This document discusses using Google Analytics to measure website analytics. It provides definitions of key analytics terms and explains how to set up tagging for campaign tracking. The main sections of Google Analytics are outlined for analyzing acquisition sources, user behavior, and conversions. The importance of comparing metrics over time and drilling down into dimensions to understand why certain interactions are occurring is emphasized. Proper tagging of campaigns and setting up goals is highlighted as crucial for attribution and proving return on investment from marketing efforts.
Analytics Essentials: Tracking, Reporting & Using Data
1.
2. • What are Analytics?
• Important Concepts
• Campaign Tagging
• Reporting
• Using the Data
• Q & A
3. • What do you want to achieve?
• What data will help you achieve your goal?
• Once you have the data, what actions will you take based on the
data?
• Analytics has nearly all the data and reporting variables you might
require, except individual personal data!
5. • See how users find your site
• Search, referring sites, campaigns…
• See how users use your site
• Pages, events, navigation flow…
• Prove value/ROI of marketing programs
• Track conversions and revenue
• And see what drives conversions and revenue
6. Why Use Google Analytics to Measure?
• Industry standard – 67% of top Websites
• Versatile and robust
• Easy to configure and use
• Best of all: It’s FREE
7. What We Measure
• How do visitors find our website
• Which pages are they visiting
• Events (how are they engaged on the site)
• Conversions/Goals
• Make informed site design and content decisions
• Improve our site to convert more visitors into customers
• Optimize marketing campaigns
What We Do With the Data
8.
9.
10. Definitions
User (Visitor)
Individual user visiting your site; or more accurately
cookie/machine
Session (Visit)
A user comes to the site. They have multiple visits. Visits
typically end when they leave the site or after 30
minutes
Pageview
User loads a page. Every load/reload of a page counts
as one pageview
11. Definitions Continued
Unique Pageview
Pageviews tied to users. Reload a page 5 times?
5 pageviews = 1 unique pageview
New/Returning User
If you never had a cookie from the analytics system, you are a new user.
Cookies deleted? = new user
Event
Something you want to single out to track analytics for. For example, file
downloads, clicks to offsite links, video engagement
12. New user accesses the home page:
• 1 User
• 1 Session
• 1 Pageview
• 1 Unique Pageview
The same user accesses 3 more pages and home again
• 1 User
• 1 Session
• 5 Pageviews
• 4 Unique Pageviews
The same user leaves, comes back tomorrow, accesses home and 2 new pages
• 1 User
• 2 Sessions
• 3 Pageviews
• 3 Unique Pageviews
13. A: Organic Search: clicks from search engines
B: Paid Search: clicks from search engines (paid)
C: Social: clicks from social posts, not ads
Referral: clicks from another sites links, like partners
Direct/None: typed in www.Nintex.com or bookmarks.
Custom: Anything you set in tagging A
B
B
B C
C
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15.
16.
17. • Google Analytics naturally tracks referrals and Organic
Search
• Anything you want to track MUST be manually tagged
• Banner/Display Ads
• Email Links
• Printed creative (usually via a link shortener)
• Anything you want to attribute to a particular initiative
• Note: tagged links must go to a page with Google Analytics code on it
or the data WILL NOT be captured
18. • To tag your campaign URLs, use the following parameters and
campaign variables:
http://www.nintex.com/landingpage/?utm_source=someadnetwork&utm_m
edium=banner&utm_campaign=q2_partner&utm_content=banner1
• utm_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 placements
• Use the tool located at
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en to make
tagging easier!
19.
20.
21. Google Analytics Interface
• Audience – Visitor information: geo-location, technical details,
sessions, visitor type
• Acquisition – How did they get to the site? Campaigns, organic
search, social…
• Behavior – What did they do on the site? Pages, events, site
search…
• Conversions – Did they complete a goal? Goals, funnels,
attribution…
• Real-Time – Live data!
• Dashboards – Visualize your data
22. 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
40. • What do you want to achieve?
• What data will help you achieve your goal?
• Once you have the data, what actions will you take based on the
data?
• Analytics has nearly all the data and reporting variables you might
require, except individual personal data!
41. 55,000 visits last month – ok, but so what?
Versus 48,000 visits the month before – interesting, but why?
Gain in visits came from event and a new paid campaign – now
we’re getting somewhere!
New paid campaign drove traffic from campaign ads A and B –
this is actionable!
42. 1. Look at trends over snapshots – data at one point in time isn’t
as interesting as data over time
2. Find out the why – what influences an interaction or a goal
conversion?
-Traffic sources, campaigns, sites, regions….
3. Start with the basics and add dimensions to drill down
4. Compare: quarter over quarter, year over year – look for
seasonality
43. Remember:
• If it’s not tagged, you can’t attribute where it is coming from
• If the link goes to a page without analytics code (or a direct file
download), you will never get the data
• If you don’t set up a goal, proving ROI is not impossible, but is
more difficult