website optimization using google analytics
DESCRIPTION
Getting prospective students to a website is one thing, but marketing strategies can't stop there. Learn how to use Google Analytics, a free but feature-rich tool, to understand and optimize the website experience. Topics to be covered include understanding basic web analytics metrics, understanding and using conversion goals and tips for measuring ROI.TRANSCRIPT
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Website OptimizationUsing Google Analytics
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About Vertical Nerve
• Help organizations connect with their audience online• Help them convert that audience into customers
Web Analytics Consulting
Search Engine Marketing
Web Design & Development
Mobile WebDevelopment
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About Me
• Director, Analytics & Search Engine Marketing• 10 Years of Search Engine Optimization /
Marketing Experience• 8 Years of Web Analytics Experience• Helped the following organizations:
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About Me
• Also an Olympic Weightlifter getting ready to leave for London.
TOTAL LIE
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Why Do We Need Analytics?
• Analytics helps you discover what works…
…and STOP doing what doesn’t.
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Why Do We Need Analytics?
• Without Data,the HiPPO Rules!
• What’s the HiPPO?
(Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)
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About Google Analytics
• Free, enterprise level web analytics solution• Installed on over 10M sites worldwide• 60% of Top 100k sites online• Over half the Fortune 500
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How it Works
• Invisible page tag using JS & Cookies• When those pages are viewed, the code runs
behind the scenes, sending data to Google’s secure servers
• This data is processed and reported in Google Analytics
• Note: Data is not shared without permission
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What Does GA Track?
• It Tracks a Visitor’s:– Approximate Location (city)– Browser and System Specs (OS, language, etc)– Referral Information (previous site and/or query)
• It Does Not Track:– Email Addresses– Specific Locations– Any Personally Identifiable Information
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WHEN IT COMES TO GOOGLE ANALYTICS, HERE’S THE COMMON SCENARIO…
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Common Scenario
• Most organizations “use” Google Analytics– It’s installed on the website…that’s about it.
• Most organizations do not use Google Analytics– No confidence in the data– No conversion goals– No marketing campaign tagging– No visitor segments– NO VALUE!!!
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WHY?
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“I don’t want to be a pirate web analyst!”
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HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS…
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The Good News
• Using Google Analytics doesn’t have to be confusing or overwhelming
• Anybody can quickly learn some of the basics and start making data-driven decisions
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A FEW NICE AND EASY METRICS
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Engagement Metrics
Avg. number of pages viewed per website visit
Avg. time spent on the website
Percentage of in-n-out visits
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Conversion Metrics
Total number of goal completions
% of visits completing a goal
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What’s a Conversion Goal?
• Every page has a purpose, and every site has goals. Identify these and use them.– Online Application– Schedule a Visit– Request Information– Watch a Video– Etc..
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1st Takeaway: Goals
• Google Analytics is virtually useless without conversion goals, so identify and create some!
• Anything is better than nothing, so don’t be shy
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Example: UTSAThese are goals!
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KEY QUESTIONS
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Key Questions
• How Can Google Analytics Help me Recruit More Students?
• How Can Google Analytics Help me Market More Effectively?
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WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION
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Website Design & Changes
• What’s the biggest influence on most website design decisions today?
• Why?– No alternative.
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Here’s an Idea!
• Identify website goals • Optimize design, content,
images, buttons, etc. towards the goals
• Let data be the guide• Feed data to the HiPPO
(trends, charts, etc.)
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Conversion Goals (cont.)
• For any given page on a site, be able to answer these two questions:– How effective is this page at getting visitors to my
goals?– Is this page more or less effective than it used to
be?
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Conversion Goals (cont.)
• For your website or section, be able to answer:– What % of all my visitors are completing a
conversion goal?– Is my conversion rate increasing or decreasing?– What traffic sources provide the best visitors?
(most likely to complete a goal)
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A/B Split Testing
• Test & improve content pages with new Content Experiments feature in GA
• Makes data-driven decisionseasy!
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MARKETING ANALYTICS
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GA for Marketing Analytics
• Prospective students come from many channels
WEBSITE
Search Engines
YouTube
Blogs
Magazines
News Sites
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Analyzing Channels
• Which channels or campaigns are producing the highest conversion rate?
Remember, conversion rate is the % of visits completing a website goal.
• Which channels or campaigns have the lowest bounce rate, or highest engagement rates?
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Analyzing Channels (cont.)
• In order to easily analyze traffic channels, they must be tagged or grouped appropriately.
• Ever visit should have:– Medium– Source
• Some also have:– Campaign– Keyword– Ad / Content
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Example: Performance by Medium
Traffic Categories Engagement Metrics Conversion Metrics
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Analyzing Campaigns
• Some traffic sources have campaigns– Paid Search– Display / Banner Advertising– Social Media Advertising– Email Marketing
• Use the Google Analytics campaign tagging variables to track these cleanly inside of Google Analytics
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2nd Takeaway: Tag Campaigns
• Ensure that, whenever possible, online marketing campaigns are tagged appropriately in Google Analytics
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Marketing Analytics
• With key goals identified and marketing campaigns tracking properly, answering these questions is easy:
“Where should I spend my next marketing dollar?”
“Which campaigns are not producing ROI?”
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5 MORE VALUABLE BENEFITS OF GA
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Track Mobile Success
• What % of a Site’s Traffic is from Mobile?• How are those Visitors Performing?
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Track Social Interactions
• See when visitors on your site tweet, share, like, etc.
• See which social networks are driving traffic to your site.
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CRM Integrations
• Important for lead generation websites• Campaign information all through the sales
process
Visit
Campaign ABC
Lead
Campaign ABC
Sale
Campaign ABC
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Watch Real-time Response
• Data within 2 seconds!
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Track Website Speed
• Studies have proven, slow sites = less money• GA now automatically tracks your page load
times, so optimize your web experience
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
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Takeaways & Tips
• Identify & Configure Conversion Goal(s)• Track all Marketing Campaigns using GA tags• Care for Analytics Account (brush, floss, etc.)• Utilize Scheduled Email Reports & Alerts• Share Data within your Organization
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And One More Thing…
• Please don’t let this happen…
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Thank You!
• Leave a card to join our weekly Google Analytics newsletter (free tips & new features)
• Visit our table outside and enter to win a free Google Analytics Audit! ($1,500 value)
• Visit us online at www.verticalnerve.com
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Q & A