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The tracking method 99% of agencies get wrong
Jeff Sauer
August 07, 2025
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3 ways to track HighLevel (only one actually works)
Your HighLevel tracking is probably broken…
Why does everyone make tracking so complicated?
JJ Reynolds from Vision Labs just walked our community through three different approaches to tracking HighLevel sub-accounts. And honestly? Most people are doing it wrong.
The Problem Everyone Faces
Here's what should happen: Someone clicks your Facebook ad, lands on your site with proper UTM parameters and click IDs, browses around, fills out a form, books a call, and eventually becomes a customer.
Simple, right?
Wrong.
The moment they submit that form and enter your HighLevel pipeline, traditional web tracking goes blind. Your browser has no idea they booked a call or closed a deal. Those events happen in HighLevel's backend, completely invisible to your pixels.
Method 1: Web-Only via GTM
This is what most people do. Drop Google Tag Manager on every page and call it a day.
JJ showed us how to do this in HighLevel - you paste your GTM code into the head and body tracking sections of your websites. But here's the catch: you have to do this for EVERY funnel separately. They're not connected to your main website tracking.
Should you do this? Probably not if you're serious about attribution.
Method 2: The Hybrid Approach
This combines GTM tracking with HighLevel's built-in Conversions API automations.
You still put GTM on your pages for initial tracking. But then you create automations that fire whenever specific events happen - lead created, deal stage changed, purchase completed.
JJ walked through setting up these automations using HighLevel's Facebook Conversions API actions. When a lead is created, boom - automation fires and sends that data back to Facebook with the original click ID.
The upside? Highly customizable. You can track every pipeline stage.
The downside? You'll end up with dozens of automations as your business grows. Plus, you have to handle edge cases like failed purchases that go into draft mode before succeeding.
Method 3: The Pro Approach
This is where JJ introduced Hello Conversions (full disclosure - his team built it).
Instead of managing countless automations, you connect your HighLevel instance to the app. It automatically pulls in all your pipeline stages and sends events to Facebook whenever deals move forward.
You can assign custom values to each stage. New lead = $20, booked call = $50, closed deal = $1,000. The app handles all the technical stuff and gives you logs to verify everything is working.
There's a cost involved, but as JJ pointed out - it eliminates human error and saves massive time on setup and maintenance.
What This Means for You
If you're running any kind of lead generation or sales process through HighLevel, you need to think beyond basic web tracking.
The hybrid approach works if you have simple funnels and don't mind managing automations. But if you're scaling or have complex sales processes, the automated solution starts making financial sense pretty quickly.
The key insight here? Attribution isn't just about the click anymore. It's about connecting every touchpoint in your customer journey back to the original source.
Most agencies are leaving money on the table because they can't prove which ads actually drive closed deals. They optimize for leads when they should be optimizing for revenue.
Looking Ahead
This kind of server-side tracking is becoming table stakes. iOS changes, cookie deprecation, privacy regulations - web-only tracking is getting less reliable every month.
The agencies that figure out proper attribution now will have a massive advantage as the landscape continues shifting.
Thanks to JJ for breaking this down for our community. Sometimes the best insights come from the people actually building solutions to these problems.
To Your Measured Success!
–Jeff Sauer
Co-Founder of MeasureU.com
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