Event Tracking
Capturing specific user interactions beyond page views—clicks, scrolls, video plays, form submissions.
Definition
Event tracking records user actions that wouldn't appear in standard pageview data. Each event has a category (Video), action (Play), and label (Product Demo), plus optional value.
Modern analytics is event-based rather than pageview-based, capturing the granular interactions that reveal user intent and engagement.
Why It Matters
Pageviews tell you where users went; events tell you what they did. Understanding actual behavior—what they clicked, how far they scrolled, what they ignored—enables meaningful optimization.
Without event tracking, you're flying blind on everything between page loads.
Examples in Practice
An e-commerce site tracks "Add to Wishlist" events and discovers mobile users wishlist 3x more than desktop but convert less. They add a wishlist reminder email, recovering 8% of these potential sales.
A content site tracks scroll depth and finds 70% of readers never reach the CTA at article bottom. Moving CTAs to 50% scroll depth triples conversions.