Glossary · Tracking technology
What is event tracking?
Event tracking is recording specific actions visitors take on a website or app — clicks, form submissions, sign-ups, downloads, purchases — as named events, often with properties that describe them.
Also called: Events, Event-based analytics
Updated
How event tracking works
event = { name: "signup", props: { plan: "pro", method: "google" }, visitor, time, page }Each event has a name, a timestamp, the visitor and page it happened on, and optional properties. Modern analytics is event-based: a pageview is just one event type among many. Events come from three places — automatic collection by the script, calls in your front-end code, and calls from your server.
Event tracking examples
| Event | Typical source | Useful properties |
|---|---|---|
pageview | Automatic | path, referrer |
outbound_click | Automatic | destination URL |
file_download | Automatic | url, extension |
signup | Your code (after success) | plan, method |
payment_completed | Payment webhook | amount, currency, provider |
Why event tracking matters
Pageviews show where people went; events show what they did. Goals, funnels, activation and revenue reporting are all built on events, which makes a clean event setup one of the highest-leverage things you can do in analytics.
Event tracking best practices
- Name events after outcomes, in
snake_case:signup,trial_started,invoice_sent. - Fire on success, not on click — after the API confirms, not when the button is pressed.
- Keep names stable forever; add properties instead of new names for variants.
- Never put personal data (emails, names) in event names or properties unless you mean to and disclose it.
- Write a short tracking plan: event, when it fires, properties.
Event tracking in VisitTrack
VisitTrack records pageviews, engagement, Web Vitals, outbound clicks, file downloads, mailto:/tel: clicks, form submits, rage clicks, JavaScript errors and 404s automatically. Your own events take one line — window.visitrack("signup", { plan: "pro" }) — or a data-vt-goal attribute, or a server call to /api/track. Events power goals, funnels and the People view. See custom events and automatic events.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a pageview and an event?
A pageview records that a page was displayed; an event records a specific action, such as a click, sign-up or purchase. In event-based analytics, a pageview is simply one type of event.
Which events should I track first?
Start with your main conversion, such as signup or purchase, sent after it succeeds, then add the few steps that lead to it, like starting a trial or completing setup. Track more only when you have a question that needs it.
Related terms
- Custom eventsCustom events are events you define and send to your analytics tool yourself — such as signup, demo_booked or plan_upgraded — to record actions that are specific to your product and can't be detected automatically.
- GoalA goal, or conversion goal, is a visitor action that you define in your analytics tool as a success — reaching a page, firing an event, completing a purchase — so the tool can count it and calculate a conversion rate for it.
- PageviewA pageview is a single load of a page in a visitor's browser, recorded by an analytics tool each time that page is displayed — including reloads and, on single-page apps, each client-side route change.
- Server-side trackingServer-side tracking is sending analytics or conversion events from your own server to the analytics or ad platform, instead of (or in addition to) from a script running in the visitor's browser.
- Micro-conversionA micro-conversion is a smaller action that signals a visitor is moving toward the main goal — such as viewing the pricing page, starting a sign-up form, watching a demo video or copying an install snippet — as opposed to the macro-conversion itself (the sign-up or purchase).
Tools and guides
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