Detected actions: key clicks without code

Most shops never get around to adding tracking code for every button. Detected actions give you those key clicks anyway, from the clicks Varly already measures.

Where you use them

• As a test goal. In Launch → What counts as a conversion, pick for example Add to cart (detected by Varly). It counts a visitor once they click one of the buttons of that action, anywhere on your site.
• As a funnel step. In a funnel, choose Detected action as the kind of step. Varly also uses them in the funnels it suggests, for example Search to cart and Visit to sign-up.

How Varly finds them

Every day Varly takes the button texts clicked most on your site (up to 500) and sorts them:

1. Varly's word list knows how buttons are written in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Italian. Prices, numbers and currency signs don't matter: “Pay now (CA$20.00)” is the same as “Pay now”. Texts that only explain something, such as “Pay later info” or “Size guide”, don't count.
2. Oran labels the texts the word list doesn't know, if your organization has an AI key. Oran gets only the button texts, never who clicked. Each text is labeled once and remembered.

A visit to your search results page also counts as Search.

There are about 25 actions, among them Add to cart, Go to cart, Begin checkout, Purchase, Choose payment, Apply coupon, Add to wishlist, Choose size or option, Back-in-stock alert, View reviews, Sign up, Sign in, Subscribe, Contact us, Request a quote, Book, Search, Submit a form, Download, Upload, Show more, Play video and Share.

Check and adjust

Open Site settings → Detected actions. Each action shows how many visits did it in the last 30 days. Click Show button texts to see which texts count and on which pages they were clicked.

• Don't count next to a text: clicks on it no longer count for that action. Click Count again to undo.
• Hide action: the action no longer appears when you pick a goal or a funnel step. Goals and funnels that already use it keep counting.
• Add a button text: type a text Varly missed and pick the action it belongs to. It counts right away, also for earlier clicks. You can also move a text to another action this way.
• A new action…: create your own action, for example “Gift wrap”, with its first button text.

Your own choices always win: Varly's daily check never changes a text you added or turned off.

Good to know

• Varly never measures your checkout pages. Purchase and Choose payment only count when those buttons are on pages Varly does measure. For orders, connect your shop; see Orders and revenue.
• With Strict text masking under Site settings → Recordings, Varly doesn't keep button texts, so it can't detect actions.
• A detected action counts clicks on a button. If your developer sends the same thing as an event with Varly.track, the event is more exact: it also counts when the action happens without a click.