- Is it worth turning on Site Kit for tracking, or should you stick with your current setup?
- What exactly happened, and which plugins are supported?
- What are the three conditions that must be met?
- What does the Site Goals dashboard actually show?
- How widespread is the missing-tracking problem among Italian SMEs?
- Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an Italian company?
- Does Site Kit replace Google Tag Manager, or are they different tools?
- Are there risks or limits to know about before turning it on?
- How do you activate Site Goals, step by step?
- What are the most common mistakes to avoid?
- How can you tell if Site Goals is really working?
- So, is Site Goals worth activating for your business?
- How we see it at SHM
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Google Site Kit 1.187.0 automatically tracks purchases and form submissions from 8 WordPress plugins, including WooCommerce, WPForms and Contact Form 7, with no manual setup.
- Data goes straight to Google Analytics and Google Ads: less setup, more reliable conversion data, potentially more efficient campaigns.
- Three conditions are needed to make it all work: Analytics connected, at least one supported plugin active, and plugin tracking enabled (usually already on by default).
- If you already use Google Tag Manager for complex tracking, you don't need to change anything: Site Kit is the shortcut for anyone who has never set up tracking.
You have Google Analytics installed on your WordPress site, but conversions aren't being recorded. It's the most common problem among Italian SMEs, and since September 2026 Google has an automatic answer, without touching a line of code.
Is it worth turning on Site Kit for tracking, or should you stick with your current setup?
It depends on where you're starting from: if you've never set up conversion tracking, Site Kit gives you useful data right away at no extra cost. If you already have Google Tag Manager well configured, nothing changes for you.
Google Site Kit is Google's official plugin for WordPress. With version 1.187.0, released in September 2026, it added a feature called Site Goals: it automatically detects purchases, add-to-carts and contact form submissions and sends them to Google Analytics, with no code to write and no tags to configure.
For many Italian SMEs, this solves a real problem: having GA4 installed but not set up to record conversions. According to Madmedia, the most frequent mistake among SMEs is a contact form tracker left broken after a site update, with conversions going unrecorded for weeks.
| Your situation | Is it worth it? | why |
|---|---|---|
| No conversion tracking in place | Yes | Site Kit turns it on automatically, zero setup |
| GA4 installed but conversions not configured | Yes | Site Goals closes the gap with no technical work |
| Google Tag Manager already configured and working | Neutral | No extra benefit, but no harm either |
| Complex custom tracking (CRM, multi-step funnels) | No, for now | GTM remains the right tool for advanced cases |
| Non-WordPress site or unsupported plugins | No, for now | Site Goals can't be activated without compatible plugins |
What exactly happened, and which plugins are supported?
On September 7, 2026, Site Kit 1.187.0 made Site Goals available to all users. The feature reads events already sent to Google Analytics by 8 specific plugins, with no manual setup required.
Google announced the news on September 15, 2026 in a LinkedIn post from Google Search Central. The feature had been in testing for months, hidden behind a flag (an internal switch that keeps regular users from seeing it). With version 1.187.0, that flag was removed.
The mechanism is called plugin conversion tracking, previously known as “enhanced conversion tracking,” a name that caused confusion with another Google Ads product of the same name but different function. Site Kit automatically adds JavaScript code to your site, reads the events generated by supported plugins and sends them to Analytics and Ads. The original source is PPC Land.
| Supported plugin | Site type | Tracked event |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce | E-commerce | Purchase, add to cart |
| Easy Digital Downloads | Digital e-commerce | Purchase, add to cart |
| WPForms | Lead generation | Form submission |
| Contact Form 7 | Lead generation | Form submission |
| Formidable Forms | Lead generation | Form submission |
| Ninja Forms | Lead generation | Form submission |
| Gravity Forms | Lead generation | Form submission |
| Jetpack Forms | Lead generation | Form submission |
What are the three conditions that must be met?
Site Goals only appears in the WordPress dashboard if Google Analytics is connected, at least one supported plugin is active and has already recorded an event, and plugin tracking is enabled.
Google's post says the feature is available to everyone, but the technical documentation is more precise. Three conditions must be true at the same time, otherwise nothing appears in the dashboard.
- 1 · Requirement 1Google Analytics connected in Site KitGo to Site Kit > Settings > Connected Services and check that Analytics is active. Without this step, no data is collected.
- 2 · Requirement 2At least one supported plugin active with detected eventsSite Kit must have already detected at least one of these events: add_to_cart, purchase, submit_lead_form, contact or generate_lead. If the plugin is installed but no visitor has completed an action yet, the widget won't appear.
- 3 · Requirement 3Plugin conversion tracking enabledThe setting is in Site Kit > Settings > Connected Services > Ads/Analytics > Edit. It's usually already on by default. Note: it's a single switch shared between Ads and Analytics.
- 4 · ResultSite Goals appears in the dashboardA prompt will appear with two options: ‘Show me’ (starts a guided tour of the feature) or ‘Maybe later’ (hides it temporarily). Data starts from the day of activation, not retroactively.
What does the Site Goals dashboard actually show?
The dashboard splits sites into two categories, online stores and lead generation sites, and shows the conversion rate, the number of key actions and the traffic channels that brought in the visitors who converted.
The Online store performance widget is built for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. It shows your sales rate (the percentage of sessions with at least one purchase) and the total number of completed orders. Note: “Total Sales” counts the number of orders, not revenue in euros.
When there are only add-to-cart events and no purchases, the widget shows the add-to-cart rate instead. This helps you work out whether the problem lies in product discovery or in the checkout process.
For lead generation sites, the widget tracks the first step of the funnel: form submission. The later stages (qualification, negotiation, closing) stay in your company CRM, out of reach of a WordPress plugin.
| Site type | Main metric | What it measures | What it does NOT measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-commerce (WooCommerce) | Sales Rate | % of sessions with a completed purchase | Revenue, average order value |
| E-commerce (WooCommerce) | Total Sales | Number of orders | Total sales amount |
| E-commerce (cart only) | Add to Cart Rate | % of sessions with an add to cart | Cart abandonment, recovery |
| Lead generation | Lead Rate | % of sessions with a submitted form | Lead quality, closing rate |
How widespread is the missing-tracking problem among Italian SMEs?
Google Tag Manager, the traditional tool for setting up tracking, is used by 46.7% of websites worldwide, yet most SMEs have never configured it properly for conversions.
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the system that lets you add tracking codes to a website without editing the source code. According to W3Techs (February 2026), 46.7% of websites worldwide use it. In Italy, according to BuiltWith (July 2025), more than 600,000 sites use it.
The problem isn't installation, it's configuration. GTM takes technical skills to set up conversion events correctly. Many SMEs install it but never configure the tags to track purchases or form submissions. Site Kit closes exactly that gap.
Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an Italian company?
A WooCommerce store, a professional firm with a contact form and a manufacturing company with a quote request form: here's how things change with Site Goals turned on.
Illustrative examples: numbers are meant to show the reasoning, they are not real customer data.
| Company type | Before | After Site Goals | Concrete benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion e-commerce (WooCommerce) | GA4 installed, zero conversions configured. Google Ads optimizes for clicks, not purchases. | Site Goals tracks every order and passes it to Ads. Campaigns start optimizing for real purchases. | More efficient campaigns, budget allocated to those who actually buy |
| Consulting firm (Contact Form 7) | Contact forms aren't tracked. There's no way to know which campaign brings in the most inquiries. | Every form submission becomes an event in Analytics. You can see which channel converts best. | Budget decisions based on real leads, not clicks |
| Manufacturing company (WPForms) | Quote request form not tracked. The marketing team has no data to justify the ad budget. | Site Goals records every quote request. Marketing can prove the ROI of its campaigns. | Stronger internal reporting, fewer budget debates |
Does Site Kit replace Google Tag Manager, or are they different tools?
They're complementary tools, not alternatives. Site Kit is the shortcut for anyone who has never set up tracking; GTM remains the right tool for advanced, custom tracking.
Google Tag Manager (GTM) lets you track any event on any site, with great flexibility. But it takes technical skills and setup time. Site Kit, by contrast, only works on WordPress with supported plugins, but it needs no configuration at all.
The right choice depends on your site's complexity and the resources you have. For a WooCommerce store that has never tracked anything, Site Kit is the fastest solution. For a site with complex funnels, CRM integrations or custom events, GTM remains irreplaceable. The two tools can coexist with no issues.
It's also worth noting that Google is working on merging GTM and Google Tag, two tools that partly overlap today. If you run campaigns across several platforms, you can dig deeper into tracking governance in our article on how to stay in control when Google and Meta automate.
| Feature | Site Kit (Site Goals) | Google Tag Manager |
|---|---|---|
| platform | WordPress only | Any website |
| Setup required | None (automatic) | Medium to high (needs a technician) |
| Supported plugins | 8 specific plugins | Any customizable event |
| cost | Free | Free |
| Data to Google Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced tracking (CRM, funnels) | No, for now | Yes |
| Ideal for SMEs without an in-house technician | Yes | No, for now |
Are there risks or limits to know about before turning it on?
Yes: data only starts from the day you activate it, the widget doesn't appear if you use unsupported plugins, and the name “plugin conversion tracking” can be confused with another Google Ads product.
The first limit is that it isn't retroactive: Site Goals doesn't recover historical data. Reports start counting from the day you turn the feature on. If you need to compare earlier periods, you'll have to use other tools.
The second limit concerns unsupported plugins. If your site uses a form or e-commerce plugin other than the 8 on the list, Site Goals won't activate. Events still reach Analytics (in an “Other sources” tab), but the detailed widget isn't shown.
The third point is the naming confusion. The feature used to be called “enhanced conversion tracking,” but Google renamed it to avoid overlap with Google Ads enhanced conversions, a different product that sends encrypted data (such as user emails) to improve conversion matching. The two mechanisms are separate, even though Google merged some settings into a single toggle in June 2026.
If you run Google Ads campaigns with customer acquisition goals, you can explore the logic of Customer Lifecycle Goals in our dedicated article on when to use them and when not to for SMEs.
| Risk / Limit | Impact | How to manage it |
|---|---|---|
| No historical data | You can't compare earlier periods | Turn it on now and start collecting data |
| Unsupported plugins | Widget not visible, partial data | Check the list before activating |
| Confusion with Ads enhanced conversions | Wrong settings in Google Ads | Check the Ads settings separately |
| Single Ads+Analytics toggle | Turning one off turns off the other | Always check both modules after every change |
| Data only from the activation date | Gaps in historical reports | Document the activation date in your reports |
How do you activate Site Goals, step by step?
It takes just a few minutes if you already have Site Kit installed and Google Analytics connected. The whole process is guided from your WordPress dashboard.
- 1 · Step 1Install or update Site KitIn WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New and search for ‘Site Kit by Google’. If it's already installed, update it to version 1.187.0 or higher. The plugin has over 5 million active installations and works with WordPress 5.2 and PHP 7.4 or later. You can find it on <a href=’https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/google-site-kit/’ target=’_blank’ rel=’noopener noreferrer’>WordPress.org</a>.
- 2 · Step 2Connect Google AnalyticsIn Site Kit > Settings > Connected Services, check that Google Analytics is active and linked to the correct GA4 property. If you've never set it up, the plugin walks you through it with a guided setup.
- 3 · Step 3Check that conversion tracking is activeGo to Site Kit > Settings > Connected Services > Ads or Analytics > Edit. Look for the ‘Plugin conversion tracking’ option and make sure it's enabled. It's usually on by default.
- 4 · Step 4Check that at least one supported plugin is activeMake sure WooCommerce, WPForms, Contact Form 7 or one of the other 6 supported plugins is installed and active. If you use a different plugin, Site Goals won't turn on.
- 5 · Step 5Wait for the first event and follow the promptAfter a visitor completes a purchase or submits a form, a prompt with ‘Show me’ will appear in your WordPress dashboard. Click it to start the Site Goals tour. Data starts building up from that moment.
What are the most common mistakes to avoid?
The most common one is thinking Site Goals completely replaces GTM, or expecting retroactive data that will never arrive.
If you run Google Ads campaigns, watch out for one detail: linking Analytics to Ads isn't enough. You also need to import Site Goals conversions as campaign goals in Google Ads, otherwise your campaigns keep optimizing on the old data. This applies to Performance Max and Smart Bidding too, automated strategies that depend on the quality of conversion signals.
A second mistake is confusing Site Goals tracking with Google Ads enhanced conversions (the ones that send the user's hashed email to improve matching). They're two different things with different settings. Mixing them up can lead you to switch off a useful feature by mistake.
If you run e-commerce campaigns across multiple channels, it's also worth reading how Google Merchant Center handles cart transfer to the website: another feature that changes the conversion flow without any manual work.
| Common mistake | Consequence | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Not importing conversions into Google Ads | Campaigns don't optimize on real data | Import Analytics conversions into Google Ads after activation |
| Expecting historical data | Gaps in reports, impossible comparisons | Document the activation date and use consistent periods |
| Confusing it with Ads enhanced conversions | Wrong settings, features turned off by mistake | Check Ads settings separately from Site Kit |
| Turning off tracking for just one module | It turns off for the other too (Ads and Analytics share the same switch) | Always check both modules after every change |
| Using unsupported plugins and expecting the widget | Widget not visible, data under ‘Other sources’ | Check the list of supported plugins before activating |
How can you tell if Site Goals is really working?
Check three signals: events show up in Google Analytics, conversions reach Google Ads, and the conversion rate in the widget matches your business expectations.
The first check is in Google Analytics: go to Reports > Engagement > Events and look for the purchase, add_to_cart or generate_lead events. If they appear after a real action on the site, tracking works.
The second check is in Google Ads: go to Tools > Measurement > Conversions and make sure the conversions imported from Analytics are receiving data. If the “Recent conversions” column is empty 48 hours after activation, there's a configuration problem.
If you run campaigns aimed at acquiring new customers, it's also worth looking at how ChatGPT Ads handles conversion without traffic to the website: a useful comparison to understand where leads are generated in 2026.
| Indicator | Where to check | Positive signal | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Events in GA4 | Analytics > Engagement > Events | purchase/generate_lead present | No events after 24h |
| Conversions in Google Ads | Ads > Tools > Conversions | Data in the last 48h | Empty column after 48h |
| Site Goals widget active | WordPress Dashboard > Site Kit | Widget visible with data | No widget (conditions not met) |
| Consistent conversion rate | Site Goals widget | In line with business expectations | Abnormal values (0% or 100%) |
| Traffic channels that convert | Site Goals widget > Channels | Data by channel visible | Only ‘Direct’ or missing data |
So, is Site Goals worth activating for your business?
It's worth it if you have a WordPress site with WooCommerce or a form plugin among the 8 supported, and you've never set up conversion tracking. In a few minutes you get real data on purchases and leads, without touching code.
A middle ground: you already have GTM installed but not fully configured. Site Goals can cover the most common gaps (purchases and forms) while you plan a more complete GTM setup.
Not yet if you already have a well-configured GTM with custom events, CRM integrations and multi-step funnels. Site Goals adds nothing you don't already have, and it could create duplicate data.
How we see it at SHM
For us, Site Goals is a concrete example of how technology should work: it handles the technical side and gives time back to the people running the site. You don't need a developer to activate it, and you don't need to understand the JavaScript code it inserts. You just need to know the data arrives and your campaigns can use it.
In our experience with WordPress sites for Italian SMEs, the missing-tracking problem is almost always the same: GA4 installed, zero conversions configured, Google Ads campaigns optimizing for clicks instead of real results. Site Goals solves this for the widest range of sites, those with WooCommerce or the most popular form plugins.
We believe the next step, for anyone who really wants to make the most of conversion data, is to link Analytics to Google Ads and set up automated bidding strategies (Smart Bidding) on real data. This is where tracking stops being a technical exercise and becomes a measurable competitive advantage. We do this as part of our Google Ads campaigns and strategic AI integration services, where conversion data feeds continuous optimization models.
If you want to understand how to structure tracking more completely, including Meta campaigns, our data processing and business intelligence service is the right place to start. You can also explore all the articles in the Marketing and ADV performance cluster to dig into every aspect of campaign measurement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Event tracking still works if the plugin sends events with standard Google Analytics names (like generate_lead or purchase). The data reaches Analytics, but the detailed Site Goals widget isn't shown in the WordPress dashboard. The data appears in a less detailed ‘Other sources’ tab.
Site Goals shows the number of completed orders (Total Sales), not revenue in euros. To analyze average order value and total revenue, you need to use Google Analytics or Google Ads reports directly, where WooCommerce sends value data if it's configured correctly.
No, the two tools can coexist. Site Kit handles events from supported plugins, and GTM handles everything else. The only thing to watch is not tracking the same event twice (once with Site Kit and once with GTM), because that would duplicate your conversion data.
Site Kit sends events to Google Analytics and Google Ads, but to use them as campaign goals you need to import the conversions from Analytics into Google Ads. You do this in Google Ads > Tools > Conversions > Import from Google Analytics. Without this step, your campaigns won't optimize on the new data.
Site Goals only sends data to Google Analytics and Google Ads. Meta campaigns (Facebook and Instagram) need a separate setup using the Meta Pixel or the Conversions API. The two systems are independent and don't share data.
Data shows up as soon as the first visitor completes a tracked action (purchase or form submission) after activation. The widget in the WordPress dashboard only appears after this first event. In Google Ads, imported conversions can take up to 48 hours to become visible.
Conversion tracking isn't a technical detail: it's the difference between spending budget on clicks and spending it on customers.
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