Define and instrument the professional-conversion funnel with privacy-safe analytics

Priority: High

Problem

The site loads Plausible and already distinguishes AI-referral sources, but there is no documented end-to-end conversion model showing which visitor actions matter or whether the site is helping recruiters, hiring managers, collaborators, and readers progress toward useful outcomes.

Goal

Define a small set of privacy-safe conversion events and instrument them consistently so future product decisions can be based on evidence rather than visual preference.

Scope

• Define the visitor funnel and success events for the site's commercial/public goals.
• Consider events such as: résumé view/download, contact CTA, email/copy-email, LinkedIn/GitHub outbound click, newsletter submit, project live/source click, Insight read-through, Ask Mantosh open, successful Ask Mantosh answer, and evidence/source click.
• Avoid collecting question text, email addresses, IP-derived identity, or other unnecessary personal data.
• Define event names and properties centrally rather than scattering ad hoc analytics calls.
• Verify Plausible configuration and document where analytics are intentionally absent.
• Create a baseline report/view that can answer which paths actually lead to meaningful engagement.

Acceptance criteria

• A concise conversion model is documented.
• A bounded set of privacy-safe events is defined with stable names.
• High-value conversion actions are instrumented and verified in production.
• No sensitive visitor content is sent as analytics event data.
• AI-referral attribution remains compatible with the broader event model.
• A repeatable way exists to review conversion performance before making major UX changes.

Start by locating the existing Plausible configuration and AI-referral attribution, then trace current analytics calls across the site. Define the conversion model, central event names and privacy-safe properties, and document where tracking is absent. Verify the high-value events in production and establish a repeatable baseline report or view.