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Unorganized, vague, and wrong data won't increase your sales. Using Google Analytics should help you make better decisions for your business. To help you collect the data you want--meaningful data--start tagging links to dramatically shape the way your data is organized. This will enable you to create valuable reports, so that you can gain a better understanding of what is and what isn’t working from a marketing perspective. From there, you'll be equipped to make better decisions and ultimately increase sales.
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Google Link Tagging
1. Create better reports.
Make better decisions.
Increase sales.
Link tagging with Google Analytics
by Nathan Smoyer
NathanSmoyer.com
2. Objectives
• Understand what link tagging is
• Understand how to tag links
• Learn how to use tools to tag links
• Learn basic best practices in tagging links
• Use understanding to create better reports
• Use reports to increase sales
3. What is “link tagging”?
• The process of adding parameters to a URL
for the purpose of tracking custom
campaigns
– Link tagging can be performed manually or
automatically with Google Analytics
*5
4. What is a “tagged link”?
• When a URL has parameters added to the
end of the link, it is considered a tagged link
– There are five parameters that can be used to
tag links when using Google Analytics
*1
5. What is the function of a tagged link?
• Tagged links help you measure custom
campaigns
– Each parameter added to a link is identified and
organized by dimension and metric to form
reports in Google Analytics
6. How are links tagged?
• Link tagging can be performed manually or
automatically with Google Analytics
– It is not recommended to manually tag if you
have auto link tagging turned on for PPC or CPC
– Manual tagging can used for all other forms of
promotion such as: email, social media, and
blogs
7. Why should I tag links?
• To measure the results of your efforts
• To know what forms of marketing is working
• To form reports in order to analyze larger
chunks of data
• To increase sales
8. Terms to learn
• Parameter • Campaign Source
• Dimension • Campaign Medium
• Metric (calculated • Campaign Term
metrics will not be (keyword)
discussed in this • Campaign Content
presentation) • Campaign Name
9. Parameter
• An arbitrary constant whose value
characterizes a member of a system
• Google Analytics recognizes five parameters.
– Parameters include:
• utm_source
• utm_medium
• utm_term
• utm_content
• utm_campaign
*6,3, 10
10. Dimension
• One of a group of properties whose number is
necessary and sufficient to determine
uniquely
– Examples in Google analytics can be:
• Page name
• Page load time
• Source campaign
*7, 9
11. Metric
• A standard of measure
– Examples in Google analytics can be:
• Organic search terms
• Visits
• Bounces
• Time on site
*8, 9
12. Campaign Source
• Source: Every referral to a web site has an
origin, or source
– Example sources:
• “google”
• “facebook.com”
• “specialoffer_email”
• “direct”
*2
13. Campaign Medium
• Medium: Every referral to a website also has
a medium
– Example mediums include:
• “organic”
• “cpc”
• “referral”
• “email”
• “none”
*2
14. Campaign Term (Keyword)
• Term: The keywords that visitors searched
are usually captured in the case of search
engine referrals
– This is true for both organic and paid search
– If the visitor is not signed in to a Google account,
however, keyword will have the value “(not
provided)”
*2
15. Campaign Content
• Content: Identifies a specific link or content
item in a custom campaign
– Example Contents include:
• textlink
• buttonlink
• link1
• link2
*2
16. Campaign name
• Campaign: Is the name of the referring
AdWords campaign or a custom campaign
that you have created
– Example Campaigns include:
• “christmas2012”
• “customerservice”
• “fbspecial”
*2
17. Which parameters should I use?
• Google recommends always using
utm_source, utm_medium, and
utm_campaign when tagging links
– It is possible to use only utm_source and
utm_campaign, however this is not considered
best practice
*4
18. Tools for tagging links
• URL Builder tool
• URL Builder Chrome extension
– Source, Medium, and Campaign are required to be
used when utilizing these tools
– You can create a tagged link without using either
tool using a text document
– Here’s a complete example:
• http://nathansmoyer.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_m
edium=social&utm_campaign=googletools
*1, 10, 11
21. Always . . .
• Be consistent in tagging links
– This applies to all parameters
• Only use underscores if necessary when naming a
parameter
• Always or never use capital letters when naming a
parameter (I recommend not using capital letters at
all)
*2
22. Be sure to . . .
• Measure frequently
– Some A/B tests may require more time than
others
23. Adjust and record
• Adjust as needed to improve how you
collect data
– Be sure to annotate changes in your link tagging
methods in Google Analytics
– Document the methodology you use for tagging
links in order to keep a historical account of how
to create reports
24. Please forward along
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Send questions to:
@NateSmoyer
Natesmoyer@gmail.com
NathanSmoyer.com