9 Google Analytics Best Practices

Transcription

1 9 Google Analytics Best Practices

2 9 is relative there may be more

3 Implementing GA What to do, and NOT do learned the hard way!

4 Plain Vanilla It s Not for You Image source:

5 The GA Tag Comes in Many Flavors Image source:

6 The Settings that Matter There are over 55 documented settings for the tag

7 The Settings that Matter There are over 55 documented settings for the tag Top settings to consider: Cookie Domain setdomainname Campaign Anchors setallowanchor X-domain Linking setallowlinker

8 This is Bad If your website is

9 Data Quality Checking Tools Audit your site data for quality Internal referrals? Suspicious direct landing deep within your site? Odd exit pages with high rates? Use tools:

10 Caleb s Implementation Tips Plan your business requirements Implement the GA tag correctly for your website(s) Consider domain names (sub-domains, 3 rd party domains) Place the tag on all pages Use the setallowanchor feature You may want to take a course, read a book, or hire an expert to assist don t skip on this!

11 Related Resources Books Performance Marketing with Google Analytics (Whitmore, Tonkin, Cutroni): Advanced Web Metrics (Clifton): Google Analytics (Cutroni): Web Analytics 2.0 (Kaushik): Training Online GA Conversion University: Google Seminars for Success: GAUGE Google Analytics User Conference (next one is in NYC Oct 17-18):

12 Real World Example When Google Analytics just doesn t work

13 What you Want Unified view across your website(s) Google AdWords Click Landing Page Conversion Tie conversions back to clicks See the whole picture of user interaction across your website(s) Optimize your marketing, content, and conversions

14 The Typical Process Signup for Google Analytics Copy/Paste the tag into your pages Go look at a report Ahh!!! Where did it break?

15 Here s How it Breaks Down AdWords Auto-Tagging Tagging must make it to landing page GA Tag must work for site GA tag must work for all parts of the site GA tag must be on the landing page, conversion page, and all pages in between

16 AdWords Auto-Tagging

17 AdWords Auto-Tagging

18 GA Tags Must Work

19 GA Tag Must Be Everywhere

20 Consistent for All Domains Page is in info sub-domain Link goes to www domain GA tag isn t correct for subdomain, no setdomainname

21 The Result GA cookie says source is now info.steelwedge.com, no longer Google -> AdWords

22 Integrating External Data

23 Data Silos Suck Source:

24 3 Types of External Data

25 Externally feed data into Google Analytics Example: AdCenter Cost Data Imports in GA New Feature 3 rd party data import providers

26 Export Data out of GA to a 3rd Party Tool Example: Data exported with a unique session key

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28 Export Data out of GA to a 3rd Party Tool Example: Data exported with a unique session key Reality: Challenging to do Must pro-actively implement for it TOS & Scale Issues

29 Push External Data into Google Analytics Example: Data from your CRM surfaced when user is signed in Reality: Still challenging requires more implementation TOS issues can come up if data isn t anonymous Scale can be an issue if data is granular

30 How It Works Integrating External Data

31 Determine Your Data Model Business Goals Data Analysis & Answers Supporting Questions Report Configuration & Access Data to Answer Questions Required Implementation to get the Data

32 Define your Data Source(s) Where will the data come from? How will it be structured? Will it need transformation or require interpretation? How will you use it once it is in GA?

33 Making the Push Making External Data Internal

34 Data Types in GA Pageviews Events Commerce Social Actions Custom Variables

35 Rules for Data: Pageviews Used for tracking page loads or at-par interactions Can be customized to record a custom url or page vs. the default Factored into entrance page, path, flow, and exit page reports

36 Rules for Data: Events Used for everything between the pageview Support 3-dimensional data model Category (object) Action Label Value (integer) Two types: Interaction vs. Non-interaction

37 Rules for Data: Commerce For recording transactional and product purchase information Use only when money changes hands Record what changes hands and for what reasons

38 Rules for Data: Social Actions For measuring social interactions Like/Tweet/Share clicks Clicks out to follow Clicks to social sites

39 Rules for Data: Custom Variables Multi-level data model Page or hit Session Visitor

40 Custom Variables Data Model Visitor Visitor #1 Visit (session) Session 1 Session 2 Pageview A Pageview B Pageview A Pageview B Page Pageview C Pageview D Pageview C 40

41 When to use Custom Variables To record meta data Data about the To differentiate states in a session Logged-in vs not logged-in Shopping cart progress Other progression measures To define and classify visitors Multi-campaign attribution models Visitor classification for demographics or other information 41

42 Example Custom Variables Visitor-level variables Slot Name Value Scope 1 UserID Visitor 2 SessionID Abc456 Session 3 LoginState Logged-in Session 4 CustomerType Member Visitor 5 TestVersion HomepageB Session 42

43 Examples Integrating External Data

44 Event Tracking Data

45 Event Tracking Data

46 Event Tracking Data

47 Goals Without a goal, what s the point?

48 Goal Process Example

49 A typical Goal Typical GA Goal

50 Goals in GA What is a goal in Google Analytics? Pre-calculated metric Can be any page or set of pages, event, or threshold of time spent of pages viewed

51 Goal Essentials Is there a better way to do goals?

52 Goal Essentials Goals with a Framework

53 Goal Examples: Simple Framework

54 Goal Examples: Simple Framework

55 Goal Examples: Simple Framework

56 Goal Essentials Benefits of a Goal Framework include You re no longer blind to what happens before the conversion See funnel view for Traffic Source reports Use the score to weight total visit engagement across all goals

57 Goal Essentials Caleb s Goal Framework for Success: Set LOTS of goals if it matters, make it a goal Some goals are engagement focused, others are transactional in nature Use the score feature within Google Analytics to Weight each goal

58 Goal Framework Worksheet Download from:

59 Related Resources on Goals Caleb s goal planning worksheet: Great blog post by Avinash Kaushik:

60 Goal Flows

61 Goal Flows Example

62 Goal Flow Tips Flow reports are instant Flow reports are retroactive in time Use Goal Flow to group pages and see flow between them

63 Campaign Tagging Traffic Source Identification

64 Traffic Source Segmentation Screenshot showing traffic source data mediums report with +/- view

65 Segment Traffic Sources Against Goals Transactions Landing pages Campaigns by Geography Everything!

66 Just to be clear Google Analytics can track any kind of marketing not just Google AdWords marketing Microsoft AdCenter paid search Display ads run anywhere Social Media traffic Even offline campaigns

67 Tracking Your Marketing What to know: will show up as direct unless it is specifically tagged Banners & links will show up as referring not banner Offline campaigns can be tracked using vanity URL s and tracking codes Paid search must be tagged, otherwise it gets mixed in with organic search

68 GA s Oder of Operations 1. Check of Campaign Tags (utm_etc ) 2. Look for Referrer Search Engine = organic/search engine/keyword Referring Site = referring domain / page 3. Lump into direct/none

69 So How Do You Do It: Campaign Links YOU control the link. You tack some labels onto the end of the link. When a visitor clicks the link and arrives at your site, Google Analytics records those labels. There s nothing to set up or configure in Google Analytics, you just make the link.

70 Campaign Links: How They Work In web addresses, the parts after a question park are called query parameters. Sometimes your webserver does something special with them. If your webserver doesn t recognize the query parameter, it ignores it. These addresses both go to the same page:

71 Campaign Links: How They Work So even better than making up labels, we can use some labels that Google Analytics recognizes: &utm_source=newsletter &utm_campaign=spring-2010 These represent the medium, source, and campaign. You don t have to build these URLs by hand.

72 Campaign Examples Campaign Medium Source spring newsletter spring special-offer spring-2011 banner example.com careers banner example.com careers partner affilitatesite.com careers cpc yahoo.com ACTIVITY List a few campaign source medium combinations for your marketing campaigns.

73 URL Builder

74 URL Builder

75 A Better URL Builder Excel-based Automate the process Ensure consistency Get it here:

76 AdWords Integration Google Analytics and AdWords

77 Multi-Channel Funnel Reports

78 Multi-Channel Funnels

79 Multi-Channel Best Practices This is a big picture tool don t get lost in the weeds

80 Multi-Channel Best Practices This is a big picture tool don t get lost in the weeds Look beyond the last source with assists and first Avoid the path tool - look at the assist-tolast ratio

81 Awareness Direct

82 Attribution Modeling 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

83 Attribution Modeling Create multi-touch, multi-channel attribution models to test value changes Example: Discount last direct visit What changes in value attribution across marketing channels? 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

84 Attribution Modeling 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

85 Segmentation Going beneath the surface of your data

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88 GA is one BIG relational Database Over 85 dimensions and 230 metrics in GA That s 19,550 1x1 combinations But you can segment by up to 7 dimensions and 10 metrics at a time

89 6 Ways to Segment in GA 1. Standard report drilldowns 2. Report secondary & pivot dimensions 3. Custom Reports & Dashboards 4. Advanced Segments 5. 3 rd party tools 6. Data Export API tools

90 6 Ways to Segment in GA 1. Standard report drilldowns 2. Report secondary & pivot dimensions 3. Custom Reports & Dashboards 4. Advanced Segments 5. 3 rd party tools 6. Data Export API tools

91 Standard Report, No Drilldown What s the cause?

92 Standard Report w/drilldown Organic & Referral Spiked

93 Secondary Dimension Segmentation Shows Visits, Bounce Rates for each Keyword but how do landing pages impact this?

94 Secondary Dimension Segmentation Shows Visits, Bounce Rates for each Keyword but how do landing pages impact this?

95 Pivot Segmentation

96 Pivot Segmentation

97 Pivot Segmentation

98 Pivot Segmentation Oregon Bounce rate is 32.45%

99 Pivot Segmentation Organic Oregon Bounce rate is 26.22%

100 Pivot Segmentation CPC Oregon Bounce rate is 37.88%

101 Pivot Segmentation Arizona Organic Bounce rate is just 19.33%

102 Pivot Segmentation Arizona Organic Bounce rate is just 19.33%

103 Geography Segmented Geographic Analysis

104 Geography

105 Geography Default graphic weighted by Visits

106 Geography Change color weighting to use another metric

107 Geo Segment Example Question: What regions have higher conversion propensity outside the home region for Paid Search efforts? Report: Geo map report with Per Visit Goal Value in focus Comparison view of Per Visit Goal Value metric Advanced Segment for Paid Search traffic applied

108 Geo Segment Example

109 Geo Segment Example Adv. Seg applied

110 Geo Segment Example Adv. Seg applied Oregon Excluded

111 Geo Segment Example Adv. Seg applied Map focus set to Per Visit Value Oregon Excluded

112 Geo Segment Example Adv. Seg applied Map focus set to Per Visit Value Oregon Excluded View set to Comparison

113 Geo Segment Example Adv. Seg applied Map focus set to Per Visit Value Oregon Excluded View set to Comparison

114 Additional Geo Segmentation Tips Get creative with geo segments: Segment by latitude/longitude using Data Export API, i.e. Conversion rate for coat purchases above the 45 th parallel Segment by sales territory Count of Visits (segment: )

115 Technology Analysis

116 Internet Explorer Analysis Bounce Rates for IE versions vary wildly IE 9.0 users really have a hard time 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

117 Other Technology Analysis Analyze goal and experience factors Conversion rates Time on Site Pages/Visit Analyze other technical factors: Screen Resolution 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

118 Screen Sizes Report 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

119 Screen Resolution Example Example report using Next Analytics for Excel plug-in: , Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

120 Entrance Point Analysis Where s the Front Door?

121 Entrance Point Analysis Your website s front door is probably NOT the main point of entrance

122 Where Do People Enter?

123 Where Do People Enter? Just 18% enter on the homepage!

124 Where Do People Enter? That s a lot of other doors!

125 Entrance Point Questions to Ask How porous is your site? Most traffic comes/goes from non-portal pages? Portal pages make up the majority entrance/exit points? What is the impact on key metrics?

126 Entrance Point Impact on Key Metrics Custom Report showing landing page key metrics

127 Real-Time Analytics Where s the Front Door? 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

128 Real-Time Reports 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

129 Real-time Analytics Very Cool Near-instant (1 2 seconds) Direct and instant connection to your customers Google Earth spinning globe! Constantly changing numbers & visuals See geographies now Looks awesome on a wall!

130 Real-time Analytics Very Cool Near-instant (1 2 seconds) Direct and instant connection to your customers Google Earth spinning globe! Constantly changing numbers & visuals See geographies now Looks awesome on a wall! Very Useful Is the website online? Is Google Analytics even working? Did that campaign launch? What s trending? Did anyone see the TV Ad?

131 What can Real-Time do? 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

132 Remarketing Lists 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

133 Remarketing Lists with GA Data MUST use this feature!! Enables creation of AdWords remarketing lists based on Google Analytics data Details at marketing.html 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

134 Remarketing Lists in GA 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

135 Remarketing Lists: Secret Visitor-level segmentation tool How many users upgraded to ios from 6.0 in the last 30 days?

136 Remarketing Lists in GA

137 Mobile App Analytics 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

138 GA for Mobile You NEED to be measuring your apps User Experience Marketing performance Engagement & value GA Mobile App reporting: Familiar interface, tuned for mobile app data 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

139 Data Sampling 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

140 Un-sampled Data is AWESOME! Download all your data without sampling Get a clear (accurate) picture of metrics Export large datasets for data warehouse integration , Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc. Note: Unsampled Data is only available in GA Premium Edition

141 Dealing with Sampling Consider GA Premium as part of your toolbox Avoiding Sampling: Sampling defaults at 250k visits, mandatory after 500k Reduce your date range to under 500k total visits Run reports that don t require sampling Standard reports are not sampled unless you apply: Custom Reports, Advanced Segments, Secondary Dimensions require sampling

142 Dashboards

143 Dashboard Best Practices Don t duplicate create something new Combine Metrics that aren t in standard reports Design your report around the question not the data Structure report names Use version numbers in reports My Awesome Report v1.0

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145 Custom Reports

146 Custom Reports Best Practices Don t duplicate create something new Combine Metrics that aren t in standard reports Design your report around the question not the data Structure report names Use version numbers in reports My Awesome Report v1.0

147 Admin

148 Admin Best Practices Redundancy At least 2 admin s An address analytics@gmail.com Governance Limit admin users Keep a log of changes in a Google Spreadsheet Structure Use profiles to sculpt data for users

149 Multi-Tasking in the UI

150 One tab

151 Duplicate it

152 Two tabs!

153 Google Tag Manager 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

154 Google Tag Manager Marketing tag management platform Increases marketing agility Launch new tags in minutes Full QA/Testing built-in Google scale & reliability , Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

155 Google Tag Manager Plan, plan, plan! Inventory your tags before implementing Stage your migration Turn on tags in GTM as you remove them from inpage coding 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.

156 Thanks Questions? Caleb 2012, Caleb Whitmore & Analytics Pros, Inc.