Five tips on practical applications of web analytics that can be applied with any web analytics tool

1. Five Tips in Ten Minutes Conversion Thursday London 13th Oct 2011

2. L3 Analytics L3 Analytics is a web analytics consultancy The focus is on simplifying web analytics for companies And on using the data to improve business performance I am not a salesperson so lets get onto the real stuff But I am an analyst so one thing first... KPI – people who get at least one useful tip Target – three quarters of the room 13th Oct 2011 Page 2

3. Tip #1 – Social Media Tracking There are four types of Social Media traffic Make sure you identify them all uniquely Paid marketing on social networks Use web analytics campaign tracking Content posted on social networks Use web analytics campaign tracking Links generated through visitors clicking on buttons to share your content e.g. Incorporate web analytics campaign tracking in the URLs generated Links posted on social networks by 3rd parties Group domains under a new channel name through Marketing Channels if using SiteCatalyst or profile filters if using GA See http://www.l3analytics.com/2011/08/02/tracking-social-media-with-web-analytics/ 13th Oct 2011 Page 3

4. Tip #2 – Campaign Tracking Tools Staying on the topic of campaign tracking with web analytics tools DO IT!!! Provides you with a single view of all traffic sources to your website Allows you to view behaviour of visitors from different campaigns Requires adding campaign parameters to landing page URL I have created Excel tools that help GA tools are live & SiteCatalyst should be tomorrow All tools simply require you to enter campaign link details and press the button Campaign details being URL, channel, campaign and other meta data See http://www.l3analytics.com/2011/09/08/google-analytics-campaign-url-builder/?utm_source=conversion%20thursday&utm_medium=events&utm_content=presentation&utm_campaign=ga%20campaign%20builder OR http://bit.ly/rrQSjE 13th Oct 2011 Page 4

5. GA Social Media URL Builder 13th Oct 2011 Page 5

6. Other GA Campaign URL Builders 13th Oct 2011 Page 6

7. SiteCatalyst Campaign URL Builder Define channels and meta data One worksheet per channel Extract complete set of data to upload via SAINT 13th Oct 2011 Page 7

8. Tip #3 – Track Repeat Customers The behaviour of repeat customers is very different from new customers Therefore segment reports based on customer type BUT you can’t rely on cookies Solution => extract information on previous purchase behaviour at point when visitors login Whether creating account, logging in within or outside checkout process, or arriving on the website with a persistent login This won’t work for customers who guest checkout Extract the number of previous purchases & total purchase value Record this data in an event in GA or an eVar in SiteCatalyst Segment away... See http://www.l3analytics.com/2011/06/15/tracking-repeat-customers-in-google-analytics/ 13th Oct 2011 Page 8

9. Tip #4 – First Invest in Resources We now have another expensive Web Analytics tool in the market Companies are investing big sums in their web analytics tools I have a simple rule for you Do not spend £50k+ on a web analytics tool if you haven’t got at least two full time internal web analysts You will get more value from hiring more people Use a free or cheaper tool in the meantime – when there are questions which can’t be answered by that tool, then upgrade A more expensive tool won’t provide the answers alone without the craftspeople who know how to use it 13th Oct 2011 Page 9

10. Tip #5 – My Favourite Report This data should be available through any web analytics tool I can get it (nearly) via a standard report in GA It is Traffic Sources vs Entry Points with metrics of % Entries and Bounce Rate Must have content grouped using profile filters in GA or s.propin SiteCatalyst This can be site sections, page types or something else relevant Can extend the analysis with engagement metrics or conversion rates Makes it easy to identify problem areas (high Bounce Rate) an indication of scale of problem (high % Entries) at multiple levels = actionable insights!! 13th Oct 2011 Page 10

11. Setting up the report in GA Use your Content Grouping Profile Select Landing Pages report Select the Pivot visualisation Change the pivot dimension to Medium Add a second pivot metric of Bounce Rate Extract insights... 13th Oct 2011 Page 11

12. Using the data in Excel 13th Oct 2011 Page 12

13. Thank You For more tips... www.l3analytics.com/blog @peter_oneill 13th Oct 2011 Page 13