A Beginner’s Guide To
Google
analytics
executive
summary
Expectations have risen for
marketing departments’ abilities to track, measure and optimize different
marketing operations. In today’s world of measured marketing, analyzing data is
essential for businesses but can become overwhelming due to the endless amount
of data available. When used effectively, web analytics tools can help
marketing directors make better-informed business decisions by determining how
user search behavior impacts ROI.
The Google Analytics platform has been rebuilt from the ground
up in an effort to make it as intuitive and helpful as possible. Google has
added a number of new value-add features while keeping the old favorites such
as eCommerce reporting, conversion goals and custom reporting. These new
features are proving to be more valuable than anything offered previously by
the platform.
As part of the new feature sets, Google provides the option to
integrate Webmas-ter Tools into Google Analytics to access search optimization
data and site per-formance metrics. Multi-Channel Funnels, In-page Analytics,
Visitor Flow, Social Plugins, and other new features will help marketers find
new ways to improve their websites and understand how users interact with them.
This guide will enable digital marketers to measure ROI more
efficiently and accurately, allowing them to make informed decisions using the
robust features in Google Analytics.
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Section
1 » Initial
Steps & Best Practices
» Learn
about various access permissions, SSL encryption and why you should link
Webmaster Tools to your Google Analytics profile
Section
2 » Tracking
Code
» How to
implement GA tracking code across your website
Section
3 » Profiles
and Filters
»
How to maintain data accuracy by setting up
multiple profiles
»
How to filter your profile based on multiple
parameters: IP address, subdomains, location, etc.
Section
4 » Custom
Advanced Segmentation
» How
to create custom advanced segments, including four segments that every SEO
should track
Section
5 » Conversion
Goals
» How to
define conversions such as: filling out a form, placing an order, time spent on
site, etc.
Section
6 » Automated
Reporting & Annotations
»
How to automatically send reports in PDF,
XML, Excel, TSV, or CSV
»
Why you should annotate any major events or
changes to your Google Analytics account
Section
7 » eCommerce
Tracking Basics
» How to set
up one of the most useful features of GA to track transactions and order values
Section
8 » Additional
Features
» How
to find the most influential channels that convert on your website using
Multi-Channel Funnels
» Learn
newer GA features such as: search engine optimization, visitor flow, site speed
and content experiments
Section
9 » Additional
Resources
» How to
deepen your understanding of Google Analytics by taking the GAIQ exam.
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Initial steps & best practices
»
Make sure those using your
Google Analytics account have appropriate access (user or admin)
»
SSL Encryption blocks
keywords users search when logged into any Google platform, or when using
Firefox v14. Be aware that when reporting traffic figures, you will have to
adjust for the “keyword
(not provided)” data.
»
Google has discontinued the
use of the old version, v4. All profiles have been updated to version 5.
» To
gain access to more features and reports, make sure Webmaster Tools is enabled
and linked to Google Analytics.
Section
1
Initial
Steps & Best Practices
This guide is
written from the perspective of an inbound marketing agency and is meant to aid
in communication with clients and address common issues that agencies encounter
when tracking analytics data.
Each
of the following sections will address common issues and provide instructions
on how to get the most out of Google Analytics.
Administrative
versus User Access
There are two access levels
in Google Analytics, which have different restrictions. Administrative access
grants full control of all account profiles. User access restricts some of the
profile capabilities. The differences are outlined in the table
below.
description
|
administrative
|
user
|
Create
& Edit Goals
View
Goals
Create
& Share Advanced Segments
Grant
Users Access
Create
& Edit Filters
View
Filters
View
& Edit Profile Settings
View
& Edit Property Settings
View
& Edit Social Settings
View
Tracking Code Settings
Create
& Share Annotations
Create
New Profiles
It
is important to manage user access restrictions to make sure the appropriate
email accounts are either intended to be users or administrators. Check the
‘Users’ tab in the account overview to view the list of email addresses that
can view your analytics profile, as shown below.
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HOW TO
GRANT SOMEONE ACCESS
To YOUR
ANALYTICS PROFILE
1. Login
to a profile with Administrative access. To
Login, go to www.google.com/analytics and click ‘Sign In.’
2.
Choose the
account that you wish to grant someone access to.
3.
Click ‘Admin’ in the top
right corner (see figure 1.1).
4.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Users’ tab.
5.
Click ‘+ New User.’
6.
Enter the
Email Address of the user you wish to add to the profile.
7. Select
the radio button for the type of role for the
new user.
8.
Click ‘Create User.’
HOW TO
KNOW IF YOUR ANALYTICS
Account HAS
ADMINISTRAtIVE ACCESS
1.
Login to
a Google Analytics account. To Login, go to www.google.com/analytics and
click ‘Sign In.’
2.
Click ‘Admin’ in the top
right corner.
3. If
the following tabs appear, then the profile has administrative access: tracking
code, property settings, social settings, goals, users, filters, profile
settings.
4.
If those tabs did not appear
next to ‘Profiles,’ then the account only has User access.
Figure
1.1
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SSL
Encryption
In
October 2011, Google announced that it would start encrypting searches for users
logged in to any Google platform. This means if a user is logged in to Gmail,
Google+, YouTube or another Google platform while searching, Google will
perform the search on a secure socket layer (SSL) and will not pass the
search term referrer data to Analytics.
Also,
other analytics platforms such as Adobe SiteCatalyst and IBM Coremetrics will
not be able to provide keyword information for searches done when logged into a
Google platform. The search term will be identified as “organic” and coming from
Google, but the term will be displayed as “(not provided).” Search terms
used to visit your site through pay-per-click (PPC) ads will still be
available.
In
July 2012, Firefox started encrypting Google searches by default in the newly
released version, Firefox 14. As of June 2012, Firefox controls roughly 25% of
the desktop browser usage share, according to StatCounter.
Old
Versions of Google Analytics
In July 2012, Google discontinued version 4
of Google Analytics and made the transition to version 5 for every profile.
This guide reflects features and instructions for Google Analytics version 5.
Linking
Webmaster Tools To Analytics
In
order to access some of the newer reports in Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools
must be enabled. You must connect a site you own in Webmaster Tools to your
Analytics property. This can be done by logging into the Webmaster Tools
home page, clicking ‘Manage site’ next to the site you want, and then by
clicking ‘Google Analytics property.’ Select the web property you
want to associate with the site, and click ‘Save.’
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Section
2
Tracking
code
»
Make sure the UA code that
identifies your analytics account is implemented on every page of your domain
and/or subdomains.
» When
using the asynchronous code, place it before the closing </head>
tag.
» When
using the traditional code, place it before the closing </body>
tag.
Section
2
tracking
code
There are
multiple types of tracking code available to implement Google Analytics. The
two codes used most often are the traditional and asynchronous javascript code,
and it is important to note the distinctions between the two.
Google recommends using the
asynchronous code because it facilitates faster overall page load times,
improved collection for short visits to script-heavy pages and collects user
clicks that occur before the tracking code loads. It is an improvement on the
traditional code used previously.
An example
asynchronous tracking code is shown below.
<script type=”text/javascript”> var
_gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push([‘_setAccount’,
‘UA-XXXXXXX-1’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]);
(function() {
var ga =
document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true;
ga.src
= (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) +
‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s =
document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>
The
asynchronous code should be placed before the closing </head> tag
because the tracking snippet can execute without blocking other code or
content.
If
the site chooses to use the traditional JavaScript snippet, it should be placed
at the bottom of the page, just before the closing </body> tag.
The traditional code is meant to track after the content has already loaded.
It is okay to have the asynchronous and
traditional tracking codes on different pages of your site, but do not place
both the asynchronous and traditional tracking codes on the same page. This
will not allow Google Analytics to track effectively and will result in
inaccurate data.
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HOW TO VIEW AND IMPLEMENT YOUR TRACKING
1. Create
or Login to a profile with
Administrative access. To Login, go to www.google.com/analytics
and click ‘Sign In.’
2.
Choose the account that you
wish to track.
3.
Click ‘Admin’ in the top
right corner.
4.
Click on the ‘Tracking
Code’ tab.
5.
This page shows the Tracking
ID Number and asks if you are tracking (see figure 2.1):
»
A single domain.
»
One domain with multiple subdomains.
»
Multiple top-level domains.
6.
Select the
appropriate radio button. The tracking code will appear in the box
below.
7. Copy
this tracking code and paste it onto every page you
want to track immediately before the closing </head> tag. The code
provided by Google Analytics is the updated, asynchronous version.
8. View
the source code on the site to make sure the account
ID (e.g. “UA-1234567-1”) is associated with the proper Google Analytics
account.
Note:
Tracking subdomains and multiple top-level
domains will need additional lines of
tracking code, which will be provided in the Google Analytics account of the
main domain.
Figure
2.1
Section
3
profiles
& filters
»
Create and maintain clean
account profiles by setting up one master profile and multiple other profiles
that you can apply filters to.
» Filter
out certain IP addresses to exclude those who may be skewing your data.
Section
3
profiles
& filters
It is important to have multiple profiles set up for one
account/domain so that the data is clean, well organized and available for
quick access. However, creating a new profile does not collect data
retroactively. It only collects visitor information starting 24-48 hours after
the tracking code is implemented.
Digital Relevance™
recommends having the following profiles set up for organizational purposes.
1.
“DO NOT TOUCH” profile. This
profile is meant to hold all of your historical data just in case data is lost.
Do not apply any goals or filters to it. Once data is lost, it cannot be
retrieved. Google Analytics only tracks data starting from the date you set up
the profile.
2. “Master”
profile. This is meant to be the main profile used for
reporting, filtering and goal conversion tracking. You will want to set
up filters to exclude the IP addresses of those working on your site, as well
as any office IPs.
3. “Organic
only” profile. This profile should only have traffic
information from organic search. PPC and referral data should be
excluded. This is used for faster reporting and it’s a good way to segment your
data. Step-by-step instructions on how to create this profile are shown below.
4.
“PPC only” profile. This
profile should only have traffic information from PPC ads. Step-by-step
instructions on how to create this profile are shown below.
5. If
you have other subdomains that you wish to track, you should create another
profile unique to that subdomain, one profile unique to the top domain, and let
the master profile contain both the domain and subdomain in the same profile.
Google combines domain and subdomain information by default.
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HOW TO CREATE A NEW PROFILE
1.
Login to a profile with
administrative access.
To Login, go to www.google.com/analytics
and click ‘Sign In.’
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click ‘+
New Profile.’
4.
Enter a name for the
profile.
5.
Choose a time zone country
or territory.
6.
Click ‘Create Profile.’
You
can use filters to restrict your Google Analytics data based on nearly every
parameter: a specific IP, a geographical location, domain and even by keyword.
Filtering is essential for maintaining clean profiles because it allows you to
exclude traffic sources that could skew your results and to organize your
information more effectively.
Examples of traffic sources
you wish to exclude are: your office IP addresses, a development company
working on your site in another country, your marketing manager’s home IP or
another vendor you are working with. Filters are also how you can limit
profiles to “organic only” or “ppc only.” Below are step-by-step instructions
on how to set up these filters.
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HOW TO CREATE AN “ORGANIC ONLY” PROFILE USING
FILTERS
1.
|
Create a new
profile following the steps above.
|
7.
|
Choose
the radio button for ‘Custom filter.’
|
2.
|
Click the
‘Admin’ button in the top right corner.
|
8.
|
Choose the
radio button for ‘Include.’
|
3.
|
Under
the ‘Profiles’ section, click on the ‘Filters’ tab
|
9.
|
In the ‘Filter
Field’ dropdown, choose
|
(see figure 3.1).
|
‘Campaign Medium.’
|
||
4.
|
Click ‘+ New
Filter.’
|
10.
|
In
the ‘Filter Pattern’ text box, enter ‘organic.’
|
5.
|
Choose the
radio button that says ‘Create new
|
11.
|
Next
to ‘Case Sensitive,’ choose the radio
|
Filter for
Profile.’
|
button for ‘No.’
|
||
6.
|
Name the
Filter, ‘Organic Only.’
|
12.
|
Click ‘Save.’
|
Figure
3.1
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HOW TO CREATE A “PPC ONLY” PROFILE USING
FILTERS
1.
|
Create a new
profile following the steps above.
|
7.
|
Choose
the radio button for ‘Custom filter.’
|
2.
|
Click the
‘Admin’ button in the top right corner.
|
8.
|
Choose the
radio button for ‘Include.’
|
3.
|
Under
the ‘Profiles’ section, click on the ‘Filters’ tab
|
9.
|
In the ‘Filter
Field’ dropdown, choose
|
(see figure 3.2).
|
‘Campaign Medium.’
|
||
4.
|
Click ‘+ New
Filter.’
|
10.
|
In
the ‘Filter Pattern’ text box, enter ‘ppc|cpc.’
|
5.
|
Choose the
radio button that says ‘Create new
|
11.
|
Next to ‘Case
Sensitive,’ choose the radio
|
Filter for
Profile.’
|
button for ‘No.’
|
||
6.
|
Name the
Filter, ‘PPC Only.’
|
12.
|
Click ‘Save.’
|
Figure
3.2
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HOW TO FILTER TO INCLUDE ONLY THE MAIN DOMAIN
1.
Create a new profile
following the steps above.
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Filters’ tab.
4.
Click ‘+ New Filter.’
5. Choose
the radio button that says ‘Create new Filter
for Profile.’
6.
Name the Filter, ‘Main
Domain Only.’
7.
Choose the radio button for
‘Custom filter.’
8.
Choose the radio button for
‘Include.’
9.
In the ‘Filter Field’ dropdown, choose
‘Hostname.’
10. In
the ‘Filter Pattern’ text box, enter ‘www\.domain\. com’
Be sure to replace ‘domain’ with your actual domain name.
11. Next
to ‘Case Sensitive,’ choose the radio button for ‘No.’
12.
Click ‘Save.’
HOW TO FILTER TO INCLUDE ONLY THE SUBDOMAIN
1.
Create a new profile
following the steps above.
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Filters’ tab.
4.
Click ‘+ New Filter.’
5. Choose
the radio button that says ‘Create new Filter
for Profile.’
6.
Name the Filter,
‘Subdomain Only.’
7.
Choose the radio button for
‘Custom filter.’
8.
Choose the radio button for
‘Include.’
9.
In the ‘Filter Field’ dropdown, choose
‘Hostname.’
10. In
the ‘Filter Pattern’ text box, enter ‘subdomain\. domain\.com’
Be sure to replace ‘domain’ and ‘subdomain’ with your actual site names.
11. Next
to ‘Case Sensitive,’ choose the radio button for ‘No.’
12.
Click ‘Save.’
In your master profile, you may wish to view
your most popular pages. However, by default, Google does not show the full URL
that is receiving traffic. For example, the traffic reports would show visits
to “/about-us” or “/services” instead of “www.domain.com/about-us”
or “subdomain.domain.com/services.” The user does not know which domain
the page is associated with. To fix this issue, an advanced filter can be
created to show the full URL.
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HOW TO FILTER YOUR MASTER PROFILE TO SHOW THE
FULL
1.
Create a new profile
following the steps above.
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Filters’ tab
(see figure 3.3).
4.
Click ‘+ New Filter.’
5. Choose
the radio button that says ‘Create new Filter
for Profile.’
6.
Name the Filter, ‘Show
Full URLs.’
7.
Choose the radio button for
‘Custom filter.’
8.
Choose the radio button for
‘Advanced.’
9. In
the Field A -> Extract A dropdown, choose ‘Hostname’ and type ‘(.*)’
into the text box.
10. In
the Field B -> Extract B dropdown, choose ‘Request URI’ and type
‘(.*)’ into the text box.
11.
In the ‘Output To ->
Constructor’ dropdown, choose ‘Request URI’ and type ‘$A1$B1’ into the
text box.
12. Choose
the radio button for ‘Yes’ next to ‘Field
A Required.’
13. Choose
the radio button for ‘No’ next to ‘Field
B Required.’
14. Choose
the radio button for ‘Yes’ next to ‘Override
Output Field.’
15.
Next to ‘Case Sensitive,’ choose the
radio button for ‘No.’
16.
Click ‘Save.’
Figure
3.3
HOW TO FILTER TO EXCLUDE TRAFFIC FROM A SINGLE
IP
1.
Create a new profile
following the steps above.
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Filters’ tab.
4.
Click ‘+ New Filter.’
5. Choose
the radio button that says ‘Create new Filter
for Profile.’
6.
Name the Filter, ‘Exclude
IP.’
7.
Choose the radio button for
‘Predefined Filter.’
8.
In the first dropdown, choose
‘Exclude.’
9. In
the second dropdown, choose ‘traffic from the IP addresses.’
10.
In the third dropdown, choose ‘that
are equal to.’
11.
Enter the IP address in the
text box.
12.
Click ‘Save.’
A company may also use a range of IP
addresses that are consecutive in number. These IPs can also be excluded
quickly without having to make a new filter for each IP address.
For
example, Digital Relevance™ uses the following IP addresses: 174.165.34.1
174.165.34.2 174.165.34.3
…
174.165.34.13
The filter
pattern that can be used to filter out these IP addresses is:
^174\.165\.34\.([1-9|1[0-3])$
To
generate a regular expression like this for a range of IP addresses, please use
this tool provided by Google: http://support.google.com/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55572
This
RegEx filter pattern can be used to create a custom filter. Step-by-step
instructions are shown on the following page.
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HOW TO USE A REGEX FILTER PATTERN TO EXCLUDE A
RANGE OF IP ADDRESSES
1.
Create a new profile
following the steps above.
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Filters’ tab.
4.
Click ‘+ New Filter.’
5.
Choose the
radio button that says ‘Create new Filter for Profile.’
6.
Name the filter, ‘Exclude
IPs.’
7.
Choose the radio button for
‘Custom filter.’
8.
Choose the radio button for
‘Exclude.’
9. In
the ‘Filter Field’ dropdown, select ‘Visitor IP Address.’
10.
Type the
‘Filter Pattern’ into the text box. Filter patterns should be a string
of RegEx code that include the chosen range of IP addresses.
Note that filter patterns
follow RegEx logic.
11.
Next to ‘Case Sensitive,’ choose the
radio button
for ‘No.’
12. Click ‘Save.’
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Section
4
Advanced
Segments
» Create
advanced segments using Regular Expressions to quickly analyze data sets for
your targeted campaign.
»
Learn how to share segments
with anyone with a Google Analytics account.
Section
4
advanced
segments
Creating
Segments
Advanced Segmentation allows you to create custom “segments” of
data from an analytics profile after it has already been filtered. It allows
you to analyze smaller subsets of data and compare how these specific segments
are producing over time.
For example, if you’re a multinational
corporation with both domestic and international target markets, advanced
segmentation allows you to create separate segments to track web traffic from
the U.S. and U.K. Then, you can make the most of your web analytics by
analyzing trends and making comparisons between the two markets.
Another great use of
advanced segmentation involves segmenting social networks like Twitter,
Facebook and YouTube. By tracking traffic from these sites, you can gain
insights into how specific social media campaigns impact your bottom line.
Other
useful types of advanced segmentations could show you the differences between
short tail and long tail search traffic or comparisons between paid and organic
traffic.
Google
Analytics offers a number of segments by default for quick access to selected
data. It is also helpful to create advanced segments that are customized to
track your website’s unique analytical needs.
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Four
recommended custom advanced segments for SEO are:
1.
Organic, Non-branded Keywords (see URL
below to use the segment on your profile)
Purpose To separate non-branded keywords being used to
visit your website.
URL https://www.google.com/analytics/web/permalink?uid=YAq4FE40SkKUGAsBSIXMlA
Tip Make sure to exclude all brand variations and
misspellings when customizing this segment.
Put a pipe, “|”,
between each keyword when using regular expression match to exclude
branded terms.
2.
Organic, Targeted Campaign Keyword Categories
Including Long-Tail
Purpose
|
To
track how well your site is performing for SEO-targeted keyword categories,
including
|
long-tail
variations.
|
|
URL
|
https://www.google.com/analytics/web/permalink?uid=mUtGJQVoTCq0jfqKjkQNng
|
Tip
|
The
SEO industry recognizes “phrase” traffic as “exact match” + “Long-Tail”
traffic. When
|
making
segments, be sure to specify which type of traffic is being reported and
label them
|
|
to avoid any
confusion.
|
|
3. Organic,
Exact Match Targeted Campaign Keyword Categories (Not
Including Long-Tail)
|
|
Purpose
|
To
track how well your site is performing for exact-match SEO-targeted keyword
categories.
|
URL
|
https://www.google.com/analytics/web/permalink?uid=KzwVqcOcTxCwaE4dTpwZ8Q
|
Tip
|
Start
your RegEx string with a carrot, “^,” and put all keywords within parentheses
with
|
a
pipe between each keyword and a “$” sign at the end. Example:^(keyword|keyword|
|
|
keyword)$
This will include only those exact keywords that you have
specified within the
|
|
string, not
including long-tail.
|
4.
Social Media Referrals
Purpose
|
Google
Analytics offers an area for social traffic reporting with default segments
already set up,
|
||
but
you may want to set up your own social segment to track referral traffic from
social networks.
|
|||
URL
|
https://www.google.com/analytics/web/permalink?uid=uKOfrQacTru5NSFPPkOQFw
|
||
Tip
|
Decide
what websites from which you wish to track referral information and enter
them into
|
||
the
RegEx text box, being sure to escape periods with a backslash. Example: twitter/.com|
|
|||
facebook\.com|pinterest\.com.
Periods are regular expression
|
characters that
match
|
||
any
single character. The backslash
|
is
needed so that the segment can treat the period as a
|
||
true period, and
not a RegEx character.
|
|||
Sharing
Segments
When a custom advanced segment is created, it is specific to the
username/log-in account information that created it. Other accounts cannot see
the advanced segment that you create even if both users have administrative
access.
However,
you can share custom advanced segments with other users without sharing any of
your information. They do not have to be granted access to your account in
order to see them. For example, the urls above are advanced segments that we
have created. You can use on your own profiles by copy and pasting the URL into
your browser.
You should be able to
use this advanced segment on your own Google Analytics profile.
HOW TO SHARE ADVANCED SEGMENTS THROUGH A URL
1.
Once you have created an advanced segment
that you wish to share, click ‘Admin’ in the upper right corner.
2.
Select the profile in which
you created the segment.
3.
Under the ‘Assets’ tab, click
‘Advanced Segments.’
4.
You should now see a list of advanced
segments that have been created under your account.
5.
Under ‘Conditions’ on the right side, click
‘share.’
6.
You will be provided with a URL to share the
advanced segment configuration.
Note that
you will not be sharing any traffic data. You can paste the URL in an email to
whomever you wish to
see the advanced segment.
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Section
5
Goals
»
Create conversion goals to
track actionable insights that add increased value to your business.
» Learn
the difference between exact match, head match, and regular expression match
URL destination goals.
Section
5
goals
It is important to define conversion goals to reflect actionable
insights that add increased value to your business. Goals should be used to
track what you want a user to ultimately achieve on your website. These will
vary across different businesses and industries. Examples of possible goals
are listed below:
»
|
eCommerce
transactions/purchases
|
»
|
Downloads
|
»
|
Newsletter
subscriptions
|
» Watching a video about a service or product
|
|
»
|
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When eCommerce data is linked to GA, the
customer transaction costs (conversion values) will be assigned to each
transaction. It would be helpful to assign conversion values to non-eCommerce
goals as well. Each of these goals will be more valuable to some websites than
others, so it is important to determine which add the most value to your
business.
Once
meaningful goals are set up and after data has been collected over a certain
period of time, conversion paths can be analyzed in greater detail with multi-channel
funnels.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p29
EXACT
MATCH vs. HEad MATCH vs. REGULAR EXPRESSION MATCH
A useful goal to set up is a
URL desination goal. This tracks every time a user lands on a specific page,
such as a thank-you page after an event, a form submission or another area on
your website that you ultimately want users to reach.
When defining URL destination goals, it is
important to understand the difference between exact match, head match and
regular expression match. Here are three different scenarios that help explain
the difference between these goal types:
EXACT
MATCH
Example:
If the URL for a completed goal is http://www.domain.com/careers/thanks.html
‘Exact Match’ matches the
exact goal URL that you specify without exception. There are no unique values
in this URL (the goal URL is the same for every user), so we use ‘Exact
Match.’ (Note: to make reporting easier, Google recommends removing
the protocol and hostname from the URL.)
Goal
Type: URL Destination
Goal
URL: /careers/thanks.html
Match
Type: Exact Match
HEAD
MATCH
Example:
The URL for a completed goal has unique values at the end of the URL, as
follows:
http://www.domain.com/careers.cgi?page=1&id=543202
http://www.domain.com/careers.cgi?page=1&id=781203
http://www.domain.com/careers.cgi?page=1&id=605561
‘Head Match’ matches the goal URL from the
beginning of the string up to and including the last character you specify. For
this goal URL, you have unique values that are specific to each user, but you
want to track the goal so that all of these conversions are counted. You can
leave out the unique values and specify.
Goal
Type: URL Destination
Goal
URL: /careers.cgi?page=1
Match
Type: Head Match
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p30
REGULAR
EXPRESSION MATCH
Example:
The URL for a completed goal has unique values for each visitor in the middle
of the URL, as follows:
http://www.domain.com/careers.cfm/sid/9/id/54320211/page2#mini
http://www.domain.com/careers.cfm/sid/10/id/781203/page2#mini
http://www.domain.com/careers.cfm/sid/3/id/6051/page2#mini
Since there are unique values in the middle
of the URL, and ‘page2#mini’ is necessary to define the goal, you cannot use
‘Head Match.’ You need to specify that those unique numbers can be anything, so
you use a regular expression to match this goal.
Goal
Type: URL Destination
Goal
URL: http://www\.domain\.com/careers\.cfm/sid/.*/id/.*/page2#mini
Match
Type: Regular
Expression Match
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p31
HOW TO SET UP A URL DESTINATION GOAL
1. Login
to a profile with Administrative Access. To Login,
go to www.google.com/analytics and click ‘Sign In.’
2.
Click the ‘Admin’ button in
the top right corner.
3.
Under the ‘Profiles’ section, click on
the ‘Goals’ tab.
4. Click
‘+ Goal’ under one of the goal sets. Note:
Only 20 goals may be created for each profile (4 sets of 5 goals).
5. Enter
a goal name and select the radio button marked
‘Active.’ (see figure 5.1)
6. For
this example, we define a goal as a form submission with an exact match URL.
»
The first step for the user is the page with
the form.
» The
second step/goal conversion takes place once the user submits the form and is
taken to a ‘Thank-you’ page. The ‘Thank-you’ page is the goal URL.
7. If
the goal URL is http://www.yoursite.com/ thankyou.html, enter ‘/thankyou.html’
in the text box and select exact match from the dropdown.
8. Optional:
Enter a
goal value associated with a conversion
to this URL.
9. Optional:
Set up a goal funnel. To do this,
enter the
URL of the previous step leading to the goal URL.
In
this example, the page with the form would be the first step in the funnel.
This is especially useful in visualizing the checkout process from the shopping
cart all the way down to the confirmation page after a purchase.
10.
Click ‘Save.’
Figure
5.1
Section
6
automated
reporting & annotations
» Create
conversion goals to track actionable insights that add increased value to your
business.
» Learn
the difference between Exact Match, Head Match, and Regular Expression Match
URL Destination Goals.
Section
6
Automated
Reporting & Annotations
Standard and custom reports can be sent automatically to a
specific email address even if that email address does not have user or admin
access to the GA account. These reports can be emailed on a one-time, daily,
weekly, monthly or quarterly basis and can be specified to send on any day of
the week.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT AUTOMATED EMAIL REPORTING
1. Login
to a Google Analytics profile. The user does
not need to have admin access.
2. Select
the report you wish to send automatically via
email.
3.
Click ‘Email’ on the gray
ribbon towards the top.
4.
A pop-up will be shown, asking for more
information
(see figure 6.1).
5. Specify
the email address that will be receiving the
report(s).
6.
Add a Subject line.
7.
Next to ‘Attachments,’ select
the type of document you wish to send.
Note:
Reports can be sent as a .csv, .tsv, .tsv for
Excel, and as a .pdf.
8. Next
to ‘Frequency,’ select the time interval in which to send the report and
specify the day of the week you wish to send it.
9. You
may also specify how long to leave the automatic email active. Select
the number of months from the drop-down.
10.
Add a description and
click ‘Send.’
Figure
6.1
Annotations
Annotations
allow any user with access to a Google Analytics profile to leave shared or
private notes on the main over-time graph. Annotations should be used to
explain various changes in traffic due to servers going down for an extended
period of time, the launch of new PPC display ads, an infographic or a press
release. They should be used to document when goals were set up or when filters
were applied to a profile. This information can help describe the changes in
site traffic. Annotations should also be used to note the dates for important
milestones on your site such as updates or changes to the site architecture,
technical issues, new initiatives by the marketing department, social
engagement activities and new partnerships. Make sure to make the annotations
‘public’ so that the information is shared to all users associated with the
account.
HOW TO CREATE AN ANNOTATION
1.
Login to
a Google Analytics profile. The user does not need to have admin access.
2.
Select a
Standard Report that has an ‘Overview’ timeline chart (see figure
6.2).
3.
Just below the dates of the
graph, there is a small triangle indicating a hidden dropdown.
4.
Click on the triangle
dropdown.
5. On
the right hand side of the dropdown, click ‘+ Create new annotation.’
6.
Select the
date in which you wish to annotate and enter a description about the
event that occurred.
7. Click
the ‘Shared’ radio button if you wish all
users with access to see the note, or click the ‘Private’ radio
button to keep the annotation hidden to only your login.
8.
Click ‘Save’
Note: You can view other annotations by clicking on the tiny word bubble
icon on the bottom of the ‘Overview’ timeline chart.
Figure
6.2
Section
7
e-Commerce
Tracking Basics
Section
7
e-commerce
tracking basics
Transaction data is a vital piece of information for all
eCommerce website owners when it comes to analyzing online performance. It is
helpful for executives and marketers to see which keyword categories are
driving revenue and what percentage are converting. Making use of the eCommerce
functionality in Google Analytics makes it easier to analyze online marketing
efforts.
When
eCommerce tracking is set up, it allows for an in-depth analysis of most of the
key eCommerce metrics such as revenue generation on a product level, individual
product performance, conversion rates, average order values and more. Analyzing
these metrics provides information that can drive decisions, which could later
result in
significant performance gains. Access to this
information also makes understanding customer behavior and product interaction
much easier. It allows site owners to identify key areas for improvement.
Note:
If a site uses a subdomain during the
shopping cart transaction process, the Google Analytics profile needs
to have tracking enabled for the subdomain.
Otherwise, the eCommerce data will not be accurate. Check to be sure that tracking
is enabled for subdomains by selecting the ‘Admin’ button and then clicking on
the ‘Tracking Code’ tab. Select ‘One domain with multiple subdomains’ to answer
the first question, and then add the tracking code to all associated
subdomains.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p39
HOW TO ENABLE ECOMMERCE TRACKING FOR YOUR
REPORTS
1.
Click on ‘Admin’ in the
upper-right corner.
2.
Under the ‘Profiles’ tab, select
‘Profile Settings.’
3.
Next to ‘E-Commerce
tracking,’ select ‘Yes, an E-Commerce Site’ from the dropdown.
4. Click
‘Apply.’ eCommerce tracking is now enabled, but
there are still a few steps that are custom for implementation with the ga.js
eCommerce methods. When implementing eCommerce tracking, please follow
guidelines and processes found at https://developers.google.com/analytics/
devguides/collection/gajs/gaTrackingEcommerce
After eCommerce tracking has been enabled for
the website’s profile, you will need to ensure that your shopping cart’s
receipt page sends the eCommerce tracking data to Google Analytics. This
requires adding customized tracking code to your shopping cart pages. This can
be done in a variety of ways, such as a server-side include, a module that
comes with your content system, or it can be hand-coded into your HTML code.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p40
Section
8
Newer
Features
Section
8
newer
features
Multi-Channel
Funnels
The Multi-Channel Funnels feature was introduced in August 2011,
and it provides retroactive user interaction data starting from January 2011.
This tool shows how users interact with a website before making a conversion.
It allows webmasters to see exactly which marketing channels had an impact on
the user and which ones led them to convert on the site.
By default, Google attributes conversions to
the most recent referring campaign (last-touch attribution), but you may
want to look at all of the different marketing channels that were used to visit
your site before a conversion took place.
At
a glance, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the data provided, and in some cases,
“(not provided),” but there are a few different ways to compare
marketing channels that can impact actual business decisions.
For
example, there are many reasons that marketers should use this feature for
attribution modeling:
»
To Justify Digital Marketing Budgets
»
To Optimize Digital Budget Allocation
»
To Calculate More Accurate CPA
(cost-per-acquisition) Figures
»
To Plan Campaigns Accordingly
»
To Optimize Affiliate Payments
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p43
In
order to solve these problems, different models should be considered and tested
to see if they align with your marketing strategies and goals. Below is a list
of different models and how each one attributes a conversion.
First Touch Attribution: 100%
of the conversion value is attributed to the first referring marketing channel.
last Touch Attribution: 100%
of the conversion value is attributed to the last referring marketing channel.
Linear Model: Equal
credit is given to each interaction on the path to a conversion and attributes it to each marketing channel.
time-Decay
Model: Assigns the most credit to the last
interactions.
Position-based Model: Assigns
a greater weight to the first and last interactions and is adjusted based on the remaining positions
in between.
By comparing these different models, you can
gain insight into which models are most relevant to your needs and goals in
order to measure the value of your campaign. For more information on selecting
the right attribution model for your business, visit http://www.slingshotseo.com/resources/e-books/valuing-digital-marketing-channels-with-attribution-models/
and take our Campaign Model Assessment.
Note: Goals will
need to be set up in order to have conversion data in the Multi-Channel Funnels
Report.
There
are nine default segments provided by Google, but it is also useful to create
user-defined conversion segments to examine specific user behavior.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p44
Below
are a few multi-channel attribution segments that can help determine which
marketing channel is the most effective.
1.
First-touch, Organic, Non-branded Terms
Purpose:
This segment includes only conversions where the first
interaction was an organic, non-branded keyword. It is a true measure of
the impact of organic search as the start of the conversion process.
Conversion Segments may not
be shared across accounts yet, so below is a screenshot of how the segment
should be set up.
2.
Any Interaction, Organic, Branded Terms
Purpose: This segment helps you
identify how far along the conversion funnel branded terms are being used.
1.
2.
3.
Any Interaction, Social Media
Purpose: What
is the value of a Twitter follower or a Facebook fan? This segment can get you
closer to the answer to this question by looking at the percentage of
interactions from social media that influence conversions.
3.
Search
Engine Optimization
Linking
Webmaster Tools To Analytics
This
reporting feature requires Webmaster Tools to be linked to Google Analytics.
This can be done by logging into the Webmaster Tools home page, clicking
‘Manage site’ next to the site you want, and then by clicking ‘Google Analytics
property.’ Select the web property you want to associate with the site, and
click ‘Save.’
This
feature shows how well your site is performing in search engine results pages,
and provides you with the number of impressions and clicks your site received,
the average position of your site for various keywords and the click-through-rate
(CTR).
It
also provides this information for comparing different countries that are
searching for your site and compares the performance of different landing
pages.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p46
Visitor
Flow / Goal Flow
Visitor
Flow allows you to see where users are coming into your site and how they are
navigating through to different pages. By hovering over each of the pages, you
can see the percentage of users that went through to another page and the
percentage that dropped off.
This can be especially useful when trying to
quantify the value of a lost visitor. It can help determine which of your pages
are the most influential in getting a user to convert on your site.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p47
Goal flow presents the same
diagram with the intent of showing how users converted on your site in one of
the conversion goals you have set up already. It shows which websites referred
the user to your site and how many completed the first and second steps of your
goal funnel.
In the example below, our conversion goal was
how many users downloaded our old Google Analytics Guide after coming to our GA
Guide landing page. We can see the number of users who dropped off and those
who downloaded the guide. It is a useful feature to see if you are converting
as many visitors as you would like, and illustrates the importance of
conversion rate optimization (CRO).
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p48
speed
light
Located
under ‘Content,’ this tool is available within Analytics after linking
Webmaster Tools to your account.
It shows you how well particular pages are
performing on your site by comparing page load times, pageviews, bounce rates,
and exit percent.
Content
Experiments
One
of the newest features to explore in Google Analytics is the experiments
section, located under ‘Content.’
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p49
HOW TO SET UP A CONTENT EXPERIMENT
1.
Enter the
URL for the page you want to improve. Click ‘Start Experimenting.’
2.
Next, choose which
variation page you would like to compare against. You may enter multiple
variation pages, but they each must have a separate URL.
3.
Name each variation and
click ‘Next Step.’
4.
Set the
experiment options for the page by selecting a pre-defined Conversion
Goal or creating a new Goal. This will be the Experiment’s objective metric.
5. You
may choose to include only a certain percentage of users in the
experiment. Google advises, “If you want quicker results, you might want to
include a higher proportion of your visitors in the
experiment.
However, if your experiment is drastic and risky, you might want to include
only a small proportion of your site’s visitors.”
6.
Select the
desired percentage, add notes, and click ‘Next Step.’
7. This
last step informs you that a small amount of experiment code must be added to
the page. You can either implement the code yourself, or send instructions to
your webmaster.
8. After
you have updated your pages with the experiment code, click ‘Next’ to validate
the code, review your configuration, and run the experiment.
Running experiments like this can help
determine what layout and design is best for converting visitors on your site.
It gives you visitor data so you no longer have to guess which page would
perform better.
a
beginner’s guide to google analytics
| p50
additional resources
Google offers many resources ranging from the
basics to advanced technical knowledge and troubleshooting. There are many
additional features offered by Google Analytics that were not mentioned in this
guide. Even those with a strong command for analytics will quickly find that
there is always more to learn. Here are a few helpful resources provided by
Google and the SEO community for Google Analytics:
Google’s Getting Started
Guide
This
getting started guide is the perfect place to learn about the benefits of
analytics, signing up, installing the tracking code, additional resources for
newcomers, intermediate users and advanced users. http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1008015&topic=1726909&ctx=topic
Google Analytics Blog
Stay
on top of all major changes to Google Analytics by frequently visiting this
official GA blog. http://analytics.blogspot.com/
Google Analytics IQ Lessons
Deepen
your understanding of Google Analytics by taking these free lessons. The
lessons cover many topics, including cookies, eCommerce tracking, Regex,
AdWords integration, interpreting reports, and more in-depth analysis.
Slingshot SEO strongly encourages watching these videos and taking the GAIQ
test to become a more knowledgeable user. http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/iq.html?
Google Analytics IQ Test
Become
Google Analytics certified by taking this exam, which covers the topics taught
in the GAIQ Lessons. http://google.starttest.com/
Occam’s Razor by Avinash
Kaushik
Avinash
is a digital marketing evangelist for Google and a web analytics guru. His blog
includes one-of-a-kind insights that help users get the most out of Google
Analyitcs. http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/
SEOmoz Blog
The
SEOmoz community frequently includes clever Google Analytics tips and tricks
that are worth checking out. http://www.seomoz.org/blog
how to pass the google iq
test
Read our guide to the Google IQ test that includes
10 practice problems to help you prepare for the Google Analytics Individual
Qualification (IQ) Test. http://www.slingshotseo.com/resources/guides/gaiq-test-practice-problems/
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