How does The Free Website Team measure website visits?
THE SHORT ANSWER
The Free Website Team keeps limited source information in your browser tab so it can accompany an application: campaign labels, the referring website’s origin, and relevant landing pages. This is separate from optional analytics. Google Analytics loads only after you allow it. Application answers are stored privately using Cloudflare when the native form is configured, or Tally when its legacy form is used. We never send answers, contact details, or cost-planner inputs to analytics.
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Source information follows an application—not a person across sites.
- Application attribution
- A limited record of the source and website pages associated with an application, used to understand which resources bring suitable enquiries.
We retain four campaign labels—utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, and utm_content—plus the first landing page, the most recent industry page, the San Diego page if visited, and an origin-only referrer such as https://www.google.com. Industry application links also carry the selected industry and the page containing that link; only recognized The Free Website Team industries and pages are accepted. Search terms, referring-page paths, URL fragments, and unrelated query fields are not copied. Labels have length and character restrictions; our campaign policy prohibits putting people’s names or contact details in them.
These fields use sessionStorage in the current browser tab for up to 24 hours and clear after a confirmed submission. They accompany the answers saved in our private Cloudflare application database, or become hidden fields in the legacy Tally form. If browser storage is unavailable, source information stays in memory for the current page only. Form answers are not saved in browser storage: they remain on the open form until you submit or leave.
The native form saves your website goal, first name, email, optional phone and limited source fields for application review and follow-up—not enrollment in a paid plan. Cloudflare Turnstile checks for spam before a submission is accepted. Cloudflare processes technical security and operational information, including IP addresses; we do not copy the verification token or IP address into your application record. The optional legacy Tally embed uses Tally’s own privacy terms. Review the provider notice on the form and do not send passwords, payment details or sensitive documents.[cloudflare-privacy][tally-privacy]
Analytics is optional and separate from the form.
With a configured Google Analytics account, an inline control lets you allow analytics or keep it off. It is off until you opt in, and Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control suppresses it. You can withdraw permission using the same control. Your choice is remembered in this tab. Allowing analytics is never required to apply.
With your permission, Google Analytics receives sanitized page paths, coarse referral categories, and events such as an application link click, an opened FAQ, or a verified form completion. The integration uses session cookies, disables advertising signals and personalization, and does not set a user ID. Google still processes technical visit information; this is not a claim that analytics is anonymous or collects no data.[ga4-config][google-consent]
A deployment can instead enable Vercel’s cookieless aggregate analytics on Vercel hosting. That mode excludes application pages and skips potentially sensitive referrers. It respects browser privacy signals and is not run alongside this Google Analytics integration. Vercel documents its own request-derived visitor hash and technical data processing.[vercel-privacy]
Information we leave out of analytics events
- Application answers, names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
- Calculator inputs, search terms, and answer-engine prompts.
- Raw page query strings, fragments, and private referring-page paths.
- Invented conversions from a thank-you page visit or an iframe loading.
- Case-study view events for fictional concepts or an empty collection.
Counts are useful signals, not a complete lead ledger.
Related questions, answered.
Can I apply with analytics off?
Yes. Optional analytics is not required to use the site, cost planner, or application form. The application still includes the limited source fields described here when available.
Can you see what I asked ChatGPT or Google?
No. This implementation does not collect prompts or search terms. It uses coarse referral categories and drops the path, query, and fragment from referring URLs.
Does a thank-you page visit count as a submitted application?
No. A native application event requires confirmation from the backend that the application was saved. The legacy Tally integration requires a message from the actual form with its matching ID. Opening or refreshing the thank-you page does not create either event.
Sources & citations
- Cloudflare privacy policy
Cloudflare · Checked
Provider processing for the application backend and spam protection. Our application record fields are described above.
- Google Analytics configuration reference
Google · Checked
Provider documentation for cookie lifetime, page fields, and advertising controls. The implementation choices above describe this website.
- Set up consent mode on websites
Google · Checked
Primary consent configuration guidance. This site uses an opt-in loading gate, not pre-consent measurement.
- Tally privacy policy
Tally · Checked
The form provider’s policy; review it before submitting information.
- Vercel Web Analytics privacy and compliance
Vercel · Checked
Provider processing information for the optional alternative Vercel-only analytics mode.