Should You Enable Smart Goals in Google Analytics?

I’ve had a few people ask me about whether or not they should enable “Smart Goals” in Google Analytics.

Smart Goals were designed for Google Ads advertisers who don’t use conversion tracking so that they can optimize their campaigns via website engagement metrics.

Basically, Smart Goals use Google Analytics data to determine which factors “probably” lead a website user to convert – they’re Google’s best guesses as to your best-quality website traffic which might have led to conversions on your site.

If you have the option to set up your own conversions, then I do not recommend using Smart Goals.

It’s basically the difference between optimizing Google Ads campaigns to people who *probably* converted on your website vs. those who *actually* converted.

In any case, I recommend setting up your own “goals” in Google Analytics and then importing them into Google Ads – it’s a much more accurate method for tracking conversions.

If you are already tracking conversions, then Smart Goals are not necessary and would likely just confuse things and be potentially misleading.

About the Author

Matt Chiera

Matt Chiera is Founder & Principal Consultant at Ice Nine Online. Since forming the company in 2014, he’s helped Ice Nine Online’s clients generate millions of dollars in revenue from digital marketing. Matt taught digital marketing strategy and tactics at the Tribeca School’s Digital Professional Institute. Matt’s book “Digital Marketers Sound Off” has been ranked as the #1 book in the Web Marketing category on Amazon.