Google Analytics stops tracking when the small piece of code that reports each visit stops loading on your pages. Nothing warns you, because analytics cannot tell the difference between a website with no visitors and a website with no code.
The usual cause is something else on the site that is supposed to place that code, like a plugin or a theme, quietly failing after an update. This summer we found exactly that on a client’s site, ten weeks after it happened. Here is what we saw, why a gap like that costs more than it looks, and how to check your own analytics in five minutes.
What happened to our client’s analytics?
The client is a commercial construction company. Their analytics had recorded visits every day since February 2025. On May 8, 2026, the line dropped to zero and stayed there.
Nobody got an error. Nobody got an email. The website looked and worked exactly as it had the day before. The plugin that was supposed to place the tracking code still said it was set up and switched on. It had simply stopped putting the code on the pages, around the time it updated itself.
We found it on July 19, ten weeks later, while connecting their site to our reporting. The analytics account came back empty for the whole stretch.
How did we fix it?
Within a day, in four steps:
- We placed the tracking code where a plugin update cannot remove it, using the same analytics account, so the old history and the new data sit on one continuous line.
- We cleared the site’s cache. Saved copies of the pages, made without the code, were still being handed to some visitors. Skip this step and a fix can look like it failed.
- We turned off the old plugin’s tracking, so if it ever starts working again it cannot count every visit twice.
- We confirmed it with a live visit showing up in the real-time report.
The next day we checked every other client analytics account we have access to, looking for the same drop to zero. None had it.
Why does a gap in your analytics matter?
Those ten weeks are gone for good. Analytics records visits as they happen. There is no way to go back and collect them later.
The missing data costs you three ways:
- Decisions get made blind. Ad budgets, which pages bring in calls, whether a new website is helping: all of it is read from this data.
- Next year’s comparison will lie. Compare May through July 2027 against 2026 and it will show a huge jump that never happened, unless someone remembers why.
- Reports built on it look normal. A zero reads like a slow month. Nobody questions a slow month.
Why didn’t anything warn them?
Analytics is passive. It waits for your pages to report in. If the code stops loading, it hears silence and records silence.
The code itself usually gets placed by something else: a plugin, the theme, a tag manager, or a line your web developer added years ago. Anything that changes the site can knock it out. A plugin update, a new theme, a redesign, a switch of page builder, even a cache holding on to old pages.
Status screens check settings, not pages. When a plugin says analytics is “connected,” it means the setting is saved. It does not mean the code is on the page your customer just opened. We wrote about the same pattern in A green dashboard light is not evidence.
How can you check your analytics in five minutes?
- Watch yourself arrive. Open your website in a private browser window, then open the real-time report in Google Analytics. You should show up within a minute or so. If you don’t, the code is not loading on that page.
- Look at the line, not the total. View daily visits for the last 90 days as a chart. A slow week dips. Broken tracking drops to zero, or close to it, and stays flat.
- Check more than the homepage. Try a service page, a blog post and your contact page. Code can be on some page types and missing from others.
- Repeat after any change. Plugin updates, a new theme, a redesign, a new form or booking tool. Put a reminder on your calendar for the day after.
If the first check fails, that is your answer. Whoever built or maintains the site can usually fix it the same day. The data from the gap will not come back, so the sooner the better.
What do we do differently now?
We read the data, not the badge. When we connect a site to our reporting, we read its day-by-day numbers before we trust them. A status light saying “connected” does not count. On this client’s site, the tracking code now lives where a routine update cannot touch it.
Knowing your numbers are true comes before anything else we report on. Our Strategy & Analytics work starts there, and our sample measurement plan shows what that looks like for a fictional business. Prices are on the plans page. If you would rather we look at yours, tell us your website.
Common questions about Google Analytics not working
How do I know if Google Analytics is working on my website?
Visit your own site in a private browser window and open the real-time report. If your visit appears within a minute or two, the code is loading on that page. Repeat on a few different page types, because a site can be tracked on some templates and not others.
Can I get back the data from when tracking stopped?
No. Google Analytics only records visits while the code is on the page. Once the code is back, it starts counting again from that moment. The gap stays a gap, so it helps to write down the dates for anyone who reads the reports later.
Why would analytics stop without showing an error?
Because from the analytics side, nothing went wrong. It received no visits and recorded none. The failure happens on your website, where the code stopped loading, and most website tools never check for it.
Does “connected” in a plugin mean my tracking works?
Not on its own. It means the plugin’s settings are saved. The only proof is a real visit showing up in your analytics, which is why the real-time check matters.
How often should I check my analytics?
Glance at the daily chart once a month, and run the real-time check after any change to the site. Most silent failures start with an update, so the day after an update is the best time to look.