understanding google analytics - venture stream - service network 03.10.2013
DESCRIPTION
One of Service Network's series of smaller interactive workshops is ‘Engage: Understanding Google Analytics'. Presented by Marty Hayes of Venture Stream, the workshop is aimed at people who are responsible for their company's website and already have some understanding of search engine optimisation.TRANSCRIPT
Understanding Google AnalyticsService Network 03.10.2013
Marty Hayes, Digital Director, Venture Stream
www.venturestream.co.uk
A Little About Me…• Present - Digital Director @ Venture Stream
• Past – Online Marketing Consultant @ Mediaworks
• Past – Ecommerce Manager @ Fashion Union
• Past – Website Manager @ Berghaus
• Past – Digital Marketing Executive @ Ethical Superstore
A Little About Venture Stream…• Founded in 2012
• Based – Westgate Rd, Newcastle
• Vic Morgan – Founder & MD Extensive e-commerce and digital
experience as entrepreneur and consultant in the US and UK.
• Marty Hayes – Digital Director Managerial experience in digital
marketing consulting with Mediaworks and client-side at Fashion Union, Berghaus, and Ethicalsuperstore.com.
• Ecommerce & digital marketing services Innovation & design
User Experience, Design, Development
Digital Marketing SEO, PPC, Analytics, CRO, Training
Strategy & Leadership Outsourced ecommerce / digital
leadership
• Digital Ventures Focussed on m-commerce &
emerging trends Partnerships with clients &
entrepreneurs Shopulous
What We Will Cover• Standard Reports
Date Ranges Dashboards Real Time Audience Traffic Sources Content Conversions
• Admin View Settings User Management Goals Filters
• Advanced Custom Reporting Sharing Reports Tracking Online Marketing
Campaigns Event Tracking
Before All That….• Think about your site
• Think about your audience
• Relate this info to your business
• Interrupt me – ask questions – make it about you
• Reports do not solve anything – use them as the foundations for action
Standard Reports
Date Ranges
Date Ranges• The starting point for all analysis and reporting
• The larger the date range the more data reported: Easier to spot trends in data Able to reach more logical conclusions, without knee-jerk reactions to anomalies Provides a more solid case for a strong hypothesis
• Be sure to choose an appropriate date range for your analysis Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly Comparative
• The date configurator is consistently located in the top right of the screen:
• Click on the arrow to see your Date Range options:
• Choose from Custom Today Yesterday Last week Last month
• Compare to Custom Previous period Previous year
Editing Date Ranges
Dashboards
Dashboards• Custom Dashboards allow you to view metrics at a glance and
tailor the view to meet your own needs
• Allows for quick progress updates with most important metrics
• Reduces time spent on data collection, allowing you to spend more time on the impactful, actionable insight
• Dashboards can be used to empower and give control to teams
10 Dashboard Examples• Content impact dashboard
• Content marketing dashboard
• Blogger dashboard
• Visitor data dashboard
• Site performance dashboard
• E-commerce dashboard
• Mobile commerce dashboard
• Social media dashboard
• SEO dashboard
• PPC dashboard
• Resources: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62828-10-useful-google-analytics-custom-
dashboards http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/63372-10-useful-custom-google-analytics-reports-
and-dashboards-for-publishers
Real Time
Real Time• Real Time Analytics is just that! Gives you access to analytics at real
time.
• Overview Active Visitors Top Referrals Top Social Traffic Top Keywords Top Active Pages Top Locations
• Great for monitoring impact of a timely campaign (email etc.)
Audience
Audience• Demographics
Language Watch out for skews in the data caused by ‘browser’ language (Firefox, Chrome = US)
Location
• Behaviour New vs. Returning
Useful to compare user type and metric Better to use segments to apply user type to other areas of analytics
Frequency & Recency Gauge how loyal your audience is How often do your visitors visit your site?
Engagement See how ‘sticky’ your content is
Audience• Technology
Determine any potential technological bottlenecks or issues on your site Use the browser report to see if your site has browser compatibility issues How do bounce rates compare across devices? How do e-commerce conversion rates differ from device to device?
Mobile & Tablet
Mobile & Tablet• Google has predicted that mobile search will overtake desktop in the
next few years
• Rapid growth in searches from mobiles and tablets over the last 12-18 months
• Now accounts for approx. 30% of site traffic in the UK
• How well does your site perform on mobiles & tablets? Traffic Conversions
• How do mobile & tablet visitors differ from desktop? Intent Local Information
Traffic Sources
Traffic Sources• Sources
See how people found your site – visits, bounce rate, exit, time on site, revenue, conversion etc.
• Direct Traffic People who already know you – loyal
• Referral Traffic People who have come from another site – affiliates
• Organic Traffic Impact of SEO – segment to see ‘brand’ vs. ‘non-brand’ Landing page relevancy, low vs. high converting keywords Keyword length – importance of longtail traffic (Not Provided)
Traffic Sources• Paid Traffic
PPC campaigns
• Campaigns Email marketing
• Search Engine Optimization Reports require link with Google Webmaster Tools Can show query data and rankings in Google Analytics
• Social The social relationship The value of social media marketing
Content
Content• See how your visitors interact with your site
Identify poor performing areas Explore opportunities
• Site Content View key metrics for each page – pageviews, time on page, bounce rate, exit
rate
• Landing Pages How well do your key landing pages perform Is the content relevant to the search? Bounce Rate, Conversion Rate – segment by source
• Exit Pages Identify issues on-site – why are people leaving from particular pages? Could be a good thing – have they found what they were looking for?
Content• Site Speed
Page load speed affects organic search performance Page load speed affects the user experience Identify and fix issues with Speed Suggestions report
• Site Search Incredibly powerful data locked away in site search reports See how your audience searches for things relevant to you Use data to inform content strategy, merchandising, information architecture
etc.
• In Page Analytics See what % of people click on each link on any page of your site To be used with caution – counts links, not elements
A category could appear in the main menu and the footer – the stats shown count for clicks through to the relevant link – does not tell you which link was clicked
Conversions
Conversions• Where the magic happens…. Or doesn’t!
• Goal Set-up
Conversions• Funnel Visualization
Identify bottlenecks See where potential
conversions are being lost Identify abandonment rate, as
well as conversion rate
• Ecommerce Conversion Rate Transactions Revenue Average Value Product Performance Sales Performance Time to Purchase
Conversions• Multi-Channel Funnels
Allows for a holistic view of marketing efforts
See how users interact with different sources, mediums etc.
See the path people take from first interaction to last interaction
• Multi-Touch Segmentation Delve deeper into attribution
modelling
Admin
View Settings
View Settings• Specify name of profile
• Specify Website URL
• Specify Time Zone Country
• Ensure that Ecommerce tracking in on (if relevant)
• Ensure Site Search tracking is on (if relevant) Include query parameter
User Management
User Management• Add users to an account
• Apply permissions at the account, property or profile level Manage Users Edit Collaborate Read & Analyze
Filters
Filters• Apply Filters to view
• You can exclude traffic from particular IP addresses
• Most common use is to exclude data from the IP address of the business to avoid bloated figures and inaccurate reporting
Advanced
Custom Reporting
Custom Reporting• If the standard suite of reports, segments, and filters is not enough for
you, take a look at Custom Reporting
• Create your own bespoke reports
• Include Metrics Time on Page, Visitors etc.
• Include Dimensions Landing Page, Source etc.
• Can also include Filters
• Most reporting needs will be covered in the standard suite
Sharing Reports
Sharing Reports• Email Reports
Send attachments of report export Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly
• Useful for top level figures and reporting up / sharing key info
• Export Reports Export to CSV, PDF etc. Allows for further manipulation of data Good for bringing in other data sources
Tracking Campaigns
Tracking Campaigns• Track all online / offline campaigns using Google’s URL Builder
• Appends key info to normal URL
• Allows data to pour in to Analytics, showing Campaign Source, Campaign Medium and Campaign Name
• Best used in Email Marketing and Online Advertising
Event Tracking
Event Tracking• Track user interactions independently from a web page or screen load
• Requires an extra piece of code / development
• Examples of when to use Event Tracking Basic tracking of clicks / interactions
External links Internal banners Sign-ups Downloads
Mid-range tracking Video plays Social sharing interaction
Advanced tracking Form completion progress Scroll reach
Summary
5 Top Tips
5 Top Tips
1.Log in!
2.Get into a rhythm – make it a habit
3.Have a purpose – don’t get lost
4.Identify your own key reports
5.Share – share reports, share knowledge
Any Questions?Service Network 03.10.2013
Marty Hayes, Digital Director, Venture Stream
www.venturestream.co.uk