analytics 101 (2016 edition)
TRANSCRIPT
Analytics 101
AgendaAnalytics• What is Analytics• Installing Analytics• Configuration• Reporting
ResourcesQ&A
Use Your Reports
AnalyticsWhat Is It?
Code added to your site that tracksusers and provides reportsLets you see how users find your siteSearch, referring sites, campaigns…Lets you see how users use your sitePages, events, navigation flow…Prove value/ROI of marketingprograms and contentTrack actions on your site(conversions)And see what drives conversions
What Is Analytics?Ensure Analytics is set up and configured before attempting any other marketing!
Industry standard—67% of top websitesVersatile and robustEasy to configure and useBest of all: it’s FREE
Why Google Analytics
AnalyticsInstalling Analytics Code
Installing Analytics on Your SiteBest method: Google Tag Manager (google.com/tagmanager)• One line of code on your site• Handles all tagging inside a Web interface• Ability of making changes without needing to touch your site
Acceptable method: adding code to your site• Quick and easy, but needs to be set on every page
Once installed, test, test, test, and review initial reports!• Omnibug, Google Tag Assistant
Google Tag ManagerGenerate container code inside of Tag ManagerInsert the code in two places1.In the <head> section of EVERY page of your site2.Below <body> on EVERY page of your site
Set up tags inside the tool—never touch your site again!• Generic pageviews • Events • Third-party tracking pixels
Google Tag Manager : Tag Setup
When done, test your tags. When they work, publish your container.
Name your tag. Use something meaningful
Choose tag type. If setting up GA, choose Universal
Input your GA ID. Setting this as a variable will help
Set this on pageview tag if you will do remarketing
Page View: site loadEvent: tracked event
Set to All Pages for site wide, pick specific settings for other tags
Google Tag Manager: Events
When done, test your tags. When they work, publish your container.
Input your GA ID. Setting this as a variable will help
Name your tag. Use something meaningful
Hierarchy:Cat:Action:LabelUse Code to Auto-Set
Set to Event
If True, will count as a bounce
Pick specific event, usually Click
Many ad and social platforms may provide their own tracking code—a tracking pixel—in order to help analysis of their offeringsTracking code may be added site wide; pixels should only go on thank you pages, or be tied to specific eventsTag management software will let you add and remove pixels without having to touch your siteEven better, pixels can be tied to non-pageview events• File downloads• Video plays
Tracking Pixels
Pixel fires from same browser where ad wasclicked—confirms that the user has signed up
Website wheread is displayed
Landing page
Thank you page
CompleteregistrationClick on ad
Google Tag Manager Preview Mode• This shows you what tags have fired and what data
maybe passing to the data layer
• Enable inside of Tag ManagerPlug-In: Google Tag Assistant• Shows what tags fired and what data passed; can
record sessionsPlug-In: Omnibug• Similar to Google Tag Assistant
Testing Your Analytics
Ensure your sites areusing analytics onall public pagesUse tag managementto install andconfigure tagsTest, test, and testyour tags againTest after all updates
Takeaways
AnalyticsConfiguration
If you want to attribute actions/views to a particular initiative,you must tag it!The analytics code knows two things1. Referring site2. Tracking parametersAny other report is either a sub-class of referrals, direct, or parameter-drivenOrganic search, social = referrals from specific sitesPaid = cpc/ppc medium (or AdWords linking)Direct/None = not referring, no parameters set
Tag Everything
Tagging Examples
You post to Facebook, I post to Facebook• Without tagging: 2 clicks from Facebook…but from whom?• With tagging: 1 click from Facebook, 1 from your own post
You send an email. Email clients don’t pass referral information…• You got 150 clicks via direct—congrats• But was that from the mail? Or users typing in your URL?
You paid $5,000 for banner ads, but forgot to tag…• Which banner performed the best? The direct one?
Link Tagging: Anything Coming to Your Site That You ControlTo tag your campaign URLs, use the following parameters and campaign variableshttp://www.nintex.com/landingpage/?utm_source=someadnetwork&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=q2_partner&utm_content=banner1utm_source: Identify the source of the link (google, citysearch, newsletter4)utm_medium: Advertising medium (marketing medium: social, cpc, banner, email) utm_campaign: Campaign name (product, campaign, program, slogan) utm_content: Optional, used to differentiate ads, link placementsUse the tool located at https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/to make tagging easier!
Campaign Reports Inside Google Analytics
Anything on your site that you want a user to doFill out a formDownload a fileClick a link to Nintex, or any other siteView a specific pageSpend x amount of time on site/view y amount of pages
Can be based on events, pages, or metricsOnly pages can be set up in a funnel
Limited to 20 per profile (use wisely/broadly)Can be used in reports, dashboards, and segments
Setting Goals (Conversions)
Tip: adding adollar value togoals, even a
fixed value, spreads the value across all pages in the session, allowing for page value analysis
AnalyticsReporting
Audience Visitor information: geo-location, technical details, sessions, visitor typeAcquisitionHow did they get to the site? Campaigns, organic search, social…BehaviorWhat did they do on the site? Pages, events, site search…ConversionsDid they complete a goal? Goals, funnels, attribution…Real-TimeLive data!DashboardsVisualize your data
Google Analytics Interface Report Structure
Reporting: Top Level
User (visitor)Defined by a cookie set on a user’s machine;usually is one personSession (visit) Users can have multiple sessionsSessions end when they leave the site or after30 minutesPageviewUser loads a page. Every load/reload of a pagecounts as one pageview
Definitions
Unique pageviewPageviews tied to users. Reload a page 5 times?5 pageviews = 1 unique pageviewNew/returning userIf you never had a cookie from the analytics system, you are a new user. Cookies deleted? = new userEventSomething you want to single out to track. For example, file downloads, clicks to offsite links, video engagement
Definitions Continued
How It Works Together
Users SessionsPagevie
wsUnique Pagevie
wsNew user accesses the home page 1 1 1 1The same user access three other pages and home again 1 1 5 4The same user leaves, comes back tomorrow, accesses home and two new pages
1 2 3 3
Date Ranges
All reports are driven by the active date range selected in the upper right-hand corner
Select “Compare to Past” to view data compared to the previous period of equal length, previous year, or custom ranges
Users and sessionsSite traffic and usagePageviewsHow often pages are viewedSession durationHow long they spend on your siteBounce rateIf the user doesn’t take an action and leaves, they bounce. Risky metric at the top level% new usersHow many new visitors? Geo dataWhere, in the world, country, city, do users come from?
Reporting: Top Level / Audience
Reporting: Acquisition (Sources)
How do users get to your site?• Organic: search engines• Direct: typed in or bookmarks• Referral: clicked a link on
another site• Social: clicked a link on a social
site• Campaigns: links you have
taggedUse these reports to determine the following• What channels drive the most
traffic?• Are campaigns working for you?• What channels drive the most
goal conversions?
Reporting: Sources Example
Reporting: Campaigns
Reporting: Behavior (Pages)The most important set of reports for your siteSee your most used pages on your site• Look at bounce rate, time on site, pageviews, new/returning users here• Add sources as a secondary dimension to see what drives traffic to pagesAdd your goals to see how pages contribute to a specific goalUse the dropdown in the conversions column to select specific goals
Behavior: Navigation
If your analytics is wired up to track events, you can seehow they perform Events could include clicks to offsite links, file downloads,video plays/completes, any type of interaction on the siteReports will show total (raw count) and unique (tied toan individual user)Can add sources as a secondary dimension
Reporting: Events
Tag Manager will greatly simplify tracking events on your site!
Events (Example: Video Activity)
Reporting: GoalsSee how your goals are performing, including by source/channelUsing multi-steps or funnels, you can see where users enter/exit the pages
Multi Channel Funnels: Conversion Paths
AnalyticsUse Your Reports!
What do you want to achieve?What data will help you achieveyour goal?Once you have the data, whatactions will you take based onthe data?Analytics has nearly all the data andreporting variables you might require,except individual personal data!
Objectives/Goals
Report and Analyze What Is Most Actionable
Gain in visits came from event and a new paid campaign
Now we’re getting somewhere!
55,000 visits last monthOK, but so what?
Versus 48,000 visits the month before
New paid campaign drove traffic from campaign ads A and B
Interesting, but why?
This is actionable!
Look at trends over snapshots—data at one point in time isn’t asinteresting as data over timeFind out the why—what influencesan interaction or a goal conversion?Traffic sources, campaigns, sites, regions…Start with the basics and add dimensionsto drill downCompare: quarter over quarter, year overyear—look for seasonality
Keep in Mind…
RememberIf it’s not tagged, you can’t attributewhere it is coming fromIf the link goes to a page withoutanalytics code (or a direct filedownload), you will never getthe dataIf you don’t set up a goal, provingROI is not impossible, but ismore difficult
Review and Troubleshoot
Set up dashboards and custom reports to make analysis easierSchedule reports to be sent to you on a regular basisSet up alerts for critical issues: 404 pages, broken links, traffic changes (more or less)Even if it’s just a few minutes a week, always check your site reports!
Reporting: Final Thoughts
Google Analytics: https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/Google Tag Manager: https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/course/5
Resources