Goals

Track conversions and measure success with single-step goal tracking

Goals help you measure conversions and track important user actions on your website. Set up goals for newsletter signups, purchases, form submissions, or any other single-step conversion event.

What are Goals?

A goal represents a single conversion event you want to track. When a user completes the goal (views a specific page or triggers a custom event), Databuddy records the conversion.

Use goals for:

• Newsletter signups
• Purchase completions
• Form submissions
• Downloads
• Video plays
• Any single-step conversion

For multi-step conversion paths (e.g., signup flow, checkout process), use Funnels instead.

Goal Types

Page View Goals

Track when users visit a specific page:

• Target: Page path (e.g., /thank-you, /checkout/complete)
• Example: Thank you page after form submission
• Use case: Track successful form completions by targeting the confirmation page

Event Goals

Track custom events sent from your website:

• Target: Event name (e.g., purchase_complete, newsletter_signup)
• Example: Tracking a checkout completion event
• Use case: Track interactions that don’t require a page change

Event goals require you to send custom events using the Databuddy SDK’s track() function.

Creating a Goal

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to Goals in the sidebar
2. Click Create Goal
3. Enter a goal name (e.g., “Newsletter Signups”)
4. Add an optional description
5. Select the goal type (Page View or Event)
6. Enter the target (page path or event name)
7. Configure filters (optional)
8. Choose whether to ignore historic data
9. Click Create

Goal Fields

Field	Description	Required
Name	Goal name (1-100 characters)	Yes
Description	Explanation of what this goal tracks	No
Type	PAGE_VIEW or EVENT	Yes
Target	Page path (e.g., /thank-you) or event name	Yes
Filters	Additional conditions to narrow tracking	No
Ignore Historic Data	Only count conversions after goal creation	No

Example: Newsletter Signup Goal

{
  "name": "Newsletter Signup",
  "description": "Track newsletter subscription completions",
  "type": "EVENT",
  "target": "newsletter_signup",
  "ignoreHistoricData": false
}

Example: Purchase Completion Goal

{
  "name": "Purchase Complete",
  "description": "Track successful purchases",
  "type": "PAGE_VIEW",
  "target": "/checkout/success",
  "filters": [
    {
      "field": "utm_source",
      "operator": "equals",
      "value": "email"
    }
  ],
  "ignoreHistoricData": false
}

Goal Filters

Add filters to make goals more specific:

Available Filters

• Page/Path: Additional path conditions
• Referrer: Traffic source restrictions
• Country: Geographic targeting
• Device Type: Desktop, Mobile, or Tablet
• UTM Parameters: Campaign-specific goals
• Custom Properties: Event property values

Filter Operators

• equals: Exact match
• contains: Substring match
• not_equals: Exclude match
• in: Match any in list
• not_in: Exclude all in list

Filter Example

Track purchases only from paid ads:

{
  "name": "Paid Ad Purchases",
  "type": "EVENT",
  "target": "purchase_complete",
  "filters": [
    {
      "field": "utm_medium",
      "operator": "in",
      "value": ["cpc", "ppc", "paid"]
    }
  ]
}

Viewing Goal Analytics

Goal Overview

The goals page shows:

• All configured goals
• Active/paused status
• Goal type and target
• Conversion metrics
• Creation date

Goal Metrics

For each goal, view:

• Total Users Entered: Users who could potentially convert
• Total Users Completed: Users who achieved the goal
• Conversion Rate: Percentage of users who converted
• Trend: Conversion rate over time

Date Range Selection

Analyze goal performance over different periods:

1. Open a goal’s detail page
2. Select a date range (last 7/30/90 days or custom)
3. View conversion metrics for that period

Goal analytics update in real-time as new conversions are tracked.

Managing Goals

Editing a Goal

1. Click a goal from the goals list
2. Click Edit
3. Modify any field (name, description, type, target, filters)
4. Click Save

Changing a goal’s type or target will reset its conversion history. Consider creating a new goal instead.

Pausing a Goal

Temporarily stop tracking a goal:

1. Open the goal’s detail page
2. Toggle Active to off
3. The goal will stop recording new conversions

Paused goals retain historical data.

Deleting a Goal

Permanently remove a goal:

1. Open the goal’s detail page
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion

Deleting a goal permanently removes all associated analytics data. This action cannot be undone.

Historic Data

By default, goals analyze all available data including events before the goal was created.

Ignoring Historic Data

Enable “Ignore Historic Data” to:

• Only count conversions after goal creation
• Avoid skewed metrics from past events
• Track incremental improvements

This is useful when launching new campaigns or testing changes.

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use clear, descriptive names:

• Good: “Newsletter Signup - Footer Form”
• Bad: “Goal 1”

Use Descriptions

Document what each goal tracks and why:

"Tracks successful purchases from email campaigns to measure email marketing ROI"

Segment with Filters

Create separate goals for different segments:

• “Mobile Purchases” (device_type = mobile)
• “US Newsletter Signups” (country = US)
• “Organic Conversions” (utm_source = organic)

Monitor Regularly

Review goal performance weekly:

• Check conversion rates
• Identify trends
• Compare periods

Integration with AI Insights

Use the AI assistant to analyze goals:

Example queries:

• “Show me all my goals”
• “What’s the conversion rate for newsletter signups?”
• “Create a goal for purchase completions”
• “How are my goals performing this month?”

The AI assistant can help you create, analyze, and optimize goals through natural language.

Next Steps

Funnels

Track multi-step conversion paths

Analytics

View detailed traffic analytics

AI Insights

Ask the AI about your goals

Dashboard

Return to dashboard overview