This document provides tips and strategies for optimizing Google Analytics setups and configurations. It discusses the importance of auditing existing analytics implementations, as most have issues that degrade data quality. Common problems found in audits include tag firing issues and incorrect tagging of key events. The document also advocates for performing "walkthroughs" to understand how user interactions on a site map to collected analytics data. Additional tips include setting up early warning systems to detect problems or anomalies, and utilizing tools that can help automate audits and tag debugging.
MKEsearch 2018 | CSI: Forensic SEO AuditsRenee Girard
Intro to SEO Forensics >> bit.ly/audit-blog-2018
(Mostly) Free SEO Tools >> bit.ly/seo-tools-2018
SVS Tutorial >> bit.ly/svs-tutorial
SVS Matrix >> bit.ly/pubcon-svs
Revisions made post-Pubcon Florida for the MKEsearch event:
When to do log file analysis -- NEW
Mobile assessment for mobile-first indexing -- NEW
Rendering assessment from Google I/O -- NEW
Event >> https://mkesearch.org/upcoming-events/seo-planning-site-migrations-and-csi-seo-audits
Technical SEO Audits - SEO Consultant Bill Hartzer - Triangle Marketing ClubBill Hartzer
Bill Hartzer, an SEO Consultant with Hartzer Consulting, talked about performing Technical SEO Audits. Bill presented to the Triangle Marketing Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Google Analytics: Understanding Your UsersLunaMetrics
You have your Google Analytics account set up, the code is on your website, so now what? Take a look at the basic reporting functions within your GA account to understand your users and begin utilizing that data!
MKEsearch 2018 | CSI: Forensic SEO AuditsRenee Girard
Intro to SEO Forensics >> bit.ly/audit-blog-2018
(Mostly) Free SEO Tools >> bit.ly/seo-tools-2018
SVS Tutorial >> bit.ly/svs-tutorial
SVS Matrix >> bit.ly/pubcon-svs
Revisions made post-Pubcon Florida for the MKEsearch event:
When to do log file analysis -- NEW
Mobile assessment for mobile-first indexing -- NEW
Rendering assessment from Google I/O -- NEW
Event >> https://mkesearch.org/upcoming-events/seo-planning-site-migrations-and-csi-seo-audits
Technical SEO Audits - SEO Consultant Bill Hartzer - Triangle Marketing ClubBill Hartzer
Bill Hartzer, an SEO Consultant with Hartzer Consulting, talked about performing Technical SEO Audits. Bill presented to the Triangle Marketing Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Google Analytics: Understanding Your UsersLunaMetrics
You have your Google Analytics account set up, the code is on your website, so now what? Take a look at the basic reporting functions within your GA account to understand your users and begin utilizing that data!
Surviving the hype cycle Shortcuts to split testing successCraig Sullivan
In this talk, I show the key shortcuts to stop doing stupid testing and move towards innovative and transformative design & build methodologies, including innovation through split testing exploration
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Designing and managing advanced analytics implementations for 35+ digital properties, across more than 10 different production teams, is not an easy task. It became even more challenging when the analytics team at Electronic Arts (EA) was required to migrate from Adobe Site Catalyst to Google Analytics Premium to Google Universal Analytics, all within the span of 18 months. Of course, all of this had to be done while still keeping pace with the company’s frenzied schedule for publishing blockbuster games, each of which requires new sites and countless marketing campaigns. See how we used Tealium iQ™ tag management system to achieve our objectives.
Surviving the AB Testing Hype Cycle - Reaktor Breakpoint 2015Craig Sullivan
My Slides from Reaktor Breakpoint 2015 - This is by far the best deck (and hopefully talk) I've done this year. Masses of info, reading, articles, useful reports and more.
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A compendium of the most common mistakes and problems people encounter when trying to optimise or split test cross device experiences (mobile, tablet, desktop, app, tv etc.)
Data Driven Website Optimization - Big Footprint Tech4Good PresentationBigFootprint
Nick Yorchak, the founder of Big Footprint, had the privilege of speaking to an audience of Tech4Good members at a Denver Event about the principles of data driven website optimization. Tech4Good is a community of professionals interested in the use of technology in the nonprofit sector, so the topic was well received by those in attendance.
Nick’s presentation explained how non-profits can leverage free tools available within Google Analytics to measure digital campaigns and drive insights that can be leveraged for optimization and testing.
Google Analytics presentation given by Ben Rogers - Director, Attacat to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce during October 2010. Actionable Insights with Google Analytics.
AB Testing and UX - a love story with numbers and people (by Craig Sullivan a...Northern User Experience
AB Testing and UX - a love story with numbers and people
Slides from the NUX6 talk by Craig Sullivan, Friday 27th October 2017.
2017.nuxconf.uk / nuxuk.org
Synopsis:
What’s wrong with the web these days? The mobile experience sucks. The customer experience sucks. It doesn’t work. It’s too hard to use. The text is too small. Nobody measures this happening. The interaction patterns suck. Nobody ever calls up to complain but nobody does anything anyway. Millions of people lose countless days to friction, poor design and frustrating moments on their devices.
There may be thousands of things you can fix that look promising – but how do you know where to start? What if you could measure what sucked, where it sucked and how big the problem was? Using lightweight research methods and tools, you can stop making excuses and start knowing exactly what to do. Life becomes much simpler and easier with a scientific method of optimising growth or delight within your product.
Craig has trained over 500 people on how to measure and optimise their product experience, finding 100M of ‘lost revenue’ using just one of the techniques you will learn. With reports, checklists, downloadable templates and toolkits for every budget and stage of growth – you can stop guessing tomorrow.
Top Google Analytics Customisations - Brighton SEO April 2018Anna Lewis
Top Google Analytics Customisations showcased, including Custom Dimensions, Event tracking, basic introduction to Google Tag Manager, Data Studio and core tips.
Cross Device Optimisation - Google Analytics ShortcutsCraig Sullivan
In this session, we explain how to mine GA for broken device experiences, flows, funnel blocks and more... Using a new grid tool we've developed, you can pull multi-dimensional segmented funnel and metric data from Google Analytics - we explain how it works, why you need it and what problems it solves. Find where your site is leaking money through data
20 Ways to Shaft your Split Tesring : Conversion ConferenceCraig Sullivan
This talk is the latest deck showing common problems that will easily break or skew your ab and multivariate testing results. Avoid these problems by following the simple advice in this deck!
When other people are looking at you data and analysis, do they view it as credible. This presentation first delivered at London Measurecamp asks a set of questions with 5 added history lessons
More Related Content
Similar to Google Analytics Powerups and Smartcuts
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A roundup of all the things to help you maintain a competitive edge in experience design and conversion optimisation. With examples of companies putting this stuff together, the tools they are using and their project management approaches, this presentation delves deeper into the cultural aspects of CRO.
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Data Driven Website Optimization - Big Footprint Tech4Good PresentationBigFootprint
Nick Yorchak, the founder of Big Footprint, had the privilege of speaking to an audience of Tech4Good members at a Denver Event about the principles of data driven website optimization. Tech4Good is a community of professionals interested in the use of technology in the nonprofit sector, so the topic was well received by those in attendance.
Nick’s presentation explained how non-profits can leverage free tools available within Google Analytics to measure digital campaigns and drive insights that can be leveraged for optimization and testing.
Google Analytics presentation given by Ben Rogers - Director, Attacat to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce during October 2010. Actionable Insights with Google Analytics.
AB Testing and UX - a love story with numbers and people (by Craig Sullivan a...Northern User Experience
AB Testing and UX - a love story with numbers and people
Slides from the NUX6 talk by Craig Sullivan, Friday 27th October 2017.
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Synopsis:
What’s wrong with the web these days? The mobile experience sucks. The customer experience sucks. It doesn’t work. It’s too hard to use. The text is too small. Nobody measures this happening. The interaction patterns suck. Nobody ever calls up to complain but nobody does anything anyway. Millions of people lose countless days to friction, poor design and frustrating moments on their devices.
There may be thousands of things you can fix that look promising – but how do you know where to start? What if you could measure what sucked, where it sucked and how big the problem was? Using lightweight research methods and tools, you can stop making excuses and start knowing exactly what to do. Life becomes much simpler and easier with a scientific method of optimising growth or delight within your product.
Craig has trained over 500 people on how to measure and optimise their product experience, finding 100M of ‘lost revenue’ using just one of the techniques you will learn. With reports, checklists, downloadable templates and toolkits for every budget and stage of growth – you can stop guessing tomorrow.
Top Google Analytics Customisations - Brighton SEO April 2018Anna Lewis
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This talk is the latest deck showing common problems that will easily break or skew your ab and multivariate testing results. Avoid these problems by following the simple advice in this deck!
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Discover why you should take the time to analyse the words and phrases that people enter into the search engine on your web site. These words show the users intent and allow you to better understand their thinking.
Voted 'Best Presentation' at the 2012 MeasureCamp in London
For too many years marketing and sales have operated in silos...while in some forward thinking companies, the two organizations work together to drive new opportunity development and revenue. This session will explore the lessons learned in that beautiful dance that can occur when marketing and sales work together...to drive new opportunity development, account expansion and customer satisfaction.
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Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
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Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
5 big bets to drive growth in 2024 without one additional marketing dollar AND how to adapt to the biggest shifting eCommerce trend- AI.
1) Romance Your Customers - Retention
2) ‘Alternative’ Lead Gen - Advocacy
3) The Beautiful Basics - Conversion Rate Optimization
4) Land that Bottom Line - Profitability
5) Roll the Dice - New Business Models
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
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When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
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Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
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Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
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Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
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4. WHY US THEN?
• 40 years working with Analytics
• Nearly 500 Analytics setups
• Most of them totally broken
• Mistakes are good!
• Failure is a part of analytics work
• Our pain is your gain
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
5. ABOUT THIS TALK:
• Solid, hard won advice
• Actionable insights
• Google Analytics tips
• Models, Templates, Reports
• Articles & further reading
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
6.
7. CASES ARE REAL:
• We care about handling client data
• We can’t always show real data
• We will show you models or concepts
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
8. Powerups & Smartcuts
1. Inheritance Tax
2. Site Audits
3. Walkthroughs
4. Early Warning Hacks
5. Data Skew
6. Data Pollution
7. Data Enrichment
8. Data Models
9. Data Automation
10. Data Ownership
11. Training & Investment
11. @OptimiseOrDie
Analytics History
You might be lucky – the analytics configuration might have notes!
Always check the notes, talk to the team and discover the history
Have tags been changed in the last 2 years?
Has anyone updated the analytics?
Who made the changes?
What were the changes?
Are there any plans to make more changes?
Do any of these changes impact time periods used for analysis?
Have you talked to the analytics owner and developers?
Who owns the delivery and prioritisation of these changes?
13. “Out of the entire lifecycle of
analytics measurement, there is
only one place guaranteed to
pollute everywhere else and that’s
the data collection layer.”
Simo Ahava
14. “Bullshit data flows like raw
sewage up and through every layer
of an organisation, poisoning
everyone with bad decision
making.”
@OptimiseOrDie
17. 480 client configurations
95% had high priority issues
100% had medium priority
3/480 had no tracking issues
<1% had solid analytics
Analysis of Site Audits
@OptimiseOrDie
18. @OptimiseOrDie
Even FREE tools are not FREE of effort:
• FREE simply means that you get a basic system
• It does not mean that it RUNS for free
• A car needs correct setup, oil, fuel and maintenance
• It doesn’t run on air and neither does analytics
• Investment in analytics is #1 weakness in my clients
• How can you race with others, if your dash is broken?
• How can measure self performance if it’s flawed?
• How can your team do their jobs, if they can’t measure too?
20. @OptimiseOrDie
Analytics Audit Resources
@OptimiseOrDie
THE GOOGLE ANALYTICS AUDIT CHECKLIST FROM DISTILLED:
Genuinely good and comprehensive list, resources, source articles, checklist:
https://www.distilled.net/resources/google-analytics-audit-checklist/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GnwB-jYnNJu18NwuZJzgarZAotXQ0kxXbZAIhI4H0IE/edit#gid=0
ANNIELYTICS CHECKLIST ($295)
https://www.annielytics.com/resources/annielytics-site-audit-checklist/
GOOGLE ANALYTICS HEALTH CHECK FROM CONVERSIONXL:
Some excellent stuff not included in any other articles - a good roundup, sources, expert checklists:
https://conversionxl.com/google-analytics-health-check
HOW TO SELF AUDIT YOUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS
A roundup of some useful things to audit but not a comprehensive checklist:
https://boazsasson.com/tracking-reporting/how-to-self-audit-your-google-analytics/
10 POINT CHECKLIST FOR A PERFECT GA SETUP:
Some good information mixed with some less helpful stuff:
http://supermetrics.com/blog/10-things-to-check-in-google-analytics-account/
GA CHECKLIST ON GOOGLE SHEETS:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pU9MpjjzxI-LLu45gPyGiHEpr_v-2rVpYuyNlPTXZ-I/edit#gid=0
GOOGLE ANALYTICS HEALTH CHECK:
Solid checklist and additional articles - although probably needs expanding to include the best of the rest here:
http://online-metrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Google-Analytics-Health-Check.pdf
TWO BASIC CHECKLISTS:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1f4w1vhpmzu938x/GoogleAnalyticsChecklist.pdf?dl=0
http://media.perpettersson.me/2017/02/GoogleAnalyticsImplementationChecklist.pdf
22. @OptimiseOrDie
Audit Summary
• Everyone has problems now AND you’ll surely add more later
• Audit regularly to avoid the flow of BS
• Screw up Collection – there’s no Free Time Machine
• Auditing requires more than just tech knowledge
• + Lenses of User Experience, Business Goals, Platform & Tech Capability
• Auditing is the easy bit – it’s what you do after that counts
23. @OptimiseOrDie
TIP – Push through the PAIN of Post Audit:
• We have 161 standard slides for our audits that we customise
• Scored by Impact, Ease of fix, Business outcomes
• We show clients how each thing shafts their data
• CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM & LOW classifications
• Then the REAL work starts
• Takes MONTHS or YEARS to fix everything
24. @OptimiseOrDie
TIP – Push through the PAIN of Post Audit:
• So what stuff do we get done first, that helps the company most?
• Prioritisation for analytics stories!
• Get resource & planning mobilised, signed in blood
• Build a relationship with tech/dev
• Agree a release (testing) process with dev
• Parcel out prioritised work in ‘bite sized pieces’
• Celebrate every small achievement
• Psychology of managing the post audit period is critical!
26. “Walkthroughs are where we tear down the
frontend experience and GA configuration, to
understand the flow of data.
The Holy Trinity for us is Customer, Collection &
Configuration
- what does the customer see in the browser,
what tags fire when and why, how does that
data flow into GA. This is all.”
@OptimiseOrDie
27. @OptimiseOrDie
Data Collection & Tagging Tools
WASP Inspector:
• Use for general purpose GA tag inspection & debugging
• Find out what scripts are running in which order
• Great for core GA stuff
http://bit.ly/2qrYbRE
bit.ly/2qrYbRE
28. @OptimiseOrDie
Audit Walkthrough Tools
GTM/GA Debug
• Debugging datalayer and GA
• Simo’s fave extension
bit.ly/2KtuYzm
Data Slayer:
• Handy for debugging GA and event issues
• Find out what stuff is firing on the page
bit.ly/2pbNmPN
Data Layer Inspector:
• Inspect GA and GTM activity
• Hack and test data layer
bit.ly/2p0r5IN
Event Tracking Tracker:
• Dump of event data in table
• Handy for debugging GA and event issues
bit.ly/2pHAlRg
29. @OptimiseOrDie
What do we walk on the site? Everything!
Key interaction patterns:
Searching, Category and List Pages
Filters, Sort Controls
Product Page elements
Guest checkout
Key landing pages & Journeys
Registered checkout
Logged in checkout
Logged out and then logged in checkout
Basket handling
Content pages
Quick view
Basket page
Checkout steps
Failure and error states
Email handling, more, more, more....
30. @OptimiseOrDie
Walkthrough: Inspection Parameters
1. What URL shows in the address bar when we do stuff?
2. What tags & data (pageviews, events, data layer) fire when we use the product?
3. Are there any timing delayed tags? Interaction tags? Scroll tags?
4. What parameters or options are firing with the tags?
5. Which GA properties are the tags sending data to?
6. Are there page templates which are similar or identical in the tagging setup?
7. Are pages consistent within one style of template?
8. Are event tags set to interactive or non-interactive?
9. What data is sent in any event tags? What’s the taxonomy?
10. What page and interaction data is actally being pushed to Google Analytics?
31. @OptimiseOrDie
Here’s one I made earlier…
AMAZING! I KNOW HOW THE SITE & DATA WORKS!
Category Page /category/xxxx or /cat/xxxx
Search /search?q=xxxx
Product /product/xxxx
Basket add /addtobasket
Login /loginregister
Guest flow /guestcheckout/address (then steps are the same)
Registered flow /address (first time only)
Delivery /deliveryoption
Payment /paymentmethod
Confirm /confirmorder
Payment /payment
Success /ordersuccess/xxxx
32. @OptimiseOrDie
The Holy Trinity of Walkthroughs
CUSTOMER Intersection of Product and Data
CONFIG Filters and Configuration inside GA setup
COLLECTION Tagging, Data Layer, Data Flow to GA
33. @OptimiseOrDie
Tip! User Explorer
• Run a walkthrough session
• Add a fake parameter (?piggle=diggle) or record the GA user ID
• Filter using a segment to catch it
• Check it’s your session, review
• Check the GA data lines up with your journey steps!
36. Spotting The Algorithmic Bot
• Someone in IT deployed a bot that created random user journeys to ‘really
test the system’
• Accounted for 30% of all sessions
• What can you put into place to stop this?
37. 4 Ways to Set Up your Early Warnings
• Use Google Analytics Custom Alerts
• Automate using the API
• Off the shelf tools such as Analytics Edge
or Super Metrics
• Dashboards in Google Data Studio
38. Early Warning Ideas
• Capture Page Load time for every page
using Simo Ahava’s Google Tag Manager
trick
• Adapt Craig’s 15 Minute Model to extract
data and compare against a running
average
39. 55+ Google Analytics Custom Alerts
6 Essential Google Analytics Alerts for SEO Specialists & Web Agencies
Google Analytics Spreadsheet Add-on
Building visual reporting in Google Sheets
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Tips and Resources
41. • Where your data in Google
Analytics correct, but needs to
cleaned and untangled, before
you perform any analysis
• Time taken to clean the data
means less time for analysis!
• People start to lose trust in the
data if you don’t fix this…
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
What is Skewed data then?
43. • When a user hops between subdomains in their user journey such as
blog.test.com and checkout.test.com
• You’ve got 2 or 3 separate sessions to try and stitch together
• Google Tag Manager makes it way easier than configuring GA!
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Subdomain / Cross domain tracking not setup
44. • Will appear as the top referring site for
your all conversions and destroys your
campaign tracking
• Often appears when finance / IT add in a
new payment gateway or tool without
informing you
• The Referral Exclusion list allows you to
also add items such as dev servers and
other ‘breakers’
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Payment Gateways and 3rd Party Redirects
45. • Misspelling and upper and lower cases cause
havoc
• Same issues can cause duplicates with page
names
• Google Analytics filters will save hours of
needless pain
• Fining your agency also really focuses minds
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Misconfigured Campaign Tracking
46. • Most clients don’t have this working right
• Changes to the website and campaigns are not
reflected, stuff goes in the wrong bucket
• Channels and Content Groups can be customised to
your organisational way of working
• People looking at reports simply don’t realise that their
channel or content groupings are skewed
• Sit down and bucket your Source/Medium distribution
with the client –put everything in the right channel
(ask us how)
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Misconfigured Channels and Content Groups
47. • Some are incredibly useful, others fragment
page data but aren’t actually used for anything!
• This regex ?|& will show you all the URL’s in
the All Pages that contain a query string
• Don’t remove all the query strings in one go –
check stuff that is needed!
• Do use the Exclude URL Query Parameters and
individual filters for specific query string
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Query Strings
48. ‘With ITP 2.1, all persistent client-side cookies, i.e. persistent
cookies created through document.cookie, are capped to
a seven day expiry’ – Webkit
• Affects EVERYONE using iPhones, iPads (also laptop Safari)
• EVERY tool you use that tries to look longer than 7 days?
• All the ‘Existing Visitors’ will look like ‘New Visitors’!
• It’s going to skew tools, AB testing, attribution – lots of stuff
• Ask your vendors for their response!
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
ITP 2 and Safari
49. Simo Ahava
ITP 2.1 and Web Analytics
Use Localstorage for Client ID Persistence
Maciej Zawadziński
Complete guide to ITP versions 1.0-2.2
Built Visible
What Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) 2.1 means for digital analytics
Metric Theory
How to Use Google Analytics to Estimate the Impact of ITP 2.1
Digiday
WTF is Apple’s ITP 2.2 update?
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Only the Best ITP Resources for you!
Cory Underwood
A Safari Intelligent Tracking Prevention Risk Analysis
Google’s Plan for Privacy
Mike King
Your Analytics Data Isn’t Real and it’s getting worse
50. • Basic Google Analytics Filters For Every Site
• Regexr Regular Expression Builder
• Ultimate Guide to Using Google Analytics Filters
• The Definitive Guide To Campaign Tagging in Google Analytics
• Google Analytics channels: Let's make them great again
• The Definitive Guide to Channels in Google Analytics
• Why you want to customise Google Analytics Channels
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Data Skew – Tips & Resources
52. • Data contains extra shizzle that shouldn’t be there
• Either a 3rd party is doing this (bot/spam)
• Or you are doing it, (by not filtering stuff)
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
What is data pollution (vs. skew)?
• Invisible unless
you check
• Corrupts key site
metrics (e.g. CR,
Bounce Rate)
• “Help – our
conversion rate
is dropping!”
53. Our Conversion Rate is Dropping:
Prospects
Customer
Logins
Internal
Logins
Dev & Staging
Philippines
Data Pollution Example
Automated
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
55. • Not filtering internal traffic (dev, staging, testing, agencies,
partners, employees, contractors)
• Bots, Spam (automated)
• External Site Performance Monitoring
• Internal Site Monitoring
• Scraping or Auditing
• Misconfigured tags
• Double firing tags
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Common Data Pollution Sources:
56. @OptimiseOrDie
Tip! - Top Bot Detective Resources
Best Strategies for Dealing with Bot Traffic in GA
How to Block Spam & Bots from GA
Detecting Headerless Bot Traffic in GA
30+ Custom View Filters for GA
Is bot traffic costing you affiliate fees?
Some additional techniques for spam
57. @OptimiseOrDie
Tip! User Explorer
• Check the Session Distribution Report
• Set up an advanced segment
• Do you have users with lots of sessions?
• Filter to sessions > 200 (tweak accordingly)
• Examine the high repeat session users
• Is there anything odd about this traffic?
• Get useful clues from network, hostname,
bounce, browser, geo-IP, screen resolution
• Identify, Filter, Fix
59. 59
Plug and Play Analytics?
Data quality isn’t acquired – it’s earned!
Thanks to
@Simoahava
60. • You will always need to tune Google Analytics to fit how your business,
product or service actually works
• Customising, tweaking and enhancing the vanilla Google Analytics
configuration = enriched data
• What can you do to capture more of the important interactions and
events as part of the user journey
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Google Analytics – One Size Fits All
61. 1. Visit Query Explorer and authenticate your
Google Analytics view
2. Get the total for your busiest month
• Subtract that from 10,000,000
• Divide the figure by the number of
sessions for that month
3. That’s how many additional events you can
fire into Google Analytics per session
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Ten Million Hits A Month To Use
63. • Capture the important information shown to a user on a page
• The Datalayer and Google Tag Manager make it far easier to capture
information about a page and push it into Google Analytics
• You’ll still need developers to generate the Datalayer
• The data can then be stored in a custom dimension or in an event
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Capturing Content About A Page
65. • Capturing how the user interacts with individual elements on the page is
incredibly useful for understanding user behaviour
• Organisations such as M&M Direct are capturing every click to build
‘Propensity to Purchase’ models
• Really important to build an event taxonomy that describes how people
interact with your site
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Capturing Interactions on A Page
68. Clicks Navigation About Us
Clicks Button Read More
Views Product 11234
Adds Basket 11234
Views Product 82641
Scrolls Content 50%
Clicks Promotion May001
Clicks Currency GBP
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
The Grammar of Event Tracking
Views List 11345
Applies Filter Size|12|black
Clicks Footer Terms and Conditions
Views Basket [contents]
Clicks IncreaseQty 11234
Clicks Button Checkout Now
Reaches Checkoutstep 1
Clicks Button Find Address
Action/Verb Category/Context Label/Object
69. Tip! – 500 characters lets you stuff values with separators
@CarmenMardiros
Stuff Attribute Data into Label
70. Building an Event Grammar – Alex Dean
The Lego Data Layer – Carmen Mardiros
Event Tracking and 10 Questions to Answer First – Paul Koks
Event Tracking in Google Analytics – Himanshu Sharma
13 Useful Custom Dimensions For Google Analytics – Simo Ahava
50+ Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics – Martijn Scheijbeler
Tracking Multiple Categories for Content Pages – Allaedin Ezzedin
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Tips and Resources
73. @OptimiseOrDie
Favourite Models of the Masters
A. 15 minute Device Model
B. Bounce Layer Analysis
C. Horizontal Funnel
D. Segmented Funnel
E. Page Group Yield
F. Intent Model
G. Landing & Next Page Paths
H. Top of Funnel Drivers
I. Flow Report Hacking
J. Multi Goal Groups
K. Temporal or Lifecycle
L. Ecommerce Grid
M. Dimensional Funnel
78. • Funnel head gets 94% from
ONLY 3 pages
• There are 3 types of PPC
template being used
• So 6 pages account for 94%
• Simples! - to increase funnel
flow, link more funnel head
drivers or increase CR of other
pages to the funnel head!
• Increase head drivers
• Experiment with templates
Funnel Head Drivers:
79. Funnel success
Funnel Step 2
Funnel Step 1
Sales
Ecommerce
Behaviour
@OptimiseOrDie
Traffic
Automated funnels for:
• New & Returning
• Analytics Channels
• Country
• Customer Type
• Mobile, Tablet, Desktop
• iPhone Model
• Windows OS
• Mac OS
• Browser & Version
• In app or Native Browser
• Screen Resolution
• Landing page(s)
• Content page(s) viewed
• Demographics
• Days to conversion
• Path Length
Dimension Grid Pull
80. @OptimiseOrDie
Why are Segmented Grids useful?
• Segments on speed!
• Quick to scan
• Shows up oddities in:
• Landing & Bounce
• Site Depth Engagement
• Funnel Losses
• UX Issues
• Bugs & Broken stuff
• This one grid cube on the left
started 1 hour of work that
fixed an 800K loss per month!
Try app.profitgrid.io
83. • If you need to run a report more than once
• If it involves multiple steps and clicks
• If it takes longer than 2 minutes
• AUTOMATE IT
• You’ll get to the data quicker
• More time left over to actually do thinking and analysis!
• Write once, use multiple times
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
When and Why Should You Automate
85. • 15 3 minute Device Model
• Bounce Layer Analysis
• Site Speed DOM Timings
• Most navigated to pages
• Locating personally identifiable information (PII)
• Exporting and finding query strings
• Grouping device screen heights
• Classifying search terms from internal search
• Building user based funnels
• Building categories from URLs using regex patterns
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
Charles and Craig Most Frequently Used
86. @OptimiseOrDie
Automated Ecommerce Models
A. Customer Segmentation
B. New vs. Existing customer
C. Basket analysis (various)
D. Returns analysis
E. Site Search analysis
F. Boston Grid Quadrant
G. Profit Analysis
H. Yield Analysis
I. Product Interaction Layer analysis
J. Out of stock analysis
K. First purchase / anchors
L. Discount impact model
M. Cart abandonment analysis
N. Live chat or textual analysis
O. Merchandising reporting (various)
87. • Excel plugins such as Analytics Edge or Supermetrics for Excel allow you
to access the Google Analytics API directly with no need to program the
queries
• The Google Analytics Spreadsheet Add-on takea data directly into Google
Sheets
• Analytics 360 users can export directly to Big Query
• Data Studio reports will automatically update from Google Analytics
• Email reports from Google Analytics
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
How do I automate stuff?
88. @OptimiseOrDie
Automating Models and Data Integration:
Dimensions, Metrics, Query Explorer:
Very useful for forming queries and getting to know the API:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/reporting/core/dimsmets
https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/query-explorer/
Guide to getting started with the API:
https://www.optimizesmart.com/how-to-use-google-analytics-api-without-any-coding/
Free Google Sheets Addon:
Google Sheets Addon:
https://developers.google.com/analytics/solutions/google-analytics-spreadsheet-add-on
89. @OptimiseOrDie
Automating Models and Data Integration:
Automating Google Sheets:
https://medium.com/@jev/how-to-import-data-from-google-analytics-into-google-sheets-with-
google-apps-script-5174a10b24d8
ProfitGrid:
Simple tool to pull a multi-dimensional grid from any GA setup:
http://app.profitgrid.io
Analytics Edge:
Very flexible excel tool for pulling API data. Free version available. Bristling with options:
http://www.analyticsedge.com/simply-free/
Supermetrics:
Free GA plugin for Excel and Google Sheets. Multiple data sources available:
https://supermetrics.com/product/supermetrics-data-grabber/
https://supermetrics.com/product/supermetrics-for-google-drive/
90. @OptimiseOrDie
Automating Models and Data Integration:
PowerBI:
Allows you to pull GA data directly - was PowerPivot. If you want a multi-dimensional API pulled
horizontal funnel you can segment on-the-fly, this is what you need. A very powerful way of
viewing and pivoting cubes of GA data:
https://powerpivotpro.com/get-the-software/
Next Analytics:
Free and paid options available:
https://www.nextanalytics.com/excel-google-analytics/
Analytics Canvas
Integration, extracts, multiple accounts, automation and scripting. Paid only.
http://analyticscanvas.com/google-analytics/
Scitylana:
Integration, Hit level datastream, Extracts. Free option available.
https://www.scitylana.com/
91. @OptimiseOrDie
Automating Models and Data Integration:
Integrating GA with R:
http://code.markedmondson.me/googleAnalyticsR/
http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RGoogleAnalytics/
https://github.com/skardhamar/rga
http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RGA/index.html
R for Analysts:
http://www.eanalytica.com/r-for-web-analysts/
Simo Ahava Recommends:
"I wrote these two a while ago. First is for validating a GA account setup, with focus on
Custom Dims too, and the second is for mass updating Custom Dimensions"
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-analytics-
validato/nmjiiaaejkhpegmcpfaehmbijgoilimo?utm_source=permalink
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-analytics-custom-
d/ogcaloflfbimfnpkkfpfddocaegdmgkk?utm_source=permalink
94. Monthly reports which lack relevance, are rife with generic suggestions unsupported by research
within the context of your business and simply regurgitate last month’s points, failing to show
any new actionable data.
Thanks to
@Simoahava
95. Ugly and ineffective hacks to get tracking working at the last minute.
A lack of coordination or standards for how business critical tracking should be delivered. No
data layer or cross silo approach.
Thanks to
@Simoahava
96. Analytics changes are given low priority and deployed infrequently
Fix Funnel
Tracking
Thanks to
@Simoahava
Deploy
new
funnel
97. Analytics tracking is often ‘added later’ or seen as a ‘Bolt On’ to existing project work because
ownership is unevenly distributed!
99. How to Integrate Analytics & Agile
Agile Analytics:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIJp9s46CF8
Meaningful Data:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMrB0bKdOtc
100.
101. Data Ownership
Weak ownership kills data outcomes
If your data is not there, late or crap, this is why
Watch the Simo talks on Agile Integration
It isn’t ‘Done’ unless Data’s there
@OptimiseOrDie @CharlesMeaden
103. “This is a huge weakness for many of my
clients. Few companies validate if the
analytics tools and skills people are given,
actually allow them to do their jobs quickly
and proficiently.”
Craig Sullivan
104. @OptimiseOrDie
Train Your Team so they….
• Can be better at their job, through data
• Know how everything works in analytics
• Get data out with less work
• Achieve self servicing for data needs
• Automate repetitive tasks
• Get more proficient at finding value
• Become happier and less bored!
A Ferrari mechanic without engine training?
105.
106. @OptimiseOrDie
Invest in Analytics
Even if tools are free, you should:
• Get an Independent Audit
• Invest in a proper release architecture (QA/DEV/STAGING)
• Make tracking part of every project
• Don’t just tread water – improve tracking
• Put >5% of dev & analytics budget on ENHANCING
• Things like -> Data Collection, Team Training, Fixing Stuff,
Automation, Enrichment, Tracking Tools
• It’s like writing a love note to yourself…
107. @OptimiseOrDie
Write a Love Note to your Future Self:
Hey Craig,
All we are is dust in the wind dude. You’re like my future self, so I had
to tell you. I thought it would be most excellent to give you clean
data, so I fixed it, like all the things.
You’ve got like at least 3 months of clean data man and like all the
reports and stuff totally makes sense now! Whoa!
Love you, Dude!
Craig from the Past, Dude
108. @OptimiseOrDie
Invest in Tech & Dev
Don’t forget investing in the relationship with tech:
• Build a direct relationship with dev & tech teams
• Educate them on the outcomes and positives you seek
• Educate yourself on how dev, platform & release cycle works
• HELP THEM to deliver analytics reliably without extra work
• Help to SOLVE PROBLEMS, s**t will get done
Examples:
• Give code changes directly to dev (not via marketing)
• 5 minute video explanation of the data layer
• Integrate the dev staging environment with the GA staging view
110. 480 client configurations
95% had high priority issues
100% had medium priority
3/480 had no tracking issues
<1% had solid analytics
The Dark Side
@OptimiseOrDie
113. THANK YOU!
• WRITE THAT LOVE NOTE!
• WANT AN AUDIT?
• SKILLS TRANSFER?
CHARLES bit.ly/2HeHAt6
CRAIG linkd.in/pvrg14Optimising the
Optimisation
@OptimiseOrDie
@CharlesMeaden
SLIDES bit.ly/PowSmc
Editor's Notes
This is what we’ll cover today in the talk – what the big problem is that I’m trying to solve and some basic groundwork you should do before you start. I also show you how to pull the data for your company with a 15 minute technique and how to use this to test the right browsers and devices on your website or product.
I’ll wrap up with showing you some examples and how to completely automate everything we’ve covered today, so nobody whines later on ;-)
We spotted this during a site audit six months after it had been put in
The key here is have
The tips and resources section contains a list of
Not everyone will necessary know that the data is skewed or what steps need to be taken to clean the data
Your data may look like this piece of data – shattered into tens, hundreds or thousands of pieces of data
Added this to make the point that it’s over looked by devs and others who assume that this just work
Another good thing to setup an early warning system for
Not everyone will necessary know that the data is skewed or what steps need to be taken to clean the data
Query strings in the URL’s not pretty, but it worked as they had a process to extract then
The analytics team hadn’t been involved in the site rebuild
Make the point that there are ten million hits and this a quick and easy way to find out what you have
Also a really good reminder that you may be capturing events that you don’t need
Think about what data you need to capture both your short term and long term goals
This slide to highlight all the things you can capture on the page – animation sequence set to add and remove then
This slide to highlight all the things you can capture on the page – animation sequence set to add and remove itwm
Quick click through slide to illustrate how many clicks it takes