Maintaining tracking: an overlooked critical discipline

Many companies invest heavily in digital advertising but forget the foundation that makes those investments meaningful: a maintained and valid dataset.

medarbejderbillede-2024-Abdel_endelig
Digital Analytics & CRO/UX Consultant
August 13, 2025

Tracking and analytics setups aren’t something you “set up” once and then forget. They’re a living discipline that must be maintained continuously – otherwise, trusting the numbers becomes difficult.

When data lies – without you noticing

A single misstep in your tracking can have major consequences—without anyone noticing in time. Here’s a hypothetical example that illustrates the risk:
  • An online store changes its cookie banner so it blocks scripts from running correctly.

  • Tracking still works for internal tests, but 70% of real users are no longer tracked.

  • The marketing team believes campaigns are underperforming and moves budget away from the right channels.

  • Sales drop, and the error is only discovered weeks later.

The technical issue was small – but the strategic consequence was huge.

Why it happens so often

Tracking environments change constantly. New campaigns, website changes, technical updates, and stricter privacy regulations mean that something as simple as a banner or script update can undermine the entire data foundation.

And because errors often remain silent, they’re rarely discovered in time. When numbers look wrong, the first suspicion usually falls on the campaign – not on the integrity of the tracking itself.

Small steps can make a big difference

Maintaining tracking doesn’t have to be complex. Many problems can be avoided with simple habits and ongoing attention. It’s not about advanced technical setups, but about establishing good routines that make it easy to stay in control and catch errors early.

Here are some simple and effective measures:

  • Check your events regularly. Use tools like Google Tag Assistant, DebugView, or Tag Manager Preview to ensure your events are firing correctly.
  • Do a monthly review. Spend 30 minutes each month checking your key conversions and traffic sources – it pays off.
  • Ensure clear ownership. Appoint one responsible person on the team to manage your tracking setup.

  • Document your changes. Note when you last adjusted tracking and what was changed – this makes troubleshooting faster.

  • Set up alerts. Use alerts in Google Analytics or your dashboard tools to detect unusual data fluctuations.

It doesn’t take many resources to do things right – but it does require willpower and structure.

If you need help maintaining data quality

Ensuring that tracking works correctly across platforms, cookies, scripts, and systems can be both time-consuming and technically complex. Many companies lack the internal capacity or the right tools to keep up – and that’s perfectly normal.

If you need advice, a review of your setup, or a second opinion on your data collection, there are competent partners and specialists who can help. The important thing is to take the issue seriously – and act before your data becomes useless. A few hours of technical support can be the difference between a marketing strategy based on facts – and one that’s fumbling in the dark.

Conclusion: data maintenance is not a technical luxury – it’s a business-critical necessity

Data isn’t something you “have” – it’s something you actively maintain. Without this, you can’t trust your reports, your campaign analyses, or your decisions.

Companies that take tracking maintenance seriously react faster, allocate more intelligently, and achieve better results. The rest stumble in the dark – with beautiful dashboards that don’t reflect reality.

Want to ensure your data is always accurate?

We can help you review, optimize, and maintain your tracking so you can make decisions based on a solid data foundation. Get in touch today and take control of your tracking.

Digital Analytics & CRO/UX Consultant

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