What to consider when setting goals in Google Analytics

1. CREATING GA
What to consider when creating GA goals
goals

2. WHAT ARE GOOGLE ANALYTICS goals?
• An additional layer of reporting built on top of raw metrics data
• no special tagging required
• only UI configurations
• subjective evaluations of user behavior
• meta-metrics that mark and categorize raw metrics as successful
conversions
Goals are:

3. Selected URL
Destination
1 Goal
1 Visit
1 Destination
pageview
1 Destination
pageview
WHAT ARE GOOGLE ANALYTICS goals?
URL Destination Goal
An Example of a Goal Type:

4. WHAT ARE GOOGLE ANALYTICS goals?
URL Destination Goal
• marks certain pageviews (URLs) as successful 'destinations'
• a goal completion is only counted once during a session when a
visitor arrives at the Destination URL
• repeatedly visiting the Destination URL during a session only
generates one Goal completion
An Example of a Goal Type:

5. TYPES OF
goals

6. URL Destination Goal
1 Visit
TYPES OF goals
URL Destination Goal
Selected URL
Destination
1 Goal
1 Destination
pageview
1 Destination
pageview

7. • marks certain pageviews (URLs) as successful
'destinations'
• a goal completion is only counted once during a session
when a visitor arrives at the Destination URL
• can also add pathing constraints by including a Funnel
• specifies desired steps or in-between URLs leading up
to the final URL Destination
• provides fallout reporting
TYPES OF goals
URL Destination Goal

8. • Which pages do I want visitors to go to?
• Which pages are more important than other pages?
• Which pages if NOT visited would be considered a failure?
• Which pages are milestones for important actions?
• Which pages are qualitatively unique and specifically reveal
desirable visitor intention?
TYPES OF goals
Guiding Questions
URL Destination Goal

9. Example Page
1 Visit
1 Event 1 Event
1 Goal
Selected GA
Event
TYPES OF goals
Event GoalXX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX

10. • marks certain user actions (GA events) as successful events/
conversions
• a goal completion is only counted once during a session when a visitor
performs the event once
• depends on existing GA event tracking
TYPES OF goals
Event Goal

11. • Which events do I want visitors to go perform?
• Which events are more important than other events?
• Which events if NOT performed would be considered a failure?
• Which events if accomplished only once during a visit would be a
success? That is, which events are qualitatively important and do
not require meeting a quantitative threshold?
TYPES OF goals
Guiding Questions
Event Goal

12. 1 Visit
Selected Duration:
> 20 min
1 Goal
0 Goal
TYPES OF goals
Visit Duration Goal
0 24min
0 5min

13. • marks certain thresholds of time spent during a visit as
successful
• uses visit duration metric
• can specify successful thresholds for visit durations that
are either:
• equal to
• below
• above a certain amount of time
TYPES OF goals
Visit Duration Goal

14. • What actions or behaviors are important, and how long do
these activities take?
• What is the typical visit duration for visitors who achieve
various URL Destination or Event Goals?
• What is the typical visit duration for visitors who DO NOT
achieve various URL Destination or Event Goals?
TYPES OF goals
Guiding Questions
Visit Duration Goal

15. 1 Visit
0 Goal
1 Goal
threshold pageview
TYPES OF goals
Pages/Visit Goal
0
0
Selected Pages/Visit:
> 5 pages/visit

16. • marks certain thresholds of pages viewed during a visit as
successful
• uses pageviews per visit metric
• measures user engagement
• can specify successful thresholds for engagement that are
either:
• equal to
• below
• above the pages per visit threshold
TYPES OF goals
Pages/Visit Goal

17. • How much is a single pageview worth? Perhaps in terms of advertising.
• What actions or behaviors are important and how many pageviews do
these activities usually take?
• What is the typical amount of pages viewed per visit for visitors who
ACHIEVE various URL Destination or Event Goals?
• What is the typical amount of pages viewed per visit for visitors who DO
NOT achieve various URL Destination or Event Goals?
TYPES OF goals
Guiding Questions
Pages/Visit Goal

18. ‣ URL Destination Goal
‣ Event Goal
‣ Visit Duration Goal
‣ Pages/visit Goal
TYPES OF goals
Review

19. THANK YOU!