Sail JADA — Engineering Log

Technical work on sailjada.com and the JADA booking systems

Comprehensive Google Analytics Audit: Cross-Domain Tracking & Implementation Gaps Across queenofsandiego.com and sailjada.com

During this development session, we conducted a thorough audit of Google Analytics implementations across two related domains: queenofsandiego.com and sailjada.com. The goal was to identify tracking gaps, verify cross-domain linker configuration, ensure proper tag placement, and document which pages are instrumented versus which are flying blind. Here's what we found and why it matters.

What Was Done

We performed a multi-stage audit of GA implementation across both domains:

  • GA tag inventory — Identified all HTML files containing Google Analytics snippets on both sites
  • Cross-domain linker verification — Checked which pages had proper linker configuration for tracking user journeys across domains
  • Tag placement analysis — Verified whether GA snippets were placed in <head> or <body> sections and whether placement followed best practices
  • Event configuration review — Audited what conversion and custom events were being tracked on primary pages
  • Coverage mapping — Identified public-facing pages that lack GA instrumentation entirely

Technical Details: GA Snippet Extraction & Analysis

We started by extracting unique GA snippet lines from all HTML files across both domains. The command pattern used was:

grep -r "gtag\|ga(" . --include="*.html" | sort | uniq

This revealed which files contained GA initialization code. We then cross-referenced filenames to build a matrix of coverage.

queenofsandiego.com GA Status

The Queen of San Diego site had GA tags present in several key files, but with inconsistent linker configuration. We examined the index page specifically to verify:

  • GA initialization snippet placement relative to other scripts
  • Presence of allowLinker: true configuration
  • Proper event tracking for key user actions

The findings: QOS had GA installed on primary pages but several public pages were missing instrumentation entirely. This creates blind spots where user traffic and behavior on secondary pages goes unrecorded.

sailjada.com GA Status

The Sailjada domain had GA implementations on its index and product pages. We specifically checked:

  • Whether GA snippets included the allowLinker: true parameter for cross-domain tracking
  • Event configuration on the index page
  • Consistency of GA property IDs across all instrumented pages

Key finding: Sailjada had better coverage on primary pages but lacked linker configuration on critical pages, meaning user journeys from sailjada.com to queenofsandiego.com (or vice versa) would be tracked as separate sessions rather than continuous user flows.

Infrastructure & Configuration Architecture

Tag Management Strategy

Both sites are currently using inline Google Analytics snippets directly in HTML files rather than leveraging Google Tag Manager (GTM). This approach works but creates maintenance challenges:

  • Fragmented updates — Any GA configuration change requires touching multiple HTML files
  • Consistency risk — Different files may have slightly different GA versions or parameters
  • Event tracking scattered — Event definitions live in multiple places with no single source of truth

Cross-Domain Linker Configuration

For users traversing between queenofsandiego.com and sailjada.com, GA requires special configuration to maintain session continuity. The linker feature works by appending a parameter to outbound links (typically _ga=) that allows the destination domain to recognize the user as part of the same session.

Proper configuration looks like:

gtag('config', 'GA_MEASUREMENT_ID', {
  'allow_google_signals': true,
  'allow_ad_personalization_signals': true,
  'linker': {
    'domains': ['queenofsandiego.com', 'sailjada.com']
  }
});

Our audit found this was missing from several pages, particularly on QOS pages that link to sailjada products. Without it, a user clicking from a Queen of San Diego blog post to a Sailjada product page would be counted as a new visitor rather than a returning user.

Key Findings & Gaps

Pages Missing GA Entirely

We identified multiple public-facing pages on queenofsandiego.com that have zero GA instrumentation. This is problematic because:

  • You cannot measure traffic to these pages
  • You cannot track user behavior or conversion events on these pages
  • You lose data on how users navigate to and from these pages

Linker Configuration Gaps

Pages on QOS that lacked the cross-domain linker configuration meant that any links to sailjada.com products would not be tagged for session continuity. This results in:

  • Artificially inflated new user counts on sailjada.com
  • Lost insight into content-to-product conversion funnels
  • Inability to attribute sales back to blog content or other QOS pages

Event Tracking Inconsistency

Events being tracked on sailjada.com index (product views, add-to-cart actions, etc.) were not consistently configured with the same event names or parameters across pages. This fragmentation makes building reliable funnels and reports in GA more difficult.

Why These Decisions Matter

Session continuity across domains is critical for understanding the full user journey. Without proper linker configuration, a visitor who reads content on Queen of San Diego, clicks through to a Sailjada product, and makes a purchase appears as two different users in your analytics. You lose the ability to measure content's influence on sales.

Complete page coverage ensures you're not flying blind. Pages without GA are unmonitored black boxes. Even if they receive low traffic, you're making decisions without data.

Consistent event naming and parameters enables reliable reporting. When add-to-cart events use different parameter names across pages, aggregating and analyzing them becomes error-prone.

What's Next

A detailed audit report has been sent via AWS SES to your email containing:

  • Complete list of all HTML files audited on both domains
  • Which files have GA and which don't
  • Which files have proper linker configuration
  • Which files are missing critical events
  • Specific recommendations for remediation

Recommended next steps include: (1) implementing Google Tag Manager to centralize all GA configuration, (2) adding GA instrumentation to all public pages, (3) configuring cross-domain linker on all pages with outbound links to the other domain, and (4) standardizing event names and parameters in a documentation wiki.