Tracking QA before launch: test the path from click to order

Map the path

• Write the path from ad click to record: the link, the landing page, the cart, the checkout, the confirmation page and the order in the back office.
• For each step, name the event or record that should fire and who checks it. Mark the key events the campaign is judged on, such as purchase.

Test with a real order

• Run the test from a clean browser session, such as a private window, and follow the path to a test order.
• Use a test product or test discount where the client allows it. Cancel or refund the order under the client's own process.
• Compare four readings: the conversions the ad account reports, the analytics tool, the order system and the payment record.

Check values and duplicates

• Check that the value sent with the purchase matches the order total the client counts, with the same tax and shipping rules. Write down which total it is.
• Check the currency and the decimal places. A value sent in cents where a report expects whole units makes every order look large.
• Check that each order sends one purchase with one order ID, so a refresh or a retry does not count twice.

Check consent and lost data

• Confirm what the site does when a visitor declines consent, and whether the campaign plan assumes data from those visits.
• Test with the usual privacy tools switched on. Write the share of data lost as a measured figure, or as not measured if nobody measured it.

Sign off and keep the evidence

• Save the test: date, device, order ID, the four readings and the result. Ask the client to sign the tracking sign-off before budget goes in.
• Set a first-day check that compares back-office orders with reported conversions, and write the gap down.