John Biancamano Inbound Digital LLC 609.865.7994 InboundDigital.net
About Me Owner of Inbound Digital, LLC digital marketing consulting and training: websites, SEO, advertising, and social media. Senior management positions in marketing, sales, and product development with technology companies for 25+ years. Worked in digital marketing, web development, search optimization, and content creation for 15+ years. Small business mentor and former Chapter Chairman with Princeton SCORE.
Marketing Analytics
Why Use Analytics? Measure results to see the effectiveness of your online marketing and social media programs: to identify what works, to help you make better decisions, and to focus more of your investment in the most productive areas. Monitor on-going performance, make changes, as needed, until you ve achieved your goals. Am I getting the behavior I want (conversions)?
Website Metrics Use Google Analytics or a similar tool to monitor and measure the effect that social media engagement has on your website traffic. Website Traffic to look at: Who is visiting your website: new vs. repeat. How are they finding you: search, ads, social media, What are visitors doing when they get to you site.
Am I Getting My Desired Behavior?
Social Media & E-mail Metrics Social Media Website analytics measure: Social engagement (clicks, Likes, follows, comments, shares, etc.) Impressions (reach) how many people see your promotion. Your influence within your industry. E-mail Analytics measure Opens and CTR They don t measure the effects of social media or e-mail interactions with your website and the effects you campaigns have on business.
Companion Tool: Google Search Console
Data Analytics Concepts
Aggregated vs. Segmented Data Aggregated data helps you understand overall user trends and how patterns change over time. Segmenting your data helps you understand why patterns change. Segment a set of users that share common attributes: Geography country, state, city Marketing Channel organic search; PPC; social media; email, Device desktop; mobile New vs. Repeat visitor
Getting Started with Google Analytics
Google Analytics Getting Started Go to google.com/analytics to create a new account.
Account Sign-in Sign in with an existing account. Create a new account.
UA-12345678-9 Paste it immediately before the closing </head> tag. UA-12345678-9
WordPress Plugin Just add Tracking ID
Google Analytics - Basics
Google Analytics Account Hierarchy Unique Businesses or Business Units Website, Mobile App,
Google Analytics Account Hierarchy Account Must have at least one account to access GA. Property - website, mobile application, or device (e.g. a kiosk or point-of-sale device.) An account can contain one or more properties. Views - a defined view of data from a property A property can have up to 50 views. User - can add users at the account, property, or view level. Permissions - can restrict user access at each level.
Google Analytics Account Hierarchy
Google Analytics Property Views
How many Views should you have? At least 2-3 views for each property: 1. Unfiltered View (All Web Site Data) - Default Automatically generated when you create a property. It s a backup for all your data. Don t applied configuration settings to this view. 2. Master View (can have multiple Master Views) Includes all the configuration settings to provide the information you need to evaluate your online performance. 3. Test View (protect your data) Test configuration changes using the Test View first.
Property Views Important Points Once Google Analytics processes data from your website or mobile app, it cannot be changed. Once a View is deleted, it s gone forever. New views start collecting data from the date they are created a view is not retroactive! No historical data is copied into the new view. Develop your measurement plan prior to setting up your properties and views!
Google Analytics Data Model Website Visitor Mobile App User Time Spent Any Engagement
Google Analytics Data Model USER (Visitor) New or Repeat Visitor SESSION (Visit) One or More Interactions Individual Interaction = Hit - Pageviews - Clicks - Form Completions - Transactions
How Google Analytics Creates a User
How Google Analytics Creates a Session
4 Components of Google Analytics It s important to understand how data is collected and processed before it s presented in the reports.
Google Analytics Terminology
Google Analytics Terminology Users (Visitors) # of visitors to a website over the course of a specific time period. Sessions (Visits) # of times a website has been visited. A session begins when someone comes to a page on your website from another website. A session ends when they click away from your website or close the browser. Exceptions: When you are on a website at midnight, a new session starts. When someone is inactive on your website for 30 minutes (default), then engages after that, a new session starts. Pageviews - # of time pages were loaded (viewed) on your website. Unique Pageviews - # of different pages viewed on you website.
Google Analytics Terminology Direct Traffic a visitor types your URL into their browser's address bar or uses a bookmark to get to your website, plus: Clicking a link from: email, document, shortened URL. Clicking a link from a mobile app (doesn t pass referrer info). Clicking a link from https:// to http:// no referrer info passed. Anytime Google cannot determine the referrer. Problems can be overcome by adding tracking URLs. Organic visitors who come to your website from unpaid search. CPC visitors who come to your website from paid search ads. Referring Sites other websites that refer or send visitors to your website.
Google Analytics Terminology Time on Site length of time a visitor spends accessing (viewing) your website. Time on Page length of time a visitor spends viewing a page. Bounce a visitor only views one page of your website before leaving. Bounce Rate % of visits in which the visitor only views one page of your website before leaving. Filter a configuration that includes or excludes specific data from you reports (e.g. excluding internal traffic or including traffic only from specific geographic locations). Conversion completion of a goal (sale, download, fill out form )
Source and Medium Source How a user came to your website - the origin of your traffic: search engine social network email campaign direct Medium - the general category of the source: organic search (organic), paid search (cpc), website referral (referral). none (direct traffic)
Dimensions and Metrics Dimensions - A dimension is a descriptive attribute or characteristic of an object that can be given different values. They describe characteristics of your visitors, their sessions and actions location, browser, source/medium, social, pages,... Dimensions are the rows in Google Analytics reports. Metrics - Metrics are individual elements of a dimension that can be measured as a sum, average, or ratio. Users, pageviews, sessions, average duration, bounce rate, Metrics are the columns in Google Analytics reports.
Dimensions and Metrics
Dimensions and Metrics
Google Analytics Time Calculations
How GA Calculates Time Time is calculated as the difference in engagement hits. (vs. time between pageviews) A hit is an interaction that results in data being sent to Google Analytics: Pageview hits Event tracking hits Ecommerce transaction hits Social interaction hits
How Google Analytics Calculates Time *
How Google Analytics Calculates Time By adding multiple engagement hits to a page, you can get a more accurate measure of time on page and time on site. *
How Google Analytics Calculates Time *
Google Analytics Reports Overview Demo
Google Analytics Audience Reports
The Audience Reports Who is visiting your website? Provide insight into the characteristics of your audience. Inbound
Audience Reports - Dimensions Demographics* (Age, Gender) - precisely tailor your content and advertising, including graphics, language, and technical sophistication. Interests* (Affinity Categories, In-Market Segments, Other Categories) - expand your advertising into related markets (Affinity Categories), and focus your advertising on the users who demonstrate a likelihood to consume your content or purchase your products. Geo (Language, Location) - where are visitors coming from; who is showing interest within and outside of your target market. Behavior (New vs. Returning, Frequency, Engagement) - Measure the extent to which you re encouraging first-time users to return.
Audience Reports - Dimensions Technology (Browser & OS, Network) what technologies are visitors using to reach your website and consume your content; be sure your website is fully functional in desktop and mobile browsers. Mobile (Devices) understand users mobile preferences: devices they use, screen sizes, how they interact with your content. Custom (Custom Variables, User Defined) Benchmarking compare your data with aggregated industry data; helps to set meaningful targets, gain insight into trends. Users Flow (Content, Landing Pages) a graphical representation of the paths users took through your website, from where they entered, through the pages they viewed, to where they exited your website.
Google Analytics - Dashboards
Dashboards Dashboards allow you to create customized views of your Google Analytics data using widgets. Look at the important data subsets without having to navigate through the standard reports. A widget is a mini-report, which can display data in a number of layouts, including simple numeric metrics, tables and charts. Create new dashboards or import a predefined dashboard. All dashboards can be edited by adding up to 12 widgets. Dashboards can be Private or Shared.
Google Analytics Acquisition Reports
The Acquisition Reports How are visitors getting to your website? Which online marketing tactics are driving the most traffic to your website, and what tactics bring in the most qualified leads.
Acquisition Reports - Dimensions Channels default channels include: direct, organic search, referral, email, paid search, social, and more. Default Channel Groupings can be edited, or you can create a new Channel Grouping. Source/Medium - combines the dimensions Source and Medium. Examples of Source/Medium include google/organic, example.com/referral, and newsletter9-2014/email. Source: the origin of your traffic, such as a search engine (Google) or a domain (example.com). Medium: the general category of the source, for example, organic search (organic), cost-per-click paid search (cpc), web referral (referral). Referrals - a recommendation (link) from one website to another.
Acquisition Reports - Dimensions AdWords link your AdWords and Google Analytics accounts to get access to the entire picture of customer behavior, from ad click or impression, through your website, to conversion. Search Engine Optimization gets reports from Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools); requires Search Console integration. Social measures the impact and effectiveness of your social media initiatives; analyze all social networks together to see how social engagement impacts your business. Campaigns - compare traffic from search, referrals, social, email, and marketing campaigns.
Google Analytics - Filters
Setting Up Basic Filters Filters provide a way to modify data within each view, and transform the data to better align with your business needs. Filters can be use to: Exclude/Include: Exclude specific data from, or include only specific data in your reports. Lowercase/Uppercase: Transform the filter field to all lowercase or uppercase. The filter affects only letters. Search and Replace: Replace a string in the filter field with another string in your report so your reports are more readable. Filters are applied during processing to the raw data collected from you website. They are applied in the order specified.
Exclude (company IP address) Filter
Google Analytics - Segments
Segments Segments allow you to isolate & analyze subsets of your data. A segment is a series of individual filters that create a defined slice of the data. Segments can be applied to reports and dashboards to show only that data that matches the filters. Creating Segments: Drill down in tables Add a Segment
Google Analytics Behavior Reports
The Behavior Reports What are visitors doing when they get to your website? What content is viewed. What content is effective. How are visitors moving around your website.
Behavior Reports Analyze user engagement with the Behavior Flow report. Use the Behavior Flow report to investigate how engaged users are with your content and to identify potential content issues. The Behavior Flow can answer questions like: Is my content generating calls-to-actions? Where are visitors dropping off my website? Did users go right from product pages to checkout without any additional shopping? Are there paths through your site that are more popular than others, and if so, are those the paths that you want users to follow?
Behavior Reports Content Analysis See where visitors are entering and exiting your website. Track interactions with CTAs - buttons, links, and downloads on your website. In-depth analysis of your audience s interactions with your page content can lead you to new page designs, smoother sales and opt-in processes, and other conversion optimizations. Monitor loading speed for your web pages. Content Experiments lets you test which version of a landing page results in the greatest improvement in conversions. You can test up to 10 variations of a landing page.
What Do You Do With Behavior Information? Learn what content visitors like to consume what content help to achieve your business goals. See if your landing pages are effective. See where visitors enter and exit your website is it the behavior you are looking for? Look at how visitors flow through you website content. Experiment with variations to see what content works best to help you reach your goals.
Behavior Reports Content Experiments Simple A/B testing of your landing pages. Test up to 10 versions of a page at once and see which are most effective for your goals. Improve user experience and conversion rate.
Google Analytics Conversion Reports
Conversion Reports Measure the success of your online marketing efforts as they relate to your business goals.
Conversions Getting a prospect to take a desired action. A completed activity that is important to your business goals. Measure Conversion Success with Conversion Goals
Macro and Micro Conversions A macro conversion is the primary conversion on a website, for example a sale on an ecommerce site or a completed lead gen form. A micro conversion relates to smaller engagements such as signing up for a newsletter or watching a product video. Micro conversions can often lead to the macro conversion.
Measuring Micro Conversions By measuring micro conversions, marketers can know where prospects are in the buying cycle. By knowing where prospects are in the buying cycle, marketers can provide appropriate content to keep them engaged and moving further down the marketing funnel. Improve website content that isn t converting.
Common Micro Conversions Share content via email or social media Sign up for a mailing list Convert on an email offer Download an ebook or whitepaper Subscribe to a newsletter Watch a video Read a product review View estimated shipping charges Add product to shopping cart
Conversion Goals
Define Goals in Terms of Website Actions Have a goal in mind when you develop a website!
What Actions to Track? Macro Conversions Purchases Downloads Micro Conversions Sign up for newsletter Contact form completion Clicks on social links Watching product videos Track goals that contribute to revenue!
Goals
Use Tracking URLs to Monitor Social Media and Email Campaigns
Why Add Tracking URLs? To identify which specific marketing campaigns or links are driving traffic to your landing pages. Traffic sources can t be accurately tracked if you use the same link in every URL. Tracking requires different links for each campaign.
Why is Campaign Tracking So Important?
URL with UTM Parameters - Example Inbound
Tracking Online Marketing Campaigns Google URL Builder: https://ga-devtools.appspot.com/campaignurl-builder/
Tracking URL Example Google URL Builder will create a tracking URL. http://inbounddigital.net/2014/10/11/how-technology-companies-can-effectively-usedigital-marketing/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign= 2015.02.11-digital-marketing-technology-companies Use a URL Shortener (e.g. bit.ly) to reduce the size of the URL: http://bit.ly/1lxfav1 Use shortened URL link in your post: Monitor results in Google Analytics - Campaigns.
Final Takeaway
Everything you do online must support your Business Goals! Only by measuring the results can you determine your success in reaching those goals!
Thank You! Any Questions?