analytics-dictionary / term / tracking & measurement

Leading vs lagging indicators

Leading indicators predict future results, while lagging indicators confirm results that have already happened.

Written by Reflective Data experts · updated Oct 5, 2026

Revenue is lagging: it tells you how things went. Trial activations or demo requests are leading: they hint at revenue to come. Good dashboards show both.

Test whether a proposed leading indicator really predicts the lagging outcome before trusting it.

KPI (key performance indicator)Micro conversion North Star metric

// how we can help

Need tracking you can trust? We implement and audit analytics across GA4, Adobe, Mixpanel and more. Analytics & tracking services → · Audits

Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is an enterprise web analytics platform from Adobe, part of Adobe Experience Cloud.

data-layer.md

Data layer

The data layer is a JavaScript object on your site that holds structured information for your…

organic-search.md

Organic search

Organic search is traffic from unpaid results on search engines.

custom-dimension.md

Custom dimension

A custom dimension is an extra attribute you register in your analytics tool so it can…

bounce-rate.md

Bounce rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of sessions in which the visitor did not engage with your…

conversions-api.md

Conversions API

A conversions API sends conversion events from your server directly to an ad platform, such as…

← full analytics dictionary