Connect an analytics provider without tracking sensitive forms

RTObase already counts visits to your hosted website and connects tagged campaigns to enquiries, enrolments and payments. You only need an external provider when you want its own reporting, advertising optimisation or audience tools.

The setup matters because an RTO website can contain both public marketing pages and sensitive learner forms. The same tracking rule should not apply to both.

The fictional example

Harbour Skills Institute wants to send public website visits and completed paid enrolments to Google Analytics 4. It operates in Australia, accepts occasional visitors from Europe and does not want third-party tags on enrolment, payment or LLND forms.

The organisation and values in this example are fictional. The provider options and privacy controls are from RTObase.

Before you start

Decide three things before opening the setup:

1. Which provider owns the destination account.
2. Which completed action matters, such as an enquiry, enrolment or payment.
3. Whether tracking can run under the regional default or should wait for explicit consent everywhere.

Have the provider identifier ready. RTObase supports up to ten integrations across Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Google Ads, PostHog, Meta Pixel and Custom Script.

1. Open the tracking setup

Go to Marketing → Performance → Tracking setup. Only organisation administrators can manage provider integrations.

RTObase first-party website reporting remains available whether or not you connect an external provider.

Select Add integration, choose the provider and enter its identifier. For Google Ads, you can paste the conversion destination or the event snippet supplied by Google.

Use one integration for one clear purpose. A second provider should answer a question the first one does not, rather than duplicate the same reporting by default.

2. Choose the privacy behaviour

RTObase offers two consent settings:

Setting	When the provider may run
Regional default	After consent in the EEA, United Kingdom and Switzerland, and without that prompt elsewhere
Explicit opt-in	Only after the visitor consents, in every region

Providers are also grouped by capability. GA4, Google Ads conversion measurement and PostHog are treated as measurement providers. Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel and Custom Script are treated as advertising providers because they can load other vendors or inspect the page.

Review a custom script before enabling it. The script can inspect any public page where it is allowed to run, so its behaviour and the provider's privacy terms matter.

3. Know where tracking stops

Connected providers can run on public RTObase-hosted pages and receive approved conversion milestones. Third-party tags do not run on the sensitive enrolment, payment or LLND form screens.

Available milestones include:

• Website enquiry submitted
• Course interest registered
• Enrolment awaiting LLND screening
• Enrolment completed
• Payment completed

The milestone carries relevant course or campaign context without sending the learner's name, email, phone number or form answers.

For the Harbour Skills example, Payment completed is the primary event. The public course pages can be measured, but the data entered during enrolment stays outside the provider.

4. Check the configuration

Save the integration and select Check setup. This validates the provider identifier and RTObase routing. It does not load the provider script or send a live event.

Complete one real test through the published buyer journey, then open the provider's own debug view. Confirm that the intended event arrived once with the expected course or campaign context.

This two-part check separates configuration from delivery:

Check	What it proves
RTObase Check setup	The saved identifier and routing are valid
Provider debug view	A real public journey delivered the event end to end

5. Handle embedded enrolment separately

If the enrolment journey is embedded in another website, configure the provider on that parent website. Saved hosted integrations do not run inside the embedded enrolment flow.

Use the origin-restricted listener under Embed setup when the parent site needs to receive RTObase milestones. Restrict it to the exact parent origin and test the same completed action there.

Adapt the setup to your RTO

A small RTO may only need RTObase's first-party Overview and Campaign results. An RTO running paid Google campaigns might add Google Ads conversion measurement. A larger marketing team may use GA4 or PostHog for deeper analysis, while a specialist agency may manage GTM on the RTO's behalf.

Keep ownership clear. The RTO should know who controls the provider account, who can change tags and which privacy notice explains the tracking.

Common mistakes

• Adding a provider before choosing the outcome it should measure.
• Assuming Check setup sends a live conversion.
• Treating first-party RTObase counts and provider figures as the same dataset.
• Adding several tools that all record the same event without a reporting purpose.
• Allowing a custom script without reviewing what it loads.
• Expecting hosted integrations to run inside an embedded enrolment.

Final check

Before relying on the integration, confirm that:

1. The provider account and identifier belong to the right organisation.
2. The consent setting matches the RTO's decision.
3. Sensitive enrolment, payment and LLND screens remain outside third-party tags.
4. Check setup passes.
5. One real test event appears in the provider's debug view.
6. Staff know which system answers each reporting question.

The result should be a small, explainable setup. Measure the public journey and approved milestones, while keeping sensitive learner forms outside third-party tracking.