Web analytics is taking up more of the daily workload for marketers due to increased demand for accountability and ROI. However, the challenges of gathering actionable digital marketing data from tools like Google Analytics and utilizing it in effective reports and presentations to stakeholders can be daunting and time consuming. In this presentation, you will learn tips for saving time while using Google Analytics, best practices for creating reports and dashboards and better ways to present memorable insights that get your organization’s attention.

1. Getting More Out of
Web Analytics
Scott Mowery (@scottmowery)
Manager, Search Engine Marketing
& Web Analytics
Cleveland Clinic
SME-U Workshop
Jan. 13, 2015

2. Now What?

3. Saving Time
Mining Insights
Telling a Story

4. Saving Time

5. Annotations
http://bit.ly/WAannotations

6. • Reconfigure a report just once
• Can be edited later
• Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAshortcut
Shortcuts

7. Top pages report + Two filters + Sort by Entrances
+ Expansion from top 10 pages to 500 pages
“Top Content” Shortcut

8. • Collect 12 reports into 1
• Springboard to dive into
other reports/shortcuts
• Learn More:
http://bit.ly/WAdashboard
Dashboards

9. Share the Wealth

10. Empower
the
Team

11. Avoid Drive-By Shootings

12. Google Analytics FAQ
Download: http://bit.ly/WAGAFAQ2015

13. Brush Up on Your Excel

14. Intelligence Events
• Automated alerts that indicate radical
changes in traffic patterns
• Includes automatic and custom alerts
• Alerts can be sent by email or text
• Potential usage: Site crashes, content
traffic spikes/drops, viral content
• Learn More:
• http://bit.ly/WAintelligencealerts
• http://bit.ly/WAintelligencealerts2

15. Mining Insights

16. Segmentation  Insights

17. Segmentation  Insights
Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAsegment

18. Simple “Digestive” Filter

19. • “Power-Match” to include/exclude multiple
conditions
• Coding combines alphanumeric characters
with metacharacters (*, ^, $, |, , ., [ ], ( ),
etc.)
• Can be shared across user accounts
Regular Expressions

20. Advanced Filter w/Regex
Shows pages with “digestive” OR
“ortho” in the URL

21. “Digestive Users” Filter
Show URLs that contain part of this Regex:
barrett|gerd|heartburn|gastritis|constipation|diarrhea|bowel|lactose|
gallstone|hepatitis|colitis|diverticul|hemorrhoid|incontinence|esoph
ag|pancrea|achalasia|swallowing|digestive|dyspepsia|indigestion|ga
stro|stomach|abdominal|celiac|gi_bleeding|intestinal|enteritis|gallbl
adder|crohns|anal|dd_overview|polyp|colo(rectal|n)|hernia|nutrition|
intestin|endoscop|enteros|ercp_|liver|hipec|j-pouch|rectal

22. Lunametrics RegEx eBook:
http://bit.ly/WAregex
RegEx Cheat Sheet:
http://bit.ly/WAregex2
Read More on RegEx

23. • View any report just for a specific subset
of your web audience
• Apply on multiple conditions including
demographics, technology, date of first
visit, traffic sources, campaigns, pages
and more
• Can be saved and shared
Advanced Segments

24. Advanced Segments

25. Advanced Segments
Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAgasegments

26. • Personalize your
own reports with just
the dimensions &
metrics you choose
• Can be shared
with/imported from
other GA users
Custom Reports
Learn More:
http://bit.ly/WAcustom & http://bit.ly/WAcustom2

27. Custom Error Page Report
Download: http://bit.ly/GAgallery404

28. Visits by Day of Week
& Hours of Day
Download: http://bit.ly/GAgallerydayhour

29. • Customized “on-click” elements
• Measure site engagement
• Contains multiple levels for drill-
down & roll-up reporting
Event Tracking
Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAgaevents

31. • Take time up front to
think through structure,
hierarchy and level of
detail
• Maintain a log for
consistency and
reference
Campaign Tagging
Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAcampaign1
http://bit.ly/WAurlbuilder

32. • Original URL for 3/17/14 post:
http://health.clevelandclinic.org
/2012/05/5-healthy-habits-you-
can-learn-from-your-dog/
• Tagged URL:
http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2012/05/5-
healthy-habits-you-can-learn-from-your-
dog/?utm_campaign=cc+posts&utm_medium=
social&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=
140317+healthy+habits+dog
Campaign Tagging
Example

33. Telling a Story

34. Don’t Accept This:
Can you run
me some numbers?

35. Focus on the Entire
Customer Journey
Acquisition, Behavior & Outcomes

36. Identify the Critical Few

37. “Don’t measure anything unless the
data helps you make a better decision
or change your actions. If you’re not
prepared to change your diet or your
workouts, don’t get on the scale.”
-- Seth Godin

38. Apply Context to Your Data

39. Apply Context to Your Data

40. Avoid Top 10 Reports

41. Don’t Trip Up on Statistics

42. Display Data Correctly
Source: Extreme Presentation Blog
(http://bit.ly/WAchartchooser)

43. Show Actionable Insights
So What?
Learn More: http://bit.ly/WAsowhattest

44. Web Analytics Resources
• Google Analytics Academy
• Google Analytics YouTube Channel
• Twitter: #ganalytics, #measure
• Avinash Kaushik
• Brian Clifton
• Web Analytics Demystified blog
• Lunametrics blog

45. Thank You!
mowerys@ccf.org @scottmowery
http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmowery