Getting the most from Google Analytics by Dave Chaffey

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Getting the most from Google Analytics

Dr Dave Chaffey, CEO Smart Insights

March 23rd 2011Fusion Marketing Expererience, Brussels

Download presentation from: SmartInsights.com

Download presentation from: SmartInsights.com

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Getting the most from GA

What type of business are you?

• Ecommerce

• B2B

• Brand

• Media

• Agency or consultant

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1.Working Smarter with reports

• Advanced filter/weighted sort• Pivot tables• Analytics Intelligence

4. Marketing campaigns

• Campaign tracking for email• Campaign tracking for social• Adwords funnel and Match types

2.Advanced segments

• Medium dimensions• Time period dimensions• Value metrics

5. Profile and filter setup

• Comparing conversion rates• Goal setup and segmented funnels• Improving on-site search

3. Dashboards and custom reports

• RACE Digital Marketing Framework• Time-based custom reports• Value and engagement custom reports

6. Advanced server-based technique

• Event tracking• Virtual page views• Custom variables

Workshop structure

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Books

Qualifications

Bestpractice

About Dave Chaffey• Strategy &

analytics

• Search & conversion

• Strategyconsulting

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Enhancing key pages have resulted in increases in conversion rate of 20%, 63% and 115%. Source:

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What value are you creating?

The 3 key value measures in GA:

• 1. Index value (Top content reports)Shows the influence of pages in generating value either through Ecommerce transactions or conversion goals with a value assigned.

• 2. Per Visit Goal Value (Traffic Sources reports for Referring sites, Search Engines and Keywords – Goal tab) Based on value assigned to your conversion goals this shows you the Total Goal Value for your reports.

• 3. Per Visit Value (Ecommerce Revenue per visit) You can see Per Visit Value measures within Traffic sources on the Ecommerce tab if you have Ecommerce tracking enabled.http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/2010/05/11/how-much-value-is-your-website-generating/

http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86205

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Working with reports in a smarter way

Customisation technique 1

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Source: Craig Sullivan independent survey 2009

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Content drilldown shows relative

page type efficiency

Practical tip Review % age of visits by

different landing page types (for first time and repeat visitors)

Practical tip Review % age of visits by

different landing page types (for first time and repeat visitors)

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Smarter reporting options

• Filter reports with simple filter based on page or keyword name

• New: an Advanced Filter on variables or weighted sort

• Use Pivot tables

• New: Setting annotations – beneath the top chart

• Intelligence Beta:Review standard alertsvia left menu

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Example Pivot + Filter

Practical tip Use New Weighted Sort

to gain a similar effect

Practical tip Use New Weighted Sort

to gain a similar effect

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Use GA’s “Intelligence”

Read post on setting up Intelligence

Tip: Use Custom Alerts in your systemTip: Use Custom Alerts in your system

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Segmenting your audience by setting up

advanced segmentsCustomisation technique 2

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Segmenting Traffic value• Key referring segments:

• Search

• Paid vs Natural

• Branded vs non-branded

• Email marketing

• Affiliates

• Social media

• Don’t forget:

• New vs returning/customer non-customer

• First and last referrer. Use attribution scripts:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Analytics/thread?tid=0e672a6afb56558c&hl=en

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Segmenting search visits

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Advanced segments – more options1. Segmentation by Referrer / Traffic source:

• Paid• Natural• Paid and natural brand and non-brand• By number of keywords – 2,3,4• Social media 2. Segmentation by Visitor Type• New visitor• Returning visitor• Registered visitor• Customer

3. Segmentation by Engagement• 5 pages,• <3 pages

4. Segmentation by Content Viewed • Key landing page• Product page• Checkout complete• Folders for large organisation

5. Segmentation by Landing Page Type

6. Segmentation by Event:• Conversion goal types and E-

commerce 

7. Segmentation by Platform (less important)

• Browser• Screen resolution• Mobile platforms

8. Segmentation by Location • Main markets• UK• US• FIGS• ROW

+ By behaviour – search and browse

See http://www.smartinsights.com/blog/web-analytics/google-analytics-web-analytics/segmenting-google-analytics/

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Some ideas for using custom reports

• 1. Time reporting. Use a dimension of week/month to compare performance over time more easily

• 2. Value reporting. Repeat the value of different contributors:

• Keywords

• Landing pages

• Product categories

• Countries

• 3. Role-based reporting.Setup different tabs for different types of people or marketing activity

http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2010/02/leverage-custom-web-analytics-reports-insights.html

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‘How to’ example of a custom segmentNotes:

1. Chose a Dimension of ‘Keyword’ and ‘matches exactly’ , ‘contains’ or RegEx for your brand names2. No metrics are required.3. Test the segment first, but you will need to enter a name for the segment to do this. 4. For brand name variants use “Matches regular expressions” and separate by a pipe symbol ‘|’.5. Note that segments are specific to a profile initially – you may want to share them.

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Gap analysis to maximise search value

• Should show:

• Potential performance from keyphrase estimators

• Your actual performance (position, clicks, conversion, sales, value):

• Paid – absolute and relative

• Natural – absolute and relative

Integrate sourceswith scripts or

Excel VLOOKUP()function

http://www.smartinsights.com/blog/search-engine-marketing/google-analytics-seo/

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Creating dashboards and custom reports within

Google AnalyticsCustomisation technique 3

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How do you use the dashboard??

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Drilling Down with Custom reports + segmentation

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Some ideas for using custom reports

• 1. Time reporting. Use a dimension of week/month to compare performance over time more easily

• 2. Value reporting. Repeat the value of different contributors:

• Keywords

• Landing pages

• Product categories

• Countries

• 3. Role-based reporting.Setup different tabs for different types of people or marketing activity

http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2010/02/leverage-custom-web-analytics-reports-insights.html

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UsingRACE

forDigital

Marketing Optimisatio

nhttp://www.smartinsights.com/blog/digital-marketing-strategy/digital-marketing-planning-template

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RACE dashboard for Eretail

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Setting up marketing campaign tracking

Customisation technique 4

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Campaign tracking • Adwords will be tracked automatically

provided you have specified within Adwords• All other referring campaign traffic sources

need parameters adding where practical• Example: http://econsultancy.com/reports/search-engine-optimization-

seo-best-practice-guide?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=generic

Variable Meaning

utm_campaign

The name of the marketing campaign, e.g. Spring Campaign.

utm_medium

Media channel (E.G CPC, Organic (Google defaults), Email, Display, Affiliate, Social, etc). What is the ‘distribution method’ that is used to get our message out to our clients?

utm_sourceWho are you partnering with to push your message. A publisher, or for paid search Google, Yahoo, Live Search,

utm_contentThe version of the ad (used for A/B testing). You can identify two versions of the same ad using this variable.

utm_termThe search term purchased (if you’re buying keywords). This is not always used and is NOT included in the above example.

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Tip: Use a URL builder or spreadsheet

• Another example – Email marketing

• Many Email service providers have this as a feature – just need to enable

• http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=8909

• &utm_campaign=CCXAQ081009A

• &utm_source=Monthly_xArts_Email

• &utm_medium=Internal_Email

• &utm_content=CCXAQ081009A_Bunker_image [or A_Bunker_intro]

• Try the Google URL builderhttp://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578

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Advanced segmentation for social media

Source (Step 10) : http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/web-analytics/configuring-google-analytics-guide/

See also: www.davechaffey.com/online-reputation-management-tools

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New May 2010 Google Adwords Beta and Search

Funnels

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Modifying profile setup within

“Google Analytics Settings”

Customisation technique 5

Goals and funnels

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“How does our conversion compare?”

Source: http://www.marketing-online.co.uk/wiki/Ecommerce_Conversion_Rates_Statistics

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Filters and profiles:Use site URL structure for countries, product

categories, etc.

• To avoid a problem of errors there should be a master profile which NEVER has any filters applied.

• Process:

1. Create Advanced segment to test filter.

2. Create filter.

3. Apply to a test profile (only used for testing purposes – can check in minutes).

4. Create final profile and apply filter.

5. Grant access to this profile

Further reading:http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/2009/12/09/how-to-choose-between-advanced-segments-versus-profile-filters-in-google-analytics/http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/?hl=enhttp://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/accounts_profiles/index.html  http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/filters/index.html http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/concepts/gaConceptsAccounts.htmlhttp://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/gaTrackingSite.html

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Filter example

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You need to know basics of Regular Expressions before

working on profiles1.Why are RegEx needed? Range of situations…

2.The main RegEx you need…• A. Pipe “|” matches alternatives pages “Or”:

^/(car-insurance|van-insurance|)/

• B. Caret “^” matches head – everything from start of string

• C. “?” Last character optional - Chaff?e?y

• D. “$” Don’t’ match if any characters after this e.g. ^/$

• E. “\” Escape (ignore) the next character /folder\?pid=123

3.Test with… Adv. Segments, Filters, Test ProfilesGuide: http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2010/05/20/regular-expressions-ebook-relic-valuable-tool Regex tester: http://www.analyticsexperts.com/resources/google-analytics-regex-filter-tester http://www.regular-expressions.info/javascriptexample.html

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New – 20 goals in GA so group them!

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Setting up conversion goals

► Remember to►Setup multiple conversion goals►Attach notional value to each►Can then assess $Index value by referrer and content

► Ecommerce sites have specific product value attached so generally best not to add value to non-sales goal

Consider additional goals – social bookmarking, commenting, catalogue requests, etcSee Ran Nir: http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2009/03/10-must-track-google-analytics-goals.html See also http://www.viget.com/engage/how-to-track-internal-links-in-google-analytics/

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Conversion funnels► These can be setup for each conversion goal► Example: Email sign-up, Landing page, checkout► Consider higher level funnels – or use conversion goals for these

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Example of simple funnel setup and what NOT to do

Gotchas 1. The match type also applies to the funnel care with exact match

Gotchas 2. Not actually the URL start with /<page>

Gotchas 4. Missing/wrongly assigning goal value

Gotchas 5. Required step may exclude some behaviour e.g. entry deeper into funnel

Gotchas 3. Including a trailing slash /

http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2008/06/25/funnel-problems-google-analytics/NB – Segmenting funnel: http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2010/06/04/segment-goal-funnel-google-analytics/

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Segment your funnels!

Source: http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2010/06/04/segment-goal-funnel-google-analytics

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Tracking on-site search

Tip find the search query parameter from the URL of a search results page

Coremetrics UK Retail benchmarks

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Case study: Next.co.uk

Aim: Evaluate business case for improving onsite search merchandising

Methodology: For example search use Google Website Optimizer to AB Test current search results page for “Boys socks” against a static “ideal” example

Results: The new results page caused a reduction in search exit rate of 19%. If this reduction was replicated across all onsite searches, it would result in a 4.1% increase in online revenue.

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Customisations that require server modifications

Customisation technique 6

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Ecommerce tracking

See http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/asyncMigrationExamples.html

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Consider using new Async tracking…

• Google Analytics Asynchronous tracking was announced Dec 2009, live May 2010, it enables you to add tracking code within <head> potentially increasing page views and bounce rate

• Instructions/background:

• http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-now-easy-to-set-up-new-sites-with.html

• http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/asyncTracking.html

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Tracking user actions that don’t have pages

associated…• Examples:

• A . Tracking calls-to-action – clicks on links and buttons

• B. Steps in a funnel process which don’t have separate pages e.g. Forward, Back, Next, Save

• Options:

• 1. Event-tracking – easier – has it’s own separate reports best for links, but NB CAN’T SETUP GOALS

• 2. Virtual page views – can track goals and can create URLs for RegExp processing, but NB WILL INFLATE PAGE VIEWS

Also: http://cutroni.com/blog/2010/03/30/tracking-internal-campaigns-with-google-analytics

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http://thejohnfmoore.com/2010/02/12/espares-a-uk-company-that-is-delivering-value-with-social-media

A/B testing showeed the products with customer generated reviews and fitting advice had a 6.2-14.2% increase in conversion rate.

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Using event tracking in GA ► Use event tracking for finding how popular different activities are:• Downloading documents (PDFs)• Clicking outbound links• Playing video clips• Add to basket

► Best script to apply :http://blog.immeria.net/2009/01/google-analytics-script-to-track.html

Async tracking example:_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X']);_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);...<a onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'category', 'action', 'opt_label', opt_value]);">click me</a>

Traditional ga.js tracking example:var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker('UA-XXXXX-X');pageTracker._trackPageview();...<a onclick="pageTracker._trackEvent('category', 'action', 'opt_label', opt_value);">click me</a>

http://analytics.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-tracking-now-available-in-all.html

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Virtual Page Views• Can also use Virtual Page Views, e.g. for funnel steps but need to exclude False

Page Views with additional filter?

• Async tracking • <a onclick="javascript: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/motor/step1-complete/']);"

href="http://www.someurl.com/process-form">Continue to Step 2</a>

• Traditional ga.js tracking• <a onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview ('/motor/step1-complete/');"

href="http://www.someurl.com/process-form">Continue to Step 2</a>

• See http://www.viget.com/engage/how-to-track-internal-links-in-google-analytics/

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Segmenting pages/product by performance

High Potential(Problems)

Top Performers

(Stars)

Low Potential, Low Performance

(Dogs)

Consistent Performers(Cash Cows)

Conversion rateOr conversion rate variance (add to basket) compared to average

Pag

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pop

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(vie

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page v

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Cross-domain tracking

• http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55503

• http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/domains_subdomains/index.html

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Custom variables in Google Analytics

• Original called _setVar Javascript function on page that uniquely identifies these visitors. Sets cookie for 2 year period.

• Now _setCustomVar • With up to 20 variables• Possible applications:

•Different subscribers - bronze, silver, gold•Customers vs non-customers

Read more: http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/gaTrackingCustomVariables.html

E-retail example: http://www.e-nor.com/blog/index.php/web-analytics/google-analytics-gift-to-humanity-multiple-custom-variables/

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E-retail example: http://www.e-nor.com/blog/index.php/web-analytics/google-analytics-gift-to-humanity-multiple-custom-variables/

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Google Website Optimizer:

7 key test types1. AB Test (ABC Test)Compare 2 or more page versions

2. Multivariate testCompare different versions of page elements

3. Split-path testCompare 2 or more linear paths

4. Multipath multivariate testMulti-elements, multipages

5. Do Anything TestMeasure multiple conversion goals

6. Linger testMeasure engagement with page

7. Click testMeasure clicks on advertiser links or to an external checkout

Read more: http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/11/02/google-website-optimizer-7-powerful-tests/

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Google Website Optimizer case study

Source: Moneyspyder blog (with permission):http://blog.moneyspyder.co.uk/2009/06/enhanced-google-website-optimiser.html

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Combining event tracking with GWO

•Each variation / recipe in GWO is tracked as a separate event and can then be used to view more granular info – e.g. influence on AOV

Source: Moneyspyder blog (with permission):http://blog.moneyspyder.co.uk/2009/06/enhanced-google-website-optimiser.html

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Use Feedback tools for…“Why” not “What”

http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-software/website-feedback-tools-review/

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What do customers value? Think?Analytics will only show you ‘What’ not ‘Why’ – other tools can help

iPerceptions http://www.4qsurvey.com/

“Bad web site. Difficult to find item as no search box provided for short cut”

“I can't find any prices on your website” “Would like to see where I can buy products from” .

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Let’s Connect! Questions & discussion welcome

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