content engagement with google analytics (emerce conversion 2015)

NETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLONETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLO

CONTENT ENGAGEMENTNEW METHODS FOR EVALUATING CONTENT WITH GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Emerce Conversion, 14th April 2015

NETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLONETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLO

SIMO AHAVA @ NetBooster

Head of Analytics, Nordics

Google Developer Expert 2014-2016

Twitter: @SimoAhava

Google+: +SimoAhava

#Conversion15 | @SimoAhava

www.simoahava.com

NETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLO 3

Rant: Plug-and-play Analytics

AGENDAOVERVIEW

#01

Workaround: Content analysis

Takeaways: Survival tips

#02

#03


NETBOOSTER NORDIC // COPENHAGEN // AARHUS // STOCKHOLM // HELSINKI // OSLO

PLUG-AND-PLAY

ANALYTICS




Google Analytics is a tool

designed to work for

9,163,750*

different businesses

* Author’s estimate, not an official figure



It is thus conceivable

Google does not know

what your business KPIs

are



2,578,000

DEAR BOSS,

Last month, the number of Sessions on our site was…

…which is an uplift of +2.78% compared to the previous month.



21.20%

DEAR BOSS,

Last month, the Conversion Rate for eCommerce on our site was…

…which is an uplift of +5% compared to the previous month.



All metrics and dimensions used by a data collection

/ processing / reporting platform subscribe to the

schemas of said platform.






Sessionization schema






Event tracking schema






Transactional schema



This has two major implications

on how we process, analyze, and

report on the data.



All sessionized

data is

arbitrary



Fictional



Fictional

Fictional



Fictional

Fictional

Fictional



Fictional

Fictional

Fictional

Fictional



How can an arbitrary,

fictional metric ever be

a good KPI?*

* Rhetorical question, it can’t



Data quality is

earned, not

acquired.



Stay away from

aggregate metrics.



Stay away from

aggregate metrics.

Segment, customize,

combine, visualize.



Aggregate

Segmented

User-centric

Cohorts

Predictive21.20%

Our website’s eCommerce

Conversion Rate for January

was…



Aggregate

Segmented

User-centric

Cohorts

Predictive12.57%

Visitors who landed on our site

through our January Facebook

campaign had an eCommerce

Conversion Rate of…



Aggregate

Segmented

User-centric

Cohorts

Predictive19.20%

Visitors with no previous

transactions who landed on

our site through our January

Facebook campaign had an

eCommerce Conversion Rate

of…



Aggregate

Segmented

User-centric

Cohorts

Predictive

New customers via Facebook

vs.

Old customers via Facebook

vs.

Overall eCommerce Conversion Rate



Aggregate

Segmented

User-centric

Cohorts

Predictive

This data, combined with

information from our sales

engine and CRM, gives us the

following optimization

opportunities…


ADVANCED CONTENT

ANALYSIS




We need to collect

data in a meaningful

way.



Sometimes it means

we need to tweak the

data collection

mechanism.



Take Bounce Rate,

for example.



Remember, Bounce Rate

is a heavily sessionized

metric that is not inherently

good or bad.



After X seconds on the

page, send a pulse to GA

which negates the bounce.



Google Tag Manager

1. Create new Timer

Trigger

2. Set Interval to X ms

3. Set Limit to 1

4. Fire Event Tag with

this Trigger



However, you’re playing

into the hands of the

schema overlords.



Instead of trying to get

Bounce Rate lower by

tweaking a metric, how

about improving internal

linking?



…or measuring calls-to-

action?



…or combining dwell time

with scroll depth?



http://cutroni.com/blog/2014/02/12/advanced-content-tracking-with-universal-analytics/



Adapted for Google Tag

Manager:

https://github.com/sahava/content/



1 Universal Analytics Tag 1 Custom Event Trigger 9 Data Layer Variables



OK, this is better for

understanding intent (and

content)…



Reader

Scanner

Scanner

Reader

Reader

Intent Content

53 % read

89 % read

60 % read

21 % read

85 % read



Bounce Rate became more

meaningful for users and

content.



…But let’s take a (huge)

leap forwards….



”Traditional” Ecommerce

Session Entrance Receipt Page



”Traditional” Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion



Enhanced Ecommerce




Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.

View product details



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.


Add to cart



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.


Add to cart

Checkout step 1



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.


Add to cart

Checkout step 1

Checkout step 2



Enhanced Ecommerce


transactionId

revenue

products

1 conversion

Product impressions

Click on impr.


Add to cart

Checkout step 1

Checkout step 2

Checkout step 3



Enhanced Ecommerce shifts

the focus from conversions to

the entire journey.



Including missed

opportunities.



1. Implementation



1. Implementation

2. Activation



1. Implementation

2. Activation 3. New Reports



This is very cool for your

webstore.



It’s infinitely cooler for

your content.



Shopping Reading Behavior



Checkout Behavior Content Engagement



Product Article Performance



Product Content List Performance



Internal Promotions



Content is to a blog what

products are to a store.



Sort out the terminology

first.



Product: A blog article

Product price: Words in an

article

Product impression: Views of

a title or title+ingress in content

lists

Product list: Widget / content

area where article impressions

can be gathered from

Product list click: Clicks on

entries in an article list

Product detail view: Page

load of an article page

Add to cart: First scroll on an

article page

Checkout: 1/3, 2/3, and 3/3

scroll depth on an article page

Purchase: 3/3 scroll depth on

an article page and minimum of

60 seconds dwell time



Then, work on data

collection.



Product impression

Product impression

Product

impressions

Internal promotion



Article Impression

Promotion Impression

Article Impression Click



Article View



Scrolling Begins



Scroll Depth Steps



Purchase



Using Ecommerce terminology

for content analysis opens up a

new world of data-driven

insight.



SURVIVAL TIPS



Takeaway 1/5

Be critical: Measuring content engagement with plug-and-play

analytics relies on Pageviews – not very constructive.



Takeaway 2/5

Be critical: Focusing on a single, sessionized, often corrupted metric

like Bounce Rate should not headline your reports.



Takeaway 3/5

Be critical: Fixing data collection so that it measures your business

objectives more accurately requires work.



Takeaway 4/5

Be critical: Focus on people, not tools; focus on questions, not

answers; focus on a well-defined dataset, not the universe.

3 rules of data collection

1) Rule of data passivity – data does nothing, data beats nothing. It’s a

passive medium and requires an active agent (analyst) to interpret.

2) Rule of data subjectivity – any interpretation of data relies on a well-

formulated hypothesis. Whether data is ”bad” or ”good” depends on

what you want to know.

3) Rule of data scarcity – no matter what you do, you will never have all

the data. An arbitrary line must be drawn, and you must understand

where and why this artificial limit exists.



Takeaway 5/5

BE CRITICAL!

Data quality is directly proportional to how

well you understand the data collection.


THANK YOU

Twitter: @SimoAhava

Google+: +SimoAhava

www.simoahava.com


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