The filters within Google Analytics allow the tracking, monitoring and recording of a variety of different metrics. One particularly useful filter allows you to track your site’s position within the search engines when a visitor clicks on your listing.
This information can be incredibly valuable as you may be optimising your site for one phrase, but this filter can show that a slightly reworded phrase delivers better quality traffic. If you have e-commerce tracking and goals set up then the real value of these visitors will clearly be displayed.
Before creating the filters it is important that you create a new profile in your Google Analytics Account. Give an appropriate title like, ‘Search Engine Rankings’. There should always be a profile in your Analytics Account which has all your data with no filters, otherwise you won’t have a record of your overall traffic.
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We are eagerly awaiting a new feature for Google Analytics which Google says will be rolled out in January 2010.
Annotations will allow you to be able to click on a date and leave a note describing an event or occurrence which happened on that individual day. These notes can be shared or set to private so only you can see them.
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Last week, Google released the latest wave of updates to Google Analytics. New functionality includes:
- Up to 20 goals per profile
- Engagement Goals including Time on Site and Pages/Visit
- Expanded mobile reporting to enable you to see how mobile users interact with your site.
- Advanced analysis features allows you to add a secondary dimension to the reports.
To find out more check out the videos on the Google Analytics Blog.
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Does your email marketing and Google Base traffic get mixed up with your direct, referral and organic traffic?
In today’s modern, online world where return on investment (ROI) is at the centre of all spending decisions, it is essential that you are able to separate all of your marketing activities in Google Analytics.
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The multi-dimensional graph which brings your data to life before your eyes.
Have you had a chance to use the new Motion Charts feature in Analytics? I would recommend you spend some time reviewing your Motion Charts in your Google Analytics Account to obtain an understanding of the patterns of your traffic and conversions.
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When we initially take on a new client, one of the first things we always check is to see if Google Analytics has been correctly implemented. We regularly see websites which have the Google Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) implemented incorrectly. You will be amazed at some of the scenarios including only adding half the code, or only adding the code to a selection of pages.
Very often if the Analytics Account isn’t recording the data it is normally due to the tracking code not being implemented correctly on every page. It needs to be every page otherwise nothing will be recorded. Don’t forget to add the code to your 404 page so you are able to monitor how often your error page is shown.
No Tracking Code = No Data!
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Whether you are focused on search engine optimisation or pay per click, it is important that you know which pages receive the highest volume of traffic and maybe more importantly the pages which have the highest bounce rates.
If a page is underperforming then you need to take immediate action to improve it where required. Landing pages need to make an immediate impact upon visitors and encourage them to interact further with your site.
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Now that Google Analytics has the functionality of advanced segments, how and when do you decide if it is right to create a customised segment or create an additional profile?
Once you have logged into your Analytics Account, the advanced segments can be found in the top right hand corner of the account. This functionality allows the data to be segmented depending upon the data you would like to view.
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A new service has come to light further linking Google AdWords with Google Analytics and meaning that you can now import your Analytics Goals into your AdWords Account.
Goals are the primary measurement of a desired action on a website including:
• Page views
• Contact requests
• Email registrations
• Making a purchase
• Adding product to shopping cart
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Formally known as Urchin, is a web statistics program that allows users to get comprehensive data on their website and visitors for free.
Google Analytics Notes is a really great Firefox extension from EpikOne.
As we all know a website is never truly finished and is constantly undergoing further development and changes. Do you wish there was a way you could keep a record of this and at the same time cross reference this with your website traffic. Well now you can thanks to GA Notes.
Install the Firefox extension and follow the instructions which can be found at:
http://www.epikone.com/blog/2008/10/28/adding-business-data-to-google-analytics-data/
Next time you log into your Google Analytics account and view a profile you will see Show Notes. You can then leave business data in your Analytics account like new design launched or added 3 new sales pages. The notes can then be found on every report at the top stored in a concealable table.
Anyone who has access to the Analytics account and has the Firefox extension installed can see the notes.
Great for building up a history of your site’s development, plus the whole team can stay up to date with the latest amendments to your website.
Have you ever wondered what users are actually doing on your website? Or why your traffic to the site is really high but not converting to sales?
In today’s ever competitive online market having a website is simply not enough to guarantee online sales. Every website should have some sort of analytics installed so web site owners are able monitor and react to trends on their site. If finding out about analytics is on your constantly on your to-do list, move it the top quick, as you could be the last to know why your website isn’t converting.
As with most products, there is a great range of varying products to choose from and each has their own benefits and disadvantages. But it will depend on the level of information that you want to retrieve from your analytics package.
Google Analytics is one of the most used analytics packages which could be due in part to the fact that it is free. The functionality of the product in my opinion is great as it allows all sorts of data to be analysed including, traffic sources, e-commerce tracking and the ability to track website specific goals.
The Google Analytics tracking code requires implementation on every page of the site. This sounds quite simple but you will be amazed at the number of people that paste the code incorrectly or not on every page. As mentioned in a previous post Google Analytics is reliant on users having JavaScript enabled on their browser.
Yahoo has recently acquired Index Tools to create Yahoo Web Analytics. I am yet to use this analytics package but one of the benefits stated is that the data within the reports is updated within minutes enabling you to react immediately to website activity. In addition to the standard reports you are also able to create custom-designed reports.
As you would expect free packages are only able to cover a certain amount and as the price tag increases you begin to receive a lot more for your money, plus dedicated support which is ideal if your website is a big e-commerce site.
ClickTracks is a package which can be purchased and contains a whole feast of data and information. In addition to providing comprehensive reports ClickTracks user interface aims to help you find the answers to your questions quicker. Plus if you don’t want to be adding code to your website then ClickTracks is able to analyse your sites’ log files.
WebTrends uses award winning technology which monitors your customer’s behaviour on your site and collects this information which can then be analysed which is really useful for large retail sites. Areas of success on site are easily identified, which can then be used to improve your site’s performance resulting in more conversions.
This is just a short analysis of four different analytics packages which are available and there are many more. But one thing is for sure; there is no excuse not to have an analytics package on your website.
Many website owners may be looking at their analytics accounts and thinking “I’m sure I am getting more traffic than this?” The chances are, they actually are!
As people are using newer browsers like Firefox, they are utilising more of the useful extensions and privacy options, one of which is an option where you can choose not to run JavaScript.
Now the big problem with this is that if you use a program such as Google Analytics that rely on JavaScript tracking codes to track visitors to your website, visitors with JavaScript disabled will not be tracked.
The way to cross reference this is to regularly check your analytics data against your websites log files and that way you will be able to see just how many visitors are invisible to your analytics account.
