Tracking
Server-side tracking
Safari deletes cookies after seven days. Ad blockers catch most measurement scripts. The result is that a typical Danish webshop is missing between 20 and 40 percent of its conversions in Analytics without anyone noticing.
- Same-day reply
- Fixed price
- No lock-in
- Fewer lost conversions
- Faster pages
- Control over the data
- Consent respected
Service
Server-side tracking
What is actually going on
Ordinary tracking happens in the browser. The browser has become a hostile place for measurement scripts and it gets worse every year. Server-side tracking moves part of the work to your own server, where nothing is blocking.
It is not a way around consent. If the user said no, nothing gets sent. But for those who said yes, you get a far more complete picture.
What you get out of it
- More measured conversions, typically 10 to 30 percent more depending on where your visitors come from.
- Faster pages, because scripts leave the browser. On some stores that is the single biggest performance win.
- Control over what leaves the building. You can strip fields before they go on to an ad platform.
- Data that survives when a browser decides to switch something else off next year.
How I set it up
A server-side container in Google Tag Manager, running on your own subdomain so it is first-party all the way. From there it forwards to GA4, to Meta via the Conversions API and to Google Ads, depending on what you use.
I always document what gets sent where. It sounds dull, but it is the only way to answer a question from a data processing agreement six months later.
Deliverables
What you get
Concrete deliverables, not a report of recommendations someone else has to find time for.
- A container on your own domain
Server-side GTM running on a subdomain of yours, so measurement is first-party the whole way.
- Connections to the platforms
GA4, the Meta Conversions API and Google Ads, with deduplication so the same purchase is not counted twice.
- A data map
A document of which fields go where. It is what you will need next time someone asks about a data processing agreement.
- A reconciliation
A spreadsheet holding orders up against Analytics and the ad platforms for a period, so you know how big the gap is and why.
Process
How it works
Four steps. You know what happens when, and you can stop after any of them.
- 01
Map what measures today
First we find out what actually fires and what is just sitting there. There are usually three things measuring the same purchase and nobody daring to delete anything.
- 02
Clean up and name things
What is left gets named after a fixed pattern, so you can tell what a tag does without opening it. It sounds small, and it is the difference between a setup you can maintain and one you are afraid of.
- 03
Move measurement server-side
A container on your own subdomain so it is first-party all the way. Consent is respected — this is about measuring the people who said yes, not about getting around the rules.
- 04
Reconcile the numbers
Finally we hold orders up against Analytics and the ad platforms for a period. The numbers will never be identical, but you should know exactly why they differ.
Who does the work
I am the person you will be working with
My name is Mikkel and I have been building for the web since 2010. There is no project manager in between, and you will not get a junior on the job because the senior was busy. What you agree is what gets built, and I am the one building it.
Day to day I am a partner at Bigum&Co, and I have worked on more than 400 projects across ecommerce, pharma, construction and the public sector. Call or write — I usually reply the same day, and I will say straight away if the job is not a fit.
- Experience
- 16 yrs
- Projects
- 400+
- Rating
- 5.0
- Reply time
- Same day
In depth
Server-side tracking
Why browser-side measurement stopped working
Three things happened at once. Safari began deleting cookies set from JavaScript after seven days, and on Danish sites the Safari share is high because the iPhone share is high. Ad blockers became common and catch most known measurement scripts by domain name. And consent requirements mean a share of visitors may not be measured at all.
The effect is not losing seven percent. On a typical Danish webshop, between twenty and forty percent of conversions are missing from Analytics, and they are not missing at random. They are missing unevenly across browser, device and therefore channel. That means the split between channels is wrong, not just the total.
That skew is what costs money. When ad budget is allocated on data where one channel is systematically measured worse than the others, budget moves away from something that actually works. You do not notice, because the numbers look consistent — they are just consistently wrong.
Server-side tracking solves one of the three: blocking. Cookie lifetimes can be extended because they are set from your own domain rather than from a script. Consent is still respected, and must be. This is about measuring the people who said yes, properly.
What it asks of you
Practically, a subdomain has to be created, typically something like data.yourdomain.com, and pointed at the container. That is a DNS change taking five minutes once someone has access.
Beyond that there are decisions worth taking deliberately. Which fields should go on to the ad platforms, and which should stay with you? There is rarely a reason to send everything. Should phone numbers go, should emails, should order value go in the clear? I have a recommendation for each, but it is your call.
And then there is running it. A server-side container costs hosting and needs an eye kept on it, like anything else in production. For most Danish sites the amount is modest against what otherwise gets wasted in ad budget because of missing data.
Reviews
What people say about me
I have never come across a developer as dedicated and capable as Mikkel.
Jonas Krogslund(translated from Danish) Mikkel is seriously good, helpful, lightning fast to reply — and on top of that he is a nice person.
Trine Handskemager(translated from Danish) Mikkel delivered competent, professional work setting up my website. Everything ran quickly and without a hitch.
Sisse Find(translated from Danish)
Services
Why me
- 16 years of experience
I have built for the web since 2010 and seen most of the ways a project can come off the rails. It makes the estimates more honest.
- 400+ projects
Across ecommerce, pharma, construction and the public sector. Chances are I have seen something close to your job before.
- You talk to the person coding
No project manager in between, and no junior on the job because the senior was busy. What you agree is what gets built.
Brands I have worked with
A selection. Some freelance, some through agencies, some across several years.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Does it cost more to run?
- There is a hosting cost for the container itself. For most Danish sites it is modest compared with what otherwise gets wasted in ad budget because of missing data.
- Is it legal?
- Yes, when consent is respected and it is documented what goes where. That is exactly the same requirement as with ordinary tracking — it is just easier to comply with when you handle the data yourself along the way.
- Does it work on Shopify?
- Yes, and there is a fair amount to gain, because checkout is a place where ordinary tracking is limited. I have a page on exactly that.
- How much more typically gets measured?
- On the setups I have done it lands between ten and thirty percent more measured conversions. Where in that range depends mostly on how much of the traffic comes from Safari and from paid channels.
- Can we keep the current setup alongside?
- Yes, and that is how I start. The two run in parallel for a couple of weeks so we can compare before the old one is switched off. Otherwise you cannot tell whether a difference comes from the new setup or something else entirely.
- Does it mean changing our cookie banner?
- Not necessarily. It has to be able to pass the consent signal on, and most can. If yours cannot I will say so, but I do not suggest switching for its own sake.