This document discusses how to use Google Analytics data for Extension annual reporting and planning. It recommends including pageviews, top articles, and how the website helped program goals in annual reports. Google Analytics can show what resources visitors accessed and habits they adopted. It also recommends utilizing metrics like pageviews and bounce rates directly or setting goals in Google Analytics to measure conversions for planning purposes. Goals and funnels allow measuring progress towards objectives but require advance planning. Consistency in metrics over time enables analyzing trends to improve sites and programs.

1. Using Google Analytics (GA)
for Annual Report and
Planning
Fahzy Abdul-Rahman
Family Resource Management Specialist
Extension Family & Consumer Sciences
National Extension Technology
Conference (NETC)
May 21, 2014

2. Outline
I. Introduction
II. Reporting: Using Google Analytics Data for
Extension Work Reporting
III. Planning: Using Google Analytics for
Extension Programming and Planning
IV. Conclusion

3. I. Introduction
• Originally, GA was designed for business
– E.g. Pages that has the highest hits, leads to the most
revenue
• For Extension, any talks about evaluation need to
revolve around the Logic Model.
– Evaluation is an everyday activity
– Can be done for various stages of you program
• As laid out in the Logic Model
– Can be done for various purposes
– These data can in turn be used for grants and
proposals

4. Logic Model: Evaluation …
…. an everyday activity that can
be done for various stages of
you program

5. Motivation
• Many of Extension activities
nowadays are online based
– As funding has been cut
– As a more efficient way to do
programming
• The issue: How to show the values of
these online-based publications and
activities
– How-To publications, webinars

6. First Steps
• Introduction to Google Analytics
• Installing the Google Analytics
Tracking Code
• Working with Report Data
Interpreting Reports
• Pageviews, Visits, and Visitors
• Time Metrics
• Traffic Sources
• Content Reports
Fundamentals
• Account Administration
• Campaign Tracking and AdWords
Integration
• Analysis Focus - AdWords
• Goals in Google Analytics
• Filters in Google Analytics
• Regex and Google Analytics
• Cookies and Google Analytics
• E-commerce Tracking
• Domains and Subdomains
In-Depth Analysis
• Advanced Segmentation
• Analytics Intelligence
• Internal Site Search
• Event Tracking and Virtual Pageviews
• Additional Customizations
Google Analytics Overview
What we will not discuss today …

7. II. Reporting
• Reporting in Annual Report and Promotion and
Tenure Packet
– Pageviews (or unique)
• Journals brag about their reach and subscription
• Top 5, 10 articles, How-To publications
• How your website (and other Social Media outlet)
has helped your program goals.
– Show that people who visited your site tend to …
– … E.g. visit other .gov resources [from your site],
– … E.g. healthy _______ habit adoption
• Difficult to establish. E.g. high bounce rate ~ obtained
resources or website not useful
Using Google Analytics Data for Extension Work Reporting

8. Extension How-To Publication Report

9. E.g. Google Analytics Data in eXtension

10. III. Planning
• Depends on Extension
Online Goals
1. Monetary: Donations,
savings -> very similar to
business model
2. Non-Profit (typical
Extension): Volunteer
sign-up, downloads,
visiting your YouTube
channel, webinar
registration
Two main ways:
1. Just use the metrics
– Usually along with
dimensions &
segmentations
2. These goals need to be
converted into Google
Analytics Goals.
– May involve some tricks.
Using Google Analytics for Extension Programming and Planning

11. 1. Utilize the Metrics Directly
• Use results available directly from GA
• Make sense out of them
– If the youth group has very low site access, …
– If the bounce rate from mobile users is almost
100%, …
– If main search keywords that lead to your side are
“hair extension”, …
• Working in Extension, you have an article on hair
trimming recall.
Planning

12. 2. Using Google
Analytics Goals
Start with
typical
business plan
or Logic
Model. Here
is a business
example.
Easier to
measure due
to $$$.
Planning

13. 2. Using Google
Analytics Goals
Planning
Start with
typical
business plan
or Logic
Model. Non-
businesses
tend to
involve less
$$$ goals –
more difficult.

14. 2. Using Google
Analytics Goals
• A trick is involved
here.
• See “Goal URL”
• In Google Analytics,
you have four ways
to track goals:
1. URLs
2. Time
3. Pages/visit
4. Events
Planning

15. GA Goal Example
• After you have set up
goals (and intermediate
goals) in GA:
• the Funnel Visualization
report will display
perhaps the single most
definitive funnel
performance metric in
Google Analytics: the
Funnel Conversion Rate.
• Goals & funnels are not
retroactive. So, don’t
delay!!!
Planning

16. With Goals, Measure Goal Conversion
Planning

17. E.g. Funnel with a Goal Set
Planning

18. IV. Conclusion
• GA is not perfect but certainly better than
nothing. It contains valuable information that can
be utilized for site, planning, and program
improvements.
• Start simple. When reporting trends over time,
be consistent. Segment, segment, segment …. for
enriched results.
– You may look back for some of the metrics
– Things will be a lot easier if you’ve planned ahead
with regards to the metrics, dimensions, and
segmentations used.
• Retroactive data: Some data you obtain
retroactively; others no.

19. Fahzy Abdul-Rahman
Using Google Analytics
for Annual Report and
Planning
National Extension Technology
Conference (NETC)
May 21, 2014