A Goal in web analytics is a clearly defined user action that represents business value. Think of it as the success checkpoint you want users to reach—sign-up, purchase, demo request, or reading three docs in a session. Goals turn raw behavior into measurable outcomes and feed higher-level KPIs like conversion rate and funnel analysis (funnel). With goals, you can compare performance across channels, campaigns, and audience slices (segment) instead of just staring at traffic.
Goal types (common patterns)
| Goal type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Macro goal | Direct business impact | Completed checkout, paid plan activation |
| Micro goal | Early signal of future macro | Email subscribe, add to cart, product video watched |
| Engagement goal | Quality of interaction | 3+ pageviews in a session, 2+ key events |
Measurement & basic formula
Two core counters:
- Goal Completions — how many times the goal happened.
- Goal Conversion Rate (GCR) — share of visits or users that completed the goal.
Formula (per session):GCR = (Goal Completions ÷ Sessions) × 100%
Mini example:
If 120 sign-ups occurred across 4,000 sessions, then GCR = (120 / 4000) × 100% = 3%.
Per user basis:
GCR_user = (Users with Goal ÷ Unique Visitors) × 100%. “Unique Visitors” refers to distinct people (unique visitor). Pick one basis and stay consistent.
Good practice
- Define intent, not clicks. “Trial started” beats “CTA button clicked.” Map meaningful events (event) to business value, not UI noise.
- Avoid duplicates. Decide whether a goal can fire multiple times per session or per user; document the rule.
- Tie to funnels. Place the goal as the terminal step to diagnose drop-offs and prioritize fixes.
- Segment relentlessly. Compare GCR by channel, device, geo, and cohort to find leverage.
- Micro ↔ Macro. Use micro goals to model early health for long cycles; validate that micro lifts correlate with macro conversion.