Overview
Alerts allow you to monitor almost every metric an Audit has. If you are getting started with Alerts and need a few recommendations, you should start here. These are some recommended Alerts that you can set up to start monitoring metrics that many ObservePoint customers find helpful. These metrics are a good baseline to start with.
Once these have been applied to a couple of Audits, you will want to periodically evaluate them to ensure that they are meeting your expectations. If an Alert is not triggering or is triggering after every Audit run, that is a sign that you may want to re-evaluate an Alert.
Recommended Alerts
Analytics Validation
Duplicate Web Analytics Tags
Description: Duplicate web analytics tags cause inflated reporting and incorrect attribution. This Alert will monitor for pages with identical web analytics tags sending the same data payload.
Logic: Duplicates & Multiples - Total Duplicates > 0
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your analytics tag (e.g. Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics)
Web Analytics Console Errors
Description: Web analytics console errors indicate the tag isn't functioning on the specified pages, leading to data loss, poor ROI on analytics, and often negative user experiences. This Alert will notify you of when these console messages occur.
Logic: Browser Console Logs - Errors > 0
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your analytics tag (e.g. Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics)
Web Analytics Console Warnings
Description: Console Warnings for web analytics are less severe than errors but still important to address. They suggest that your analytics tags may not be fully functional or properly configured. This Alert will notify you of when these console messages occur.
Logic: Browser Console Logs - Warnings > 0
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your analytics tag (e.g. Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics)
Slow Loading Analytics Tags
Description: Slow-loading Google analytics tags suggest potential data collection failures due to processing delays. Determine a threshold, when if exceeded, indicates a slow loading analytics tag. We recommend a threshold of 2000 milliseconds.
Logic: Tag Health - Avg Tag Load Time > 2000
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your analytics tag (e.g. Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics)
URL query parameters are removed after redirect
Description: Page URL Query parameters often carry vital marketing attribution data. If these parameters are lost during page redirects, analytics can't capture them, losing the context of how visitors arrived. This can underrepresent the success of digital marketing campaigns and negatively affect customer experience by impacting personalization. This Alert will notify you when this happens.
Logic: Pages - Pages Scanned > 0
Filters:
Final URL does not contain '?'
Initial URL contains '?'
Privacy Compliance
3rd Party Non-Secure Cookies
Description: 3rd Party Non-secure Cookies pose a liability. Without the "secure" attribute, they are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, risking exposure of sensitive customer information. This Alert will notify you when these cookies show up in an Audit.
Logic: Cookie Inventory - Non-Secure > 0
Filters:
Pages --> Match URL's from Audit Setup --> Show Matching Only
Cookies --> 1st & 3rd Party --> 3rd Party
Unapproved Cookies
Description: Unapproved Cookies suggest that some unauthorized cookies are being set on the browsers of site visitors, which could put you at risk of non-compliance with certain privacy regulations. This Alert, if properly set up with Consent Categories, will notify you when these cookies are found.
Logic: Privacy Cookies - Unapproved Cookies > 0
Filters: Pages --> Match URL's from Audit Setup --> Show Matching Only
Unapproved Tags
Description: Unapproved Tags suggest that some unauthorized tags are firing on on your site, which could put you at risk of non-compliance with certain privacy regulations. This Alert, if properly set up with Consent Categories, will notify you when these tags are found.
Logic: Privacy Tags - Unapproved Tags > 0
Filters: Pages --> Match URL's from Audit Setup --> Show Matching Only
Tag Validation
Tag Manager Console Errors
Description: Browser Console Errors related to tag managers indicate that your TMS is malfunctioning on a number of pages, potentially disabling all tags managed by the TMS. This Alert will notify you of these error logs.
Logic: Browser Console Logs - Errors > 0
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your TMS (e.g. GTM, Adobe Launch)
Tag Manager Console Warnings
Description: Browser Console Warnings related to tag managers suggest potential issues that aren't necessarily breaking TMS functionality, but could lead to problems. Warnings often flag deprecated features, best practices, or non-critical issues that web developers should be aware of. This Alert will notify you of these error logs.
Logic: Browser Console Logs - Warnings > 0
Filter: Tag --> Name = Your TMS (e.g. GTM, Adobe Launch
Web Page Experience
Broken Links
Description: Broken links, resulting in 0, 400, or 500 status codes, harm customer experience and can negatively affect conversion rates and engagement. Work with the content manager, product manager, or IT team to remediate them. Use the Broken Link Details export for a list of broken links, the pages they appear on, and the HTML tags referencing them.
Logic: Pages - Pages with Broken Links > 0
Filter: Pages --> Match URL's from Audit Setup --> Show Matching Only
First Contentful Paint > 1.8 Seconds
Description: FCP (First Contentful Paint) measures the time (in seconds) it takes for the first visual content to appear on the page. This Alert will notify you if one or more pages scanned during an Audit Run have an FCP over 1.8 seconds, which could negatively impact website KPI's, ad placement, ad prices, and SEO.
Logic: Pages - Pages Scanned > 0
Filter: Pages --> Web Vitals --> First Contentful Paint --> Custom Range = Min: 1.81, Max: ∞
Time to First Byte > 800 MS
Description: TTFB (Time to First Byte) measures the time in seconds for your web server to respond with data to the user's browser. This Alert will notify you if one or more pages scanned during an Audit Run have a TTFB over 800 milliseconds, which could negatively impact website KPIs, ad placement, ad prices, and SEO.
Logic: Pages - Pages Scanned > 0
Filter: Pages --> Web Vitals --> Time To First Byte --> Custom Range = Min: 801, Max: ∞
Cumulative Layout Shift > 0.1
Description: CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) measures how “jumpy” or stable your page content is, during page load. This Alert will notify you if one or more pages scanned during an Audit Run have a CLS over 0.1, which could negatively impact website KPI's, ad placement, ad prices, and SEO.
Logic: Pages - Pages Scanned > 0
Filter: Pages --> Web Vitals --> Cumulative Layout Shift --> Custom Range = Min: 0.11, Max: ∞
Pages with 404 Errors
Description: A 404 (Page Not Found) error creates a negative experience for visitors. Work with your IT, Content Management, or Product Managers to resolve these errors and make necessary updates. We recommend using the Audit Exports > Broken Link Details export to identify broken links and share the details with relevant teams.
Logic: Pages - Pages Scanned > 0
Filters:
Filter: Pages --> Match URL's from Audit Setup --> Show Matching Only
Pages --> Status Codes --> Final Status Codes --> '404'
Usage Monitoring
Exceeded 100% of Annual Audit Page Scan limit
Description: This Alert is intended to notify you in the event that you exceed your annual Audit page scan limit.
Logic: Usage - Pages Scanned in Current Term > 100 %
Exceeded 100% of Annual Journey Run limit
Description: This Alert is intended to notify you in the event that you exceed your annual Journey Run limit.
Logic: Usage - Journey Runs in Current Term > 100 %
Exceeded 100% of Monthly Audit Page Scan limit
Description: This Alert is intended to notify you in the event that you exceed your monthly pacing for your available Audit page limit.
Logic: Usage - Pages Scanned % of Monthly Pacing > 100 %
Exceeded 100% of Monthly Journey Run limit
Description: This Alert is intended to notify you in the event that you exceed your monthly pacing for your available Journey Run limit.
Logic: Usage - Journey Runs % of Monthly Pacing > 100 %
Exceeded 90% of Annual Audit Page Scan limit
Description: This alert gives notice to adjust your volume consumption, in the event that you have exceeded 90% of your annual Audit page scan limit, to avoid potential overage fees for exceeding 100% of your contract limits. Alternatively, you may consider expanding the scope of your available volume.
Logic: Usage - Pages Scanned in Current Term > 90 %
Exceeded 90% of Annual Journey Run limit
Description: This alert gives notice to adjust your volume consumption, in the event that you have exceeded 90% of your annual Journey Run limit, to avoid potential overage fees for exceeding 100% of your contract limits. Alternatively, you may consider expanding the scope of your available volume.
Logic: Usage - Journey Runs in Current Term > 90 %