SCOS Analytics Module

Content Strategy Tracking

Your GA4 setup automatically tracks content strategy metadata on every page view.

How it works:
Each page or post in WordPress includes structured content metadata (set in Content Architecture Record). This data is sent to GA4 with every event, allowing you to analyse performance based on strategy — not just traffic.

That means you’re no longer guessing what works.
You can see exactly which content drives engagement, leads, and revenue.

Best Practice

1. Enable GA4
2. Add your selector based attribution or custom ga data
3. Register all required custom dimensions in Admin → Custom Definitions
4. Seed events
5. Wait for GA4 to process them
6. Build reports, funnels, and conversions

That way, the seeded events have the best chance of appearing properly in your reporting workflow.

Tracked Custom Dimensions (GA4 Parameters)

These parameters are automatically sent with events:

Core Content Data

ALTC Strategy Dimensions (Authority Tracking)

These power your Authority-Led Topic Cluster (ALTC) analysis.

Why this matters:
You can measure authority positioning, not just keywords — aligning directly with ALTC strategy.

Content Workflow & Planning

Lead & Conversion Context (Form Events Only)

These are sent with form_submit and generate_lead events.

What this unlocks:
You can trace conversions back to specific CTAs, page sections, and content strategy.

Setup: Register Custom Dimensions in GA4

Before using this data, you need to register each parameter.

Steps

1. Go to GA4 → Admin → Custom Definitions
2. Click Create Custom Dimension
3. Enter:
   • Dimension Name: (user-friendly, e.g. “Content Intent”)
   • Scope: Event
   • Event Parameter: (exact name, e.g. content_intent)
4. Repeat for all parameters

Priority Setup (Recommended)

Start with these:

• altc_primary
• altc_topic
• content_maturity
• content_purpose

These give the fastest insight into strategy performance and ROI.

Important: Register Custom Definitions First

Before building reports, make sure you register your custom dimensions in GA4.

This is especially important if you’re seeding events.

Why this matters

SCOS can send the event parameters immediately, but GA4 reporting won’t properly expose them as usable dimensions until you create the corresponding Custom Definitions.

So yes — your wording is basically correct, with one important nuance:

Accurate version

GA4 will still receive the event data being sent, but unless the custom definitions are registered, those parameters usually won’t be available in standard reports and explorations as dimensions.

In other words:

• event is sent → yes
• GA4 receives the parameter → yes
• GA4 stores it as a reportable custom dimension → not until you register it
• historical data gets backfilled once you register it → no, generally not in standard reporting

That’s why custom definitions should be added before seeding, or at least before relying on seeded events for reporting setup.

Using the Data (What to Look For)

Once active, these dimensions can be used in:

• Reports
• Explorations
• Funnels
• Attribution models

Core Use Cases

1. Content Intent Performance
Which intent drives conversions?

2. Topic Effectiveness
Which topics attract engagement?

3. Pillar Impact
Do supporting articles drive leads to pillar pages?

4. Optimisation ROI
Compare performance before vs after updates

Advanced ALTC Insights

Cluster ROI
→ Conversion rate by altc_primary
Which authority areas actually generate revenue?

Topic Engagement
→ Engagement by altc_topic
What resonates most with your audience?

Maturity Targeting
→ Bounce rate by content_maturity
Are advanced articles engaging — or losing people?

Example Reports You Can Build

• Conversion rate by content_purpose
• Engagement by altc_topic
• Leads by pillar_page
• CTA performance by cta_location
• Conversion rate by altc_primary

Important Notes

• Custom dimensions take up to 24 hours to appear
• Data is not backfilled — only new events include them

GA4 Event Seeding (Critical Setup)

Why Seeding Matters

Low-traffic sites don’t trigger events quickly.

Typical delays:

• First form submission: 4–8 weeks
• Booking events: 2–3 months

That means:

• You can’t configure conversions
• You can’t build funnels
• You’re flying blind

What Seeding Does

Seeding triggers each event once using test data.

Result:

• GA4 registers events within 30 seconds
• Events appear in Admin within 24 hours
• You can configure conversions immediately

What Happens During Seeding

• Each event fires once
• Uses zero-value test data
• Marked clearly with [SEED] label
• Fully filterable in reports

Important Note

If your IP is excluded in GA4:

• You won’t see events in Realtime
• But events are still recorded

Filtering Seed Data

To exclude test data in reports:

Filter condition:

event_label does not contain "[SEED]"

Summary (What This Module Actually Does)

This isn’t just analytics.

It’s a strategy tracking system.

You’re not measuring:

• Page views
• Traffic spikes

You’re measuring:

• Authority positioning (ALTC)
• Content effectiveness
• Conversion pathways
• ROI by strategy

Enhanced Measurement vs Selector-Based Attribution

Standard GA4 Enhanced Measurement

GA4 already includes its own standard enhanced measurement features.

This is the default automatic tracking most analytics plugins enable for you, such as:

• page views
• scrolls
• outbound clicks
• site search
• file downloads
• video engagement

That’s the baseline. It’s useful, but it’s still fairly generic.

Selector-Based Attribution (SCOS Enhanced Tracking)

The next level is selector-based attribution.

This lets you track important page elements just by adding the right class or selector to them. For example, if you add a class like:

class="ga-cta-main"

to your main CTA button, SCOS will automatically detect it and send a structured event to GA4, such as:

• click_main_cta

You do not need to manually add data-ga-event, data-ga-category, or data-ga-label for standard tracked elements covered by SCOS rules.

What happens automatically

For matched selectors, SCOS will automatically:

• assign the event name
• assign the event category
• assign the default label
• attach a value where relevant
• capture page-level SCOS content metadata
• store CTA context for later form attribution

CTA labels are automatic

For CTA elements, the system is designed so the button or link text becomes the label first.
If there’s no usable text — like an icon, image link, or similar element — it falls back to the default rule label.

So in practice, that means your report shows what the user actually clicked, not just a generic placeholder.

Lead & Conversion Context (Form Events Only)

Form events automatically include extra conversion context, including:

• lead_tier
• lead_type
• cta_label
• cta_location
• cta_type

This is attached when form_submit and generate_lead events fire.

How it works

When someone clicks a CTA before submitting a form, SCOS stores the most recent CTA interaction in session storage. On form submission, it attaches that CTA context to the form event.

That means GA4 can tell you more than just:

a form was submitted

It can tell you:

which CTA was clicked, where it was placed, what type of CTA it was, and what kind of lead came through

Lead tier and type are inferred automatically

SCOS works this out using:

• form wrapper classes like .ga-quote, .ga-contact, .ga-subscribe
• form ID or name patterns like quote, contact, newsletter, meeting
• field count as a fallback if no explicit signal exists

So the plugin can usually classify leads as:

• hot
• warm
• cold
• unknown

without manual setup.

Custom Tracking (Optional)

You can track additional elements without code changes.

Add attributes to any element:

• data-ga-event → Event name
• data-ga-category → Event category
• data-ga-label → Event label

Example

<button 
  data-ga-event="click_custom_cta"
  data-ga-category="CTA"
  data-ga-label="Download Guide">
  Download Guide
</button>

That’s it.
The system automatically sends this to GA4.