Advanced Google
Analytics
LA2M - 9.16.09

Andrew
Miller
Your Search Advisor
@AndrewCMiller

Special
Thanks:
ArborWiki.org
August 1 - 31, 2009

Why do we care about
Website Analytics?

“If you can’t measure it,
you can’t manage it.”

It is cheaper to convert
visitors than it is to buy more
traffic.

You can
buy more $
$
$
visitors...

$ $
...or
$ $
$ $$
improve
$
conversion rates.

Better management through
measurement
google.com/analytics

Advanced Google Analytics
Standard Reports
Tag Inbound Links
Goal Tracking
Event Tracking
Motion Tracking Charts
Site Search
E-Commerce Tracking
And More...

Visits & Usage
How do visitors use my site?

Visitor Geography
Where are my visitors?

Referring Sources
How do visitors get to my site?

Content Performance
Which pages are my visitors viewing?

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views
Downloads

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views Contact Form/
Downloads Leads

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views Contact Form/
Downloads Leads
Newsletter/RSS
Signups

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views Contact Form/
Downloads Leads
Newsletter/RSS
Signups E-Commerce
Transactions

Metrics & KPI’s should be
tied to your objectives
Page Views Contact Form/
Downloads Leads
Video Views
Newsletter/RSS
Signups E-Commerce
Transactions

Tagging Links - Insights
Are my online advertising campaigns effectively and
efficiently accomplishing my objectives?
Which traffic sources generate the highest quality
traffic?
Where should I invest more money? Less money?

Tagging Links - Set Up
5 variables can be added to inbound links (i.e. banner ads,
sponsored search, Tweeted links, product feeds, etc.)
Source* - website, e-newsletter, partner, etc.
Medium* - cpc, banner, email, tweet, etc.
Term - keyword or phrase searched
Content - differentiate ads and creative testing
Name* - campaign name (i.e. “Spring Sale”)
*Required Guide

Tagging Links - Set Up
Use these URL parameters:
Source* - utm_source
Medium* - utm_medium
Term - utm_term
Content - utm_content
Name* - utm_campaign
*Required Guide

Tagging Links - Set Up
Use these URL parameters: Example:
Source* - utm_source la2m
Medium* - utm_medium slideshow
Term - utm_term
Content - utm_content
Name* - utm_campaign adv-analytics
*Required Guide

Tagging Links - Set Up
URL Builder

Tagging Links - Set Up
http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/
+
URL Builder

Tagging Links - Set Up
http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/
+
?utm_source=la2m&utm_medium=slideshow&utm_campaign=adv-analytics
=
URL Builder

Tagging Links - Set Up
http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/
+
?utm_source=la2m&utm_medium=slideshow&utm_campaign=adv-analytics
=
http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/?
utm_source=la2m&utm_medium=slideshow&utm_campaign=adv-analytics
URL Builder

Goal Tracking - Insights
Where do visitors abandon the sales funnel?
Which steps seem to cause friction?
Can the funnel be shortened?
What happens if we change something?

Goal Tracking - Set Up
Analytics Settings > Profile Settings > Conversion Goals and Funnel

Goal Tracking - Funnels
Dashboard > Goals > Funnel Visualization Photo

Goal Tracking - Funnels
Dashboard > Goals > Funnel Visualization

Goal Tracking - Funnels
1. 219 Shopping Cart Views
Dashboard > Goals > Funnel Visualization

Goal Tracking - Funnels
1. 219 Shopping Cart Views
2. 106 Abandoned (48%)
Dashboard > Goals > Funnel Visualization

Goal Tracking - Funnels
1. 219 Shopping Cart Views
2. 106 Abandoned (48%)
3. 113 Logged In (52%)
Dashboard > Goals > Funnel Visualization

Goal Tracking - Details
Dashboard > Goals > Overview > Goal 1: Edit Page

Event Tracking
Track visitor interactions separately from pageviews.
Examples: Video plays, file downloads, widget clicks,
blog comments, etc.
AJAX and Flash interactions.
Extremely flexible, can be used to track any event.

Event Tracking - Basics
Events have 3 required components:
onClick JavaScript function
Event Category (“Documents”, “Videos”)
Event Action (“Download”, “Play”)
2 components are optional:
Event Label (“White Paper”, “Product Demo”)
Event Value (integer)
Guide

Event Tracking - Set Up

Event Tracking - Set Up
<a href=”/WhitePaper.pdf” >Download White Paper</a>
+

Event Tracking - Set Up
<a href=”/WhitePaper.pdf” >Download White Paper</a>
+
onClick="pageTracker._trackEvent(...);”
=

Event Tracking - Set Up
<a href=”/WhitePaper.pdf” >Download White Paper</a>
+
onClick="pageTracker._trackEvent(...);”
=
<a href=”/WhitePaper.pdf”
onClick=”pageTracker._trackEvent(‘Documents’,
‘Download’, ‘White Paper’);”>Download White Paper</a>

Event Tracking - Report
Dashboard > Content > Event Tracking

Motion Tracking
Certain reports can be “Visualized”
Shows change over time for up to 4 variables
Dashboard > Traffic Sources > Keywords > Visualize

Motion Tracking - Report
Link

Motion Tracking - Report
Link

Motion Tracking - Report
Link

Site Search
Track which keywords visitors type in your “Site
Search” box.
Gain insights into consumer intent and needs.
Data is valuable for PPC and SEO keyword research.
Find out which pages visitors start their search on,
what they find, and compare visitors who searched
against those who don’t.

Site Search - Set Up
Figure out your site’s query parameter
“s=query” in WordPress
“search=query” for MediaWiki
http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/?s=la2m

Site Search - Set Up
Configure Google Analytics to track Site Search
Analytics Settings > Profile Settings > Main Website Profile Information > “Edit”

Site Search - Report
How do visitors use the site search?
Which keywords do they search for?
Dashboard > Content > Site Search

Site Search - Report
Where do visitors start their searches?
Dashboard > Content > Site Search > Start Pages

E-Commerce Tracking
Conversion Rates (% of visitors that buy)
Total Transactions
Average Order Value
SKU-Level Tracking
Data by Referral Sources

E-Commerce - Set Up
Analytics Settings > Profile Settings > Edit Profile Information

E-Commerce - Set Up
Add the _addTrans(...) and _addItem(...) functions to
the GA tracking code on your receipt page
_addTrans(...) includes transaction details
Order ID, Source, Total, Tax, Shipping Charge,
City, State, Country
_addItem(...) for SKU-level details for each item sold
Order ID, SKU, Product Name, Category, Price,
Quantity
Guide

E-Commerce - Report
Which items are selling and for how much?
Which traffic sources are generating sales?
Dashboard > E-Commerce > Overview

More Advanced Capabilities
Custom Segmentation - Group visitors by a common
characteristics (geography, membership, buying history,
form responses, etc.) More...
Custom Reporting - Slice and dice the data any way
you like. More....
Automated Reporting - Schedule GA to email reports
on a regular basis More...

More Advanced Capabilities
Cross-Domain Tracking - Track usage and
conversions across multiple domains (i.e. 3rd party
shopping carts) More...
Website Optimizer - Conduct A/B and Multivariate
testing to determine highest converting combinations.
More...

It’s Free, But...
Your data lives on somebody else’s servers
You can’t export your raw data to switch to another
service
You should still read the Terms of Service
There are other alternatives:
Woopra - free for now, real-time stats, commercial version coming
Piwik - free, open source, not as robust (yet)
Yahoo! Web Analytics - free for Yahoo! search advertisers

Thank You!
Questions?