An analytics audit checks that a cannabis site's tracking is telling the truth before anyone makes a decision on it. Run through GA4 setup, Search Console linkage, event and conversion tracking, and cross-domain handoffs to menus. Most sites I inherit have at least one of these quietly broken.
Before I trust any report on a new site, I spend an hour proving the data is real. Cannabis sites break in predictable ways: a menu on a Dutchie subdomain that drops the session, duplicate GA4 tags firing double pageviews, conversions that were set up once and never verified. A pretty dashboard built on broken tracking is worse than no dashboard, because it makes people confident in the wrong direction.
Confirm GA4 is installed once and firing correctly
Open the site with GA4 DebugView or the Tag Assistant and watch a single pageview. You are checking for one thing first: is the tag firing exactly once. Duplicate installs, usually one hardcoded and one through a tag manager, double every number and are the single most common problem I find. While you're there, confirm the property is GA4 and not a leftover Universal Analytics tag, since Universal stopped processing data and any UA property still on the page is dead weight.
Verify events and conversions actually record
Don't trust that setup equals working. Click through the site yourself: view a product, tap "order online," submit the contact form, and watch each action land in DebugView as an event. Then confirm the ones that matter are marked as key events. The failure I see constantly is a conversion that was configured against an old button ID, so a site redesign silently killed it months ago and nobody noticed the number flatline because nobody was looking.
Check the menu handoff and Search Console link
Most dispensaries push users to a third-party menu on another domain. Without cross-domain measurement configured, GA4 starts a brand-new session the moment the user crosses over, and your organic session gets credited to "referral" from your own site. Test it: click through to the menu and confirm the client ID carries. Separately, confirm Search Console is linked to the property so the Performance data, clicks, impressions, CTR, and position, is available next to your GA4 behavior data.
A worked example
I audited a two-location shop whose traffic looked healthy but whose conversions read near zero. DebugView showed the GA4 tag firing twice, so every session was inflated, and the "order online" event was pointed at a button class the theme update had renamed. The menu also lived on a Dutchie subdomain with no cross-domain setup, so every high-intent click became a self-referral. None of it showed as an error anywhere. Three fixes later, real conversions appeared, and the previous six months of "flat" reporting turned out to be a measurement failure, not a demand problem. On the privacy side, note that cannabis data handling can carry extra obligations; this is general information, not legal advice, so verify applicable rules for your state.
Key takeaways
- Prove the tag fires exactly once before trusting any number; duplicate GA4 installs are the most common defect.
- Click through and watch key events land in DebugView yourself, because a redesign can silently break a conversion tied to an old element.
- Test the cross-domain handoff to third-party menus, or high-intent clicks get miscredited as self-referrals.
- Link Search Console to the property so query data sits next to behavior data.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to check in an analytics audit?
Whether the GA4 tag fires exactly once per pageview. Use DebugView or Tag Assistant to confirm, because duplicate installs double every metric and are the most common problem on cannabis sites, and a leftover Universal Analytics tag on the page is simply dead code now.
How do I know if my conversions are actually tracking?
Perform each action yourself and watch it register as an event in GA4 DebugView, then confirm the important ones are marked as key events. Conversions tied to a specific button or element ID often break silently during a redesign, so verifying by hand catches failures no dashboard flags.
Why does my organic traffic show up as referral from my own site?
Because your menu likely lives on a third-party subdomain and cross-domain measurement isn't configured, so GA4 starts a new session and credits it as a self-referral when the user crosses over. Set up cross-domain tracking so the client ID carries across the handoff.
Do cannabis sites have extra privacy considerations for analytics?
They can, given the sensitivity of the data and state-level rules, so an audit should include how tracking handles personal data. This is general information and not legal advice; confirm the specific requirements that apply to your business and jurisdiction.
Want this done for your brand?
We build cannabis & CBD search visibility with full transparency, for dispensaries, brands, and MSOs.
Get a free cannabis SEO audit ›