google analytics bag o' tricks

Google Analytics Bag o’ Tricks

Simo Ahava (NetBooster) – SUPERWEEK 2015

SUPERWEEK 2015 | #SPWK | @SimoAhava

Simo Ahava | NetBooster

@SimoAhava

http://google.me/+SimoAhava

[email protected]

www.simoahava.com


My (GA) Developer Philosophy


If you build it, data will come


The Web is (inherently) stateless


User intent is untrackable in the

stateless Web


The life span of a web pageENTRAN

CE

EXIT


No, browser cookies are not the solution (or

HTML Storage)


document.cookie = 'returning=true'; document.cookie = 'articlesRead=3';


They provide you with temporary state only


Google Analytics is stateful


From https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/platform/customdimsmets


Google Analytics is better at pattern-matching than a

browser


But it requires quality input


When the stateless and the stateful unite

Meaningful data

Meaningful data

Meaningful data


How do we find and collect meaningful

data?


No, how do we ask the right questions?


When a user doesn’t view a page, is it a Page View?


Surely not?

* Obligatory Conference Presentation Meme


APIS, WORKERS, LIBRARIES, SPECIFICATIONSECMAScript DOMSettableTokenList Web Audio AutocompleteErrorEvent Animation TimingDOMTokenList DOM Fullscreen Drag and Drop SVG Indexed DB DocumentFragment DOMError File API ChildNode

MediaDOMImplementation Web Sockets and Messaging Event WebGL VisibilityWeb Storage Document EventSource CSS Object Model Comment Web Workers Attr WebRTC Selectors

DocumentType Offline Element CharacterData Browser Canvas EventListener CustomEvent Shadow DOM CloseEvent File System API BroadcastChannel Typed Arrays Pointer Lock Elements


APIS, WORKERS, LIBRARIES, SPECIFICATIONSECMAScriptDOMSettableTokenList Web Audio AutocompleteErrorEvent Animation TimingDOMTokenList DOM Fullscreen Drag and Drop SVG Indexed DB DocumentFragment DOMError File API ChildNode

MediaDOMImplementation Web Sockets and Messaging Event WebGL Visibility Web Storage Document EventSource CSS Object Model Comment Web Workers Attr WebRTC Selectors

DocumentType Offline Element CharacterData Browser Canvas EventListener CustomEvent Shadow DOM CloseEvent File System API BroadcastChannel Typed Arrays Pointer Lock Elements


PAGE VISIBILITY API


PAGE VISIBILITY API

Visible: document['hidden'] = falseHidden: document['hidden'] = true


PAGE VISIBILITY API

Visible: document['hidden'] = falseHidden: document['hidden'] = true

document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', function() { dataLayer.push({ 'event' : 'visibilityChange' });});


PAGE VISIBILITY API

Meaningful data:

When a page is loaded in hidden state, do not send a Page View.

If the visibility of the page changes from hidden to visible, then

send the Page View.


PAGE VISIBILITY API


DETAILED GUIDE

http://goo.gl/DFgxmi


THE PROCESS

1. Page is loaded in the browser

1. Page is loaded in the browser2. Is the Visibility API supported?3. Is the page visible?4. Is a Visibility Change detected?

yes / noFIRE PAGE VIEW

…and remove visibility listener……and end the process…


THE PROCESS

2. Is the Visibility API supported?





THE PROCESS




…and remove visibility listener……and end the process…>> >>


THE PROCESS





document.addEventListener( 'visibilitychange', function() { dataLayer.push({ 'event' : 'visibility- Change' }); });


THE PROCESS

3. Is the page visible?





THE PROCESS






THE PROCESS

4. Is a Visibility Change detected?





What just happened?


We made a metric more meaningful


But it’s only meaningful if the

questions it answers are relevant


How can we measure content engagement?


Content engagement is notoriously difficult

to track


Adjusted Bounce RateAdjusted


Adjusted Bounce RateAdjusted

Not happy with a metric? Sure! Tweak the data collection. Don’t tackle the real

problem, i.e. your horrible content!


Scroll Tracking

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


Scroll Tracking

Better, but it isolates the action of reading as the sole qualification of engagement.


Content is to a blog what products are to a

web store


Shopping Reading Behavior


Checkout Behavior Content Engagement


Product Article Performance


Product Content List Performance


Internal Promotions


Step 1: Terminology


Product: A blog articleProduct price: Words in an articleProduct impression: Views of a title or title+ingress in content listsProduct list: Widget / content area where product impressions can be gathered fromProduct list click: Clicks on entries in a product list

Product detail view: Page load of an article pageAdd to cart: First scroll on an article pageCheckout: 1/3, 2/3, and 3/3 scroll depth on an article pagePurchase: 3/3 scroll depth on an article page and minimum of 60 seconds dwell time


Step 2: Data Collection


PRODUCT LISTS


PRODUCT LISTS

Product impression

Product impressionProduct

impressions

Internal promotion


PRODUCT LISTS


ARTICLE PAGE


ARTICLE PAGE: INITIAL PAGE LOAD = PRODUCT DETAIL VIEW


ARTICLE PAGE: SCROLLING BEGINS = ADD TO CART


ARTICLE PAGE: SCROLL DEPTH = CHECKOUT


ARTICLE PAGE: SCROLL DEPTH + DWELL TIME = PURCHASE


TIPS

1. Use dataLayer, don’t do what I did (DOM scrape)

2. Feel free to leave something out if it isn’t meaningful or doesn’t make sense

3. Design the data collection with analysis in mind – not because it’s fun and cool

4. If using GTM, remember that only the most recent ’ecommerce’ object push is sent with a tag! Always remember to push an ’event’ value with an ’ecommerce’ object push

5. Read Google’s Dev Guide! It’s all in there.

google analytics bag o' tricks

Data & Analytics