redirect.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and in the additional settings box, add the following code:

on_sent_ok: “location.replace(‘http:// yourthankyoupageaddress.com ‘);” replacing yourthankyoupageaddress.com with your actual thank you page URL (include the http).

Be sure that you are including every piece of that text in bold, including the quotation marks, semicolon, and apostrophe quotes around the website address.

Add the Goal to Google Analytics

Back in Google Analytics, navigate to…

1. Admin in the top menu bar
2. Goals
3. Click Add a New Goal

Once you’ve clicked “Add New Goal,” name your goal whatever you would like (“contact form,” “thank you page,” “inquiry,” etc.), leave the Goal ID to whatever is automatically filled, and select Type as “Destination.” Then click, “Next step.”

Finally, select destination as “Equals to” and add the last part of your website address for the Thank You page you have created.

For example: With Brighter Vision, our thank you page is https://www.brightervision.com/thank-you/. Because we already have brightervision.com setup as the website for this Google Analytics account, it is already a given that brighervision.com is the first part of that page, so all we have to do is fill in /thank-you/

Click “Create Goal” and you’re all set!

Start Tracking Your Goals

Now you can track your goals in the “Conversions” tab in Google Analytics!

Within the “Conversions” tab, you can access a wealth of analytics and metrics that provide a comprehensive overview of how well your website is meeting its objectives. By setting up specific goals and tracking their progress, you can gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, user engagement, and overall website performance.

One of the most significant advantages of using the “Conversions” tab in Google Analytics is the ability to set up custom goals tailored to your specific business objectives. Whether it’s tracking form submissions, email sign-ups, or purchases, you can effortlessly monitor the success of these key actions. This allows you to fine-tune your marketing efforts and optimize your website to increase conversions.

Key Takeaways

1. Implement thank you pages to accurately track form submissions and conversions.
2. Install Google Analytics using a plugin for easy setup without HTML coding.
3. Define and add goals in Google Analytics to measure website effectiveness.
4. Use redirect options in form plugins to direct users to thank you pages for goal tracking.
5. Monitor conversions in the “Conversions” tab of Google Analytics to gauge marketing and website performance.

As always, if you are a Brighter Vision client, simply send us a support ticket and we can get this set up for you with no hassle. If you’re not a Brighter Vision client, send us a message through our contact form (we’ll see you on Google Analytics **wink**) and we’ll tell you how we can help you grow your therapy practice through a new website!

About Perry Rosenbloom

Perry Rosenbloom is the Founder of Brighter Vision, the worldwide leader in custom therapist website design. His connection to therapy and therapists runs deep: His mother-in-law owns a private practice in Jacksonville, FL, his father-in-law is in recovery and just received his 30 year chip, his Uncle (who he never met) died at a very young age due to drug use, and the heroin epidemic has hit his hometown very hard. With so many connections to therapy and therapists, he is immensely proud to be able to help support them in their work and enable them to be successful business owners.