Improving results through Google Analytics - Dave Chaffey : Smart Insights

Using Google Analytics toimprove your business results
Presented to The Internet Conference
Nottingham, 14th May 2010
Dr Dave Chaffey, CEO, Smart Insights
www.smartinsights.com
Download via “Presentations”

Engaging web users is tough!

About Dave Chaffey
Best practice
Qualifications
Books
Strategy &
Analytics
Portal & Software:
www.smartinsights.com/beta
Search &
Conversion
consulting
Strategy
consulting

Agenda
Mini case study
1 Conversion optimisation strategy and planning
The REAN framework. The “Cult of Analytics”
Conversion optimisation strategy
2 Google Analytics setup and customisation in 6 steps
1. Working with reports
2. Segmenting with advanced segments
3. Creating custom reports and dashboards
4. Setting up marketing campaign tracking
5. Modifying profile and filter setup
6. Customisations with server modifications
3 A very brief intro to AB and MVT
Please ask questions after each section…
No question too simple or too advanced!
|5

Case study Euroffice
6
Encourage search
dominant visitors
SEO and brand intro
OVP
Encourage browse
dominant visitors
“Reasons to return”
OVP
Social
proof

Euroffice social presence
7

Euroffice Email Examples

1 Conversion (goal)optimization strategy
Producing a plan defining:
Business goals and KPIs to improve?
Areas of site to focus on?
Sequence of tests?

What are we trying to achieve?Introducing the REAN framework – application – goals and dashboards
Reach – Reach prospects and customers via search engines and brand communications on publisher, social network and other partner sites
Engage – Engage through relevant quality content mainly on your site, but also content syndicated to partner sites
Activate – Convert engagement into business value – generate leads and sales
Nurture – Build relationships throughout the customer lifecycle through online direct messaging (Email, Blogs, RSS Feeds and SMS messaging) and community content
|10

REAN Questions
What would go on the REAN dashboard for you?
Reach:
Engage
Activate
Nurture

Examples of measures within REAN framework
|12

How do we compare? Benchmarks
Source: http://www.marketing-online.co.uk/wiki/Ecommerce_Conversion_Rates_Statistics
|13

Coremetrics summary dashboard example
14

Practical Tip – Identify most important page types by Content Drilldown volume, $Index (low or high), bounce and exit rates multiplied by page views
Where do we start? What will give us the biggest uplift in…?
Home page
Landing pages
Category pages
Branding & utility pages
Search
Product pages
Conversion goal pages
Check out pages
|15

Sound advice…
|16

Source: Craig Sullivan independent survey 2009
|17

Practical Tip
Review % age of visits by different landing page types
(for first time and repeat visitors)
Activity: Where do most prospects enter and leave your sites? What are bounce rates? How does this differ for segments.
“Points of Resolution”
Home page
About Us
Search page
Category page
Detailed product info
Product page
Sub-product page
Pricing
Security & Privacy
Checkout / forms
Tailored landing page
| 18

Source: Craig Sullivan independent survey 2009
|19

Tracking session interactions
Source: www.clicktale.com
See also:http://www.marketing-online.co.uk/wiki/Website_Visitor_Behaviour_Analysis_Tools
|20

Granular call tracking example
Source:http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/phone-call-tracking.php
Alternatives: http://www.freshegg.com/call-track-id.htm,
http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/call-metrics
|21

Tip. Use Feedback tools“Why” not “What”
22
http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-software/website-feedback-tools-review/

Google Analytics will only show you ‘What’ not ‘Why’ – other tools can helpiPerceptionshttp://www.4qsurvey.com/
“Bad web site. Difficult to find item as no search box provided for short cut”
“I can't find any prices on your website”
“Would like to see where I can buy products from” .
|23

1 Google Analytics setup and customisation in 6 steps1. Working with reports 2. Segmenting with advanced segments3. Creating custom reports and dashboards 4. Setting up marketing campaign tracking5. Modifying profile and filter setup 6. Customisations with server modifications
See: http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/web-analytics/customising-google-analytics-for-your-business/

Working with reports in a smarter way
Customisation technique 1
| 25

Smarter reporting options
Using the calendar / time period options for comparison
Pivot tables
Filter reports with simple filter based on page or keyword name or New: an Advanced Filter on any variable
New: Setting annotations – beneath the top chart
Intelligence Beta:Review standard alertsvia left menu
| 26

Use your “Intelligence”
27
Tip: Use Custom Alerts in your system
http://www.smartinsights.com/blog/web-analytics/google-analytics-web-analytics/my-experiences-of-using-the-google-analytics-intelligence-feature-to-review-seo-and-pay-per-click/

Example Pivot + Filter
28

Page analysis technique : Reverse and forward path analysis
|29

How effective is your scent?
30
Example SCENT TRAILS
NEW CUSTOMER?
<CUSTOMER-CENTRIC SERVICE NAMES>
WHERE / HOW TO BUY?
WHY CHOOSE US?

Segmenting your audience by setting up advanced segments
| 31

Advanced segments – how it works
|32

Advanced segments – some options
1. Segmentation by Referrer / Traffic source:
Paid
Natural
Paid and natural brand and non-brand
By number of keywords – 2,3,4
Social media

2. Segmentation by Visitor Type
New visitor
Returning visitor
Registered visitor
Customer
3. Segmentation by Engagement
5 pages,
<3 pages
4. Segmentation by Content Viewed
Key landing page
Product page
Checkout complete
Folders for large organisation
5. Segmentation by Landing Page Type
6. Segmentation by Event:
Conversion goal types and E-commerce
7. Segmentation by Platform (less important)
Browser
Screen resolution
Mobile platforms
8. Segmentation by Location Geography
Main markets
UK
US
FIGS
ROW
| 33
See
http://www.smartinsights.com/blog/web-analytics/google-analytics-web-analytics/segmenting-google-analytics/
+ By behaviour – search and browse

Advanced segmentation exampleSegmentation by Visitor Type
Practical Tip
Use Content Drilldown for understanding grouped content popularity
But need DFA! URL Strategy
|34

Advanced: Dimensionator for second page viewed
35
http://www.analyticspros.com/blog/googleanalytics/93-dimensionator-google-analytics-dimensions.html

Handy plugin for relative SEO changes
Firefox plugin:
http://www.juiceanalytics.com/writing/enhanced-google-analytics-firefox-plugin/
|36

|37
Advanced segmentation 2:Tracking social media
Source (Step 10) : http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/web-analytics/configuring-google-analytics-guide/
See also: www.davechaffey.com/online-reputation-management-tools

Creating dashboards and custom reports within Google Analytics
| 38

How do you use the dashboard??
| 39

Custom reports beta (can overlay segmentation)
|40

Some ideas for using custom reports
1. Time reporting. Use a dimension of week/month to compare performance over time more easily
2. Value reporting. Repeat the value of different contributors:
Keywords
Landing pages
Product categories
Countries
3. Role-based reporting.Setup different tabs for different types of people or marketing activity
41
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2010/02/leverage-custom-web-analytics-reports-insights.html

Bubble ormotion charts
|42
NB shows animated performance by day

Setting up marketing campaign tracking
| 43

Campaign tracking
Adwords will be tracked automatically provided you have specified within Adwords
All other referring campaign traffic sources need parameters adding where practical
Example:
http://econsultancy.com/reports/search-engine-optimization-seo-best-practice-guide?
utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=generic

Tip: Use a URL builder or spreadsheet
Another example:
http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=8909
&utm_campaign=CCXAQ081009A
&utm_source=Monthly_xArts_Email
&utm_medium=Internal_Email
&utm_content=CCXAQ081009A_Bunker_image [or A_Bunker_intro]
Activity:
Try the Google URL builder
http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578

New May 2010 Google Adwords Beta
46

Modifying profile setup within “Google Analytics Settings”

Setting up conversion goals
Remember to
Setup multiple conversion goals
Attach notional value to each
Can then assess $Index value by referrer and content
Ecommerce sites have specific product value attached so generally best not to add value to non-sales goal
|48
Consider additional goals – social bookmarking, commenting, catalogue requests, etc
See Ran Nir: http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2009/03/10-must-track-google-analytics-goals.html
See also http://www.viget.com/engage/how-to-track-internal-links-in-google-analytics/

New – 20 goals in GA so group them!
|49

Conversion funnels
These can be setup for each conversion goal
Example: Email sign-up, Landing page, checkout
Consider higher level funnels – or use conversion goals for these

Show me the money!
51
The 3 key value measures in GA:
1. Index value (Top content reports)Shows the influence of pages in generating value either through Ecommerce transactions or conversion goals with a value assigned.
2. Per Visit Goal Value (Traffic Sources reports for Referring sites, Search Engines and Keywords – Goal tab) Based on value assigned to your conversion goals this shows you the Total Goal Value for your reports.
3. Per Visit Value (Ecommerce Revenue per visit) You can see Per Visit Value measures within Traffic sources on the Ecommerce tab if you have Ecommerce tracking enabled.
http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/2010/05/11/how-much-value-is-your-website-generating/
http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86205

Tracking on-site search
| 52
Coremetrics UK Retail benchmarks
Tip. find the search query parameter from the URL of a search results page

Q. What to look for in site search reports?
|53

Filters and profiles – use for site structure
Process:
Create Advanced segment to test filter.
Create filter.
Apply to a test profile (only used for testing purposes – can check in minutes).
Create final profile and apply filter.
Grant access to this profile
To avoid a problem of 0 traffic there should be a master profile which NEVER has any filters applied.
Further reading:
http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/2009/12/09/how-to-choose-between-advanced-segments-versus-profile-filters-in-google-analytics/
http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/?hl=en
http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/accounts_profiles/index.html
http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/filters/index.html
http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/concepts/gaConceptsAccounts.html

Excluding staff access to data
Single IP address
Select Filter Manager
Select “exclude all traffic
from IP address”
Use regular expression, e.g.
176.168.1.1
2. Range of IPs
Ssimilar – use IP address tool at address below
3. Exclude by cookie
Has to be based on login page to intranet or similar.
Sets variable identifying employee in cookie
Exclude visitors with cookie from main profile.
See Step 2: http://www.smartinsights.com/web-analytics/configuring-google-analytics-guide/

Customisations that require server modifications

Ecommerce tracking
| 57
And _trackTrans
See http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/web-analytics/customising-google-analytics-for-your-business

Using event tracking in GA
Use event tracking for finding how popular different activities are:
Downloading documents (PDFs)
Clicking outbound links
Playing video clips
Best script to apply :
http://blog.immeria.net/2009/01/google-analytics-script-to-track.html
Can also use Virtual Page Views but need to exclude False Page Views with additional profile – see http://www.viget.com/engage/how-to-track-internal-links-in-google-analytics/

Engagement essential configuration:Event tracking
Source: Google announces final rollout of Event tracking June 2009:
http://analytics.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-tracking-now-available-in-all.html
|59

Custom variables in Google Analytics
Original called _setVarJavascript function on page that uniquely identifies these visitors. Sets cookie for 2 year period.
Now _setCustomVar
With up to 20 variables
Possible applications:
Different subscribers - bronze, silver, gold
Customers vs non-customers
Read more: http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/gaTrackingCustomVariables.html
60

5 AB and multivariate testing
Introducing the Google Web Optimizer Tool

Google Website Optimizer:7 key test types
1. AB Test (ABC Test)
Compare 2 or more page versions
2 Multivariate test
Compare different versions of page elements
3 Split-path test
Compare 2 or more linear paths
4 Multipath multivariate test
Multi-elements, multipages
5 Do Anything Test
Measure multiple conversion goals
6 Linger test
Measure engagement with page
7 Click
Measure clicks on advertiser links or to an external checkout
Read more: http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/11/02/google-website-optimizer-7-powerful-tests/

Google Website Optimizer case study
Source: Moneyspyder blog (with permission):http://blog.moneyspyder.co.uk/2009/06/enhanced-google-website-optimiser.htmlx

Combining event tracking with GWO
Each variation / recipe in GWO is tracked as a separate event and can then be used to view more granular info – e.g. influence on AOV
Source: Moneyspyder blog (with permission):http://blog.moneyspyder.co.uk/2009/06/enhanced-google-website-optimiser.htmlx

Don’t give too much choice?!
Six different jams. 40% of the customers stopped to taste. 30% of those bought.
Twenty-four different jams. 60% of the customers stopped to taste. But only 3% bought! http://sivers.org/jam

Autoglass case study
Source: Craig Sullivan talking at EconsultancyMasterclass:
http://www.smartinsights.com/blog/digital-marketing-strategy/online-marketing-masterclass-liveblogging

TV Comparison
TV - Off
TV - On
+2.4%
+6.4%
-1.3%
+14.8%

Another example
+5.3%

Let’s Connect! Questions & discussion welcome
uk.linkedin.com/in/davechaffey
www.facebook.com/davechaffey
www.twitter.com/DaveChaffey
Blog
www.smartinsights.com/blog
Feeds
www.feedburner.com/smartinsights
Email Newsletter
www.smartinsights.com

http://www.slidescene.com	248
http://www.smartinsights.com	244
http://www.slideshare.net	75
http://static.slidesharecdn.com	3
http://www.lmodules.com	2

Improving results through Google Analytics - Dave Chaffey : Smart Insights

by Dave Chaffey on May 13, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

5 Embeds 572

Statistics

Improving results through Google Analytics - Dave Chaffey : Smart Insights — Presentation Transcript