Analytics can help you see whether people arrive from search, a social post or a referral. But adding a tracking tag to a website can also involve storing or accessing information on a visitor's device.
The ICO's available guidance on cookies and similar technologies says that organisations must tell people what cookies do and why, and obtain actively given consent unless an exception applies. Strictly necessary technologies are treated differently from optional analytics. The ICO currently notes that this guidance is being updated, so re-check the live page before changing a banner or analytics setup.
Inventory what the site actually loads
Start with the live site, not the list of tools you think are installed. Check your analytics tag, embedded videos, maps, chat widgets, advertising pixels and consent manager. A third-party tool may set cookies even if you never added a cookie named after it.
For each item, note its purpose, provider, storage duration and whether it runs before a visitor makes a choice. Ask your developer or provider if the answer is unclear.
Make the choice meaningful
If a technology needs consent, a banner should explain the choice in plain language and make refusing optional cookies a real option. Do not treat scrolling, continuing to browse or leaving the banner untouched as an active choice. Let visitors change their decision later.
Test the site in a fresh browser session:
- Open the page before accepting anything.
- Inspect whether optional analytics requests are sent.
- Reject optional cookies and confirm the choice is remembered.
- Accept them and check that analytics then loads as intended.
- Reopen the preference control and change the choice.
Do not use one broad “analytics” label if your site also runs advertising or embeds. Explain the categories accurately and link to a privacy notice with more detail.
The ICO's cookies and similar technologies guidance is the starting point. For measuring campaign links once analytics is configured, see our UTM guide for social posts. This article is general information, not legal advice.