Google Analytics for Store Owners - Intermediate
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The document summarizes key topics from a Google Analytics 201 conference, including how to tear down data curtains, put metrics in context, use segments and filters, track paid advertising and ecommerce, and derive actionable insights. The conference covered advanced analytics techniques like virtual pageviews, event tracking, and combining Google Analytics with other data sources. Attendees learned how understanding user behavior can improve marketing, SEO, and drive profitable actions.
Google Analytics for Store Owners - Intermediate
- 1. CONFERENCE 2012 March 7 - 10, 2012
- 2. Kimberly Hodel GOOGLE ANALYTICS 201: THERE IS NO CURTAIN MARKETING MAGIC
- 3. Welcome to GA 201
- 4. Tear down the curtain • …If you don’t tear down the curtain, you’ll get tangled up in it. • First and foremost: • Know what you're looking for - always start with a precise question • Know your tools • Don't be intimidated by the data • Learn how to manipulate reports to answer your questions …and most importantly?
- 6. 201 Objectives Good data is meaningless if you don’t know what to do with it. • What data is important • How to put the data in context • How to segment the data • How to find actionable insights
- 7. What a great analyst should know Other Tools: • Crazy Egg, Runa, etc • Content Management Systems • Customer Relationship Management Systems • Email Marketing Systems • Ad platforms • Social media platforms
- 8. Also from Google… Webmaster Ad Planner AdWords Tools • Free, lots of • Free, and • Pay when data incredibly someone useful clicks your ad
- 9. What are you trying to accomplish? Save time by knowing what you’re looking for Always start with a question Avoid the overwhelming feeling of searching for a “needle in a haystack”
- 10. Context, context, context! Remember: Don’t be a fool. • Put the data in context of your site, your business, even of the world. • Understand trends – pay attention to the “when” and avoid personal bias whenever possible • Find actionable insights - ask the “right” questions
- 11. You should already know… How to navigate Basic metrics What reports Where the reports Basic report Google Analytics & dimensions are available are located manipulation
- 12. Annotations: Keeping it all in context
- 13. Where do I start? How do we tell if something changes, or something new is happening? • “How do I define change?” Sometimes, changes only happen in a small segment of traffic
- 14. GA201 • Intelligence Reports & Custom Alerts
- 15. Intelligence Reports Analytics Intelligence – Automatic Alerts
- 16. Use Custom Alerts GA can notify you when something happens on your site Configure the alert conditions to the specific metrics and dimensions you wish to monitor
- 17. GA201 – Advanced Segments • Filters vs Segments • What’s the difference?
- 18. Advanced Segments “The coolest tool in school”
- 19. Profile Filters vs. Segments Permanently modifies your data as it flows in to a profile
- 20. Profile Filters vs Segments Create a custom report based on the aggregate Still allow all of the data Best Practice
- 21. GA201 – Advanced Segments • Creating Advanced Custom Segments
- 22. Advanced Custom Segments Create a Custom Segment from any report.
- 23. Advanced Custom Segments Specify your segment’s conditions
- 24. Advanced Custom Segments Pick any single metric, or up to four at a time Rules: Chose from Default Segments and Custom Segments Remember that all reports you view will be segmented until you turn off Advanced Segments
- 26. Best Practices • Advertising and Marketing
- 27. Best Practices: Advertising & Marketing • What we'll be covering... • Attribution – what is it, why does it matter? • Using Analytics to understand and improve the effectiveness of advertising and marketing: • Search engine optimization • Combining your AdWords with your Analytics • Using campaign tracking to track from various sources
- 28. Attribution – What is it? Last-click attribution • The visitors most recent way of arrival (source) to the site is used to attribute – aka “credit” their visit • You can define a visitors attribution by using the _utmz cookie • Cookie deletion affects source information for the visitor
- 29. GA201 – Search Engine Optimization • Branded Keywords • Keywords and landing pages • Linkbuilding
- 30. Search Engine Optimization How can the reports in GA help?
- 31. Filter out Branded Keywords
- 32. Keywords and Landing Pages
- 33. Traffic from Linkbuilding One of the best ways to increase your site's organic search performance is through Linkbuilding.
- 34. GA201 – Paid Advertising • Combining your Analytics & AdWords • Are your ads getting the right attention? • Identifying non-profitable campaigns • AdWords Keywords
- 35. Paid Search Advertising Connect campaigns, Calculate ROI ad groups, based on costs keywords with (from AdWords) and analytics metrics revenue (from such as bounce rate Analytics and time on site goals/Ecommerce) Get AdWords data in your Analytics reports
- 37. Importing Cost Data in to Analytics
- 38. If you don’t link your accounts… • You won't see • You won't see • All AdWords • You'll see all cost data in detailed traffic will the visits, but the Clicks tab campaign show as a you'll be losing in the Google information medium of cpc a large amount Analytics and a source of insightful AdWords of Google, but info without reports no details on applying the campaign cost source data
- 39. Using the Advertising Reports RPC: • “Revenue per click” is the revenue from goal values and Ecommerce revenue, divided by the number of clicks ROI and Margin: • The return on investment and margin are based on the same revenue (goal value = Ecommerce revenue)
- 40. CTR and Bounce Rate Segment to compare two metrics: CTR (click-through-rate) and Bounce Rate
- 41. Remember to use your tabs
- 42. AdWords Drilldown Keywords Adgroup Ad Content
- 44. AdWords Keywords
- 45. Why These Metrics Matter Quickly and easily identify how Campaigns and Ad Groups are performing Increase profitability See if any parts of by eliminating any the day are have that are higher per visit underperforming values
- 46. Best Practices – Site Search • Why tracking your internal searches matters
- 47. Best Practices: Site Search
- 48. Best Practices: Site Search • If your site search is rarely Keep used, visitors might be having problems finding it in • If converting visitors are mind: often searching for a specific item, use that knowledge!
- 49. Best Practices – Advanced Tracking • Virtual Pageviews • Event Tracking
- 50. Virtual Pageviews and Event Tracking Track “hidden” goals: • Downloads • Links to external sites • Video/audio players • Flash & AJAX • Forms (where the page doesn't reload /user remains on the page)
- 51. Virtual Pageviews and Event Tracking GA by default only captures data when a page loads, but what about everything that happens between one page load and the next? Using JavaScript, you can tell GA to track “the actions in between”
- 52. Virtual Pageviews • Know how they work: • Show in reports as “real” page views • Since they show like real page views, you can use them for goals • When should you use Virtual Pageviews? • PDFs and other informational downloads, since they're just a “page” in a different format
- 53. Event Tracking How are they different from Virtual Pageviews? Don't count as page Give you more views, so don't Configured as a granular information show in content Goal Type regarding the exact reports actionable
- 54. Event Tracking
- 55. Best Practices – Ecommerce • Conversions • Ecommerce Reports
- 56. Best Practices: Conversions What’s Important? Use your Negative Goals goals Conversions wisely Metrics of success
- 58. Ecommerce Tracking What products are most popular? ...During what time periods? What are more likely to be purchased in larger quantities? What categories get the most attention? Use the knowledge!
- 59. Context, context, context… The most important things to remember
- 60. Remember… Ask the right questions Fluctuations and fine print Stick with trends, not absolute numbers
- 61. Aggregate data vs. Actionable Insight Use your judgment • Keep in mind things like seasonality and promotional discounts Never obsess over any one metric • Use segments to make sure you get a better idea of the full story
- 62. You’ve got the whole world…
Editor's Notes
- #4: If you're here, you're already familiar with Google Analytics. You can read the reports, but what you really want to know what to do is make them work for you.In Google Analytics, there is a massive amount of click stream data at your fingertips, constantly being fed and charted and at your disposal.If you have your laptop or pad, feel free to log in to your account and follow along.
- #5: Google Analytics is merely a data filled toolbox for you to use however use see fit
- #7: These are the points we’ll be covering in this session.
- #8: There’s data beyond Google Analytics.Some of these tools are free, some are very expensive. It’s good to supplement the data you have from GA. Always take in to account more than just the massive amount of clickstream data available
- #10: Focus on your goals in order to make the best use of the tools available
- #11: Once you get in there, don’t get LOST!
- #12: …Changing date range on reports, comparing, etc
- #13: Make note of any kind of external event that might affect your site. These might include: new design launch marketing campaign launch Social media posts Located below the graph, allows you to set the date for the noted event as well as designate who else can see it.
- #14: Suddenly higher or lower traffic, or goal conversions, or revenue…“What’s the expected value?” – This is information GA can’t provide.Sometimes, change only happens in a particular medium, campaign, visitor type.
- #16: Think of this as, “The morning report of any items of note” – this is the info you would brief the Big Boss on. If you’re only going to spend 10 minutes looking at your GA, this is where you’ll want to start.Quickly identify any large deviations in your data: Note weekly/monthly trends (daily can show too much variation)The more traffic you have, the more accurate/useful this report will be.
- #17: Go beyond the default alerts and use the intelligence reports to have GA notify you(via email and/or text message)**If there’s a drastic change in the amount of data being collected, something may have been changed in your GA account
- #20: Best Practice: Filter out your employees viewing your siteIf any pageview falls outside the selected set, only that pageview is excluded.When you exclude traffic to a specific directory via a filter you are removing any pageviews of just those pages. If a visitor that visited the filtered directory also visited other pages on your site during their visit, then their visit will still be counted
- #21: Use Advanced Segments when you want to monitor multiple factors laterDefine and save custom reports for your account based on advanced criteria
- #23: Click on “Advanced Segments” option on the report you wish to segment.Identify the portion of data you wish to focus on using metrics & dimensions.(Quick reminder on their definitions:Dimension: a ROW in reports = label applied to the dataMetric: a COLUMN in reports = measurement made on a visit)
- #24: Know what to segment out by asking the right questionExample: “How many people come to my site searching the keyword term Miva Merchant?” **IMAGE 9Select your dimension: KeywordSpecify Condition: “Contains”Specify Value: Miva MerchantMix and Match to find your answers: “How can I see how many people visited the site via the search term Miva Merchant, who speak English but don't live in the United States?”Include: Keyword: Contains: Miva MerchantInclude: Language: Contains: enExclude: Country/Territory: Contains United StatesAfter you have saved your segment, it can then be used to focus any report within that GA profile.
- #25: Between Advanced Segments and Custom Reports, Google says, “Here's our database; display the data however you want.”Use Advanced Segments as the Assumption-BusterSpeculations make great questions. Use the data to verify whether or not what you think about your visitors is actually true.
- #26: “Get on base to win the game”Use your data to make informed decisions.“There will always be people who are ahead of the curve, and people who are behind the curve. But knowledge moves the curve. - Bill James”
- #29: GA default is “last-click attribution” _utmz cookie stores source, medium, and campaign informationNote: Direct traffic NEVER overwrites an existing sourceUsers who use a bookmark or who type in your URL retain their attribution from the last source prior to their “direct visit”
- #32: Select “Advanced“ and exclude any terms that are directly related to your brand name (i.e. Coke, Coca-Cola, Sprite)Note: Advanced filters within a report require you to stay within a dimension, although you may combine with various metrics ***IMAGE 12If you want to be able to return to your narrowed results later, it's a good idea to define it as an Advanced Segment Anything you set as a report filter you can set as a segmentFurther narrow your results – Advanced Segments allow you to have greater control by not having a limitation on dimensions
- #33: Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Primary Dimension: Keyword > Secondary Dimension: Landing page This enables you to see what terms are ranking and what pages they visitors are being sent toWhy would the same term send visitor to different pages? (Possibly because they’re coming from different search engines)Why does it say (not provided) or (not set)?If a user is logged in to their Google account when conducting an organic search, they do so in a secure context. The search is still categorized as organic, but query terms are not availableReferral traffic and CPC are not affected by this, and neither are other statistics, such as conversion rate
- #34: “Search sent ___ total visits via ___ keywords & landing pages pivoted by ___ sources”
- #35: Traffic sources > Referring sites With this report, you can see what referring sites are sending the most valuable/highest converting traffic your way- Target quality instead of quantity- Find where people are talking about you, and join discussions, build relationships, etc.
- #38: Make sure you're Analytics and your AdWords accounts are connectedLink them by starting through the AdWords interface User trying to link the accounts must be an Admin on both the Analytics and the AdWords accountsIf you run in to any problems, AdWords has live chat technicians that can assist you (Sometimes, linking them can get a little funky.)
- #39: Analytics Settings > Profile Settings > Edit Profile InformationApply Cost Data > Cost source from AdWords useNow the accounts are linked...AdWords auto tags your campaigns, and Analytics applies the cost data, giving you the result of “How much DID it cost you to get that $50 sale?”
- #41: Impressions, clicks, cost CTR, CPC are all the same as they are in AdWords
- #42: Are your advertisements drawing the customers you WANT?If visitors show high CTR, and low Bounce Rate, it's likely quality trafficCTR helps tell you whether your ad is appealingBounce rate is a great metric to determine whether or not visitors like what they see after the clickAnother good time to use bounce rate – comparison view (any Advertising report) sorted by ad group and viewed in comparison view – see which ad groups are over/underperforming
- #43: Compare Visits and RevenueMonitoring this trend shows if you're driving the right (quality) traffic to your siteUse the Campaign report to see how your campaigns are performing in general as well as in regards to your goals & Ecommerce tabs **IMAGE 21
- #46: These are not the words people are searching for, but instead the terms you've chose to bid onUsing Matched Search query as your primary dimension and Keyword as your secondary dimension will show you what you bid on vs. what people searched forMatch Types:Phrase match: matching the phrase, as it is enteredBidding on “San Diego hotel”? Search terms like “Cheap San Diego hotel” or “San Diego hotel with a view” may display your adBroad Match: “cheap hotel, southern California resorts”Exact Match: “San Diego Hotel”Modified Broad Match: more reach than phrase match, more control than phrase matchshows variants of words following “+.”For instance, “+hotels” would match terms such as motels, inns, etc.
- #49: Use Site Search to understand what visitors were searching for.. and what happened next Did they find it?What were they looking for?Are the right visitors coming to your site, or are people expecting to find things that just aren't there?What vocabulary did they use?Identifying what terms converting visitors are using can help you know what keywords to focus on, for both organic search optimization and paid advertisingDid they have any problems?If visitors are using your internal search and not finding products you DO carry, that's a big problem!Did they buy it?Did visitors who use site search tend to convert moreWhat if they search, find, and don't buy?Is the page confusing?Are they finding the price they want?Do they come back later?Did they bounce?Is something wrong with the way the page is displaying?If not, how long did they stay on the site after the search?
- #52: Not all goals are monetary!
- #53: Google Analytics can track things aren't page views – you can tell it to trigger a “conversion” from an action has been triggered by a visitor
- #54: Used to be the only way to track actionsNote: They will inflate your pageview numbers
- #56: Category:“What are we tracking?”Downloads, VideosAction“What did they do?”Play, pause, full screen, downloadLabelAdditional information you might wantTitle of video, name of newsletter groupValueNumerical value assigned to the event“60” - Length of footage playedOnly one of the four is required, but it's best practice to at least configure both Category & Action
- #58: Is my site accomplishing it's purpose? (Are visitors doing what I wanted them to do?)Tell Analytics what's important on your siteWhat have you determined as your metrics of success?Little trick: negative goalsBest to set up in a different profileMonitor things like 404 page tracking, form errors, or < 3 minutes spent on site – what impact do these have?THIS is “analytics" – go beyond just the hits and “see” your performance
- #59: Track products, quantities, dollar amounts, shipping, etc.A good way to track how products on your site are performing:Product PerformanceSales ReportsTransaction information
- #60: Use the knowledge – knowing what products are driving your sales can help shape external and internal (on-site) adsNote: These reports are not an order processing or accounting system – it's just a way to track and analyze that information.
- #61: The most important things to remember:There's not always a right answer, and be careful not to bog yourself down with too much informationalFocus your efforts on getting the right information
- #62: Analytics isn't a puzzle, so there's not always a definitive answer.
- #63: You'll never know everything, but the important thing is that you can produce results by acting on what you do know!
- #64: Moral of the story? Measure, act, analyze... and then do it all again!