Many organisations see digital analytics documentation as something they can skip. An easy way to cut costs.
It’s not. It’s a mistake, and sometimes an expensive one.
I’ve worked with dozens of clients on analytics projects using GA4, GTM, Matomo, and Piwik PRO. Again and again, I see the same thing: the lack of proper documentation causes confusion, delays, and compliance risks.
Good documentation doesn’t slow things down. It keeps everything working.
Start with the basics: tracking plan and dataLayer specification
Every project I run starts with two documents:
- A tracking plan that describes what actions we want to track
- A dataLayer specification that explains how these are implemented
These aren’t just for developers. They’re for everyone who uses the data. When there’s no shared plan, reports become hard to interpret. People stop trusting the data. And eventually, analytics becomes a source of friction, not insight.
If it’s not documented, no one knows what’s working
Here’s an example. One of my first clients had eight conversion events in GA. Seven had clear names. The eighth was simply called “Other conversions.”
For two years, I was afraid someone would ask what that meant. I didn’t know. Nobody did. The person who set it up had already left.
This kind of thing happens all the time. And without documentation, you end up asking:
Is this implemented correctly—or is it broken?
Bug or feature?
Is something in your data a bug or a feature?
If there’s no documentation, no one can tell.
That’s not just annoying. It erodes confidence in the data. People stop using it. Or worse—keep using it, assuming it’s correct.
Lack of documentation causes problems with compliance
When regulators ask how your analytics works, you need to be able to answer:
- What personal data is collected and why?
- When and how is consent handled?
- What changes have been made?
The absence of documentation makes it nearly impossible to respond to these questions. And if the data has already been deleted, as is often the case after two or three years, you can’t even reconstruct what happened.
That’s a risk no organisation should take.
Partners need documentation, too
Most analytics setups involve more than one team. You might have:
- In-house developers
- A marketing agency
- An external analytics specialist
Without documentation, each new partner has to figure things out from scratch. That wastes time. It increases the risk of errors. And it makes onboarding new partners slow and frustrating.
Documentation should be easily accessible, shareable, and understandable.
Ideally, there’s a central hub where people can see what’s implemented and why.
A bonus: Create a library of everyday tasks.
In some cases, a tracking plan isn’t enough. Teams also need instructions for common tasks:
- How to check if a conversion fired
- How to debug a missing e-commerce event
- How to verify consent for tags
These don’t have to be fancy. A short screen recording or step-by-step guide is often enough. Over time, this builds into a knowledge base that saves hours of support work and improves collaboration.
Documentation isn’t one-and-done
This is where many teams go wrong. They document once (at launch) and never update anything.
But websites change. Campaigns change. Teams change.
Documentation should be an ongoing process. It should be reviewed regularly and updated whenever changes are made.
Use version control. Set calendar reminders. And where possible, use automated tools to detect changes in tags or consent behaviour.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about keeping things clear and current.
Don’t treat documentation as an extra
Documentation isn’t extra work. It’s part of the work.
When it’s done right, it helps you:
- Trust your data
- Avoid rework
- Speed up onboarding
- Meet compliance requirements
- Align your teams
Skipping it might seem like a way to save time. However, that time often returns later as confusion, cleanup, or crisis.
What you document today prevents problems tomorrow.