The document is a 24-page presentation about Google Analytics given by Liz Day of RezStream, a company that provides online solutions to the hospitality industry. It discusses what Google Analytics is, why businesses should use it, how to set up a Google Analytics account, and what types of data on website traffic and performance can be measured through Google Analytics.
Instant Digital Issuance: An Overview With Critical First Touch Best Practices
RezStream Webinar: Google Analytics 101
1. GOOGLE ANALYTICS
101
Liz Day
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
2. SUMMARY
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
• Google Analytics
• What is it?
• Why should I use it?
• How do I get started?
• What can I measure?
• Conclusion
3. ABOUT ME
• Liz Day
• Senior Digital Marketing Account Manager
• California born, Illinois raised and Colorado
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
transplant
• Dog enthusiast, not yet owner
• Oldest of 5 kids
4. ABOUT REZSTREAM
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www.rezstream.com
• RezStream has been providing online solutions to the hospitality industry
since the company was founded in 2005.
• Located in Denver, Colorado
• 21 employees
• Majority of our clients are independently owned properties.
• RezStream’s hospitality solutions include:
• Reservation Software
• Online Booking Engine
• Website Design Services
• Digital Marketing Services
• Other services include GDS, Photography & Videography
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
5. “Google Analytics is arguably one of the most powerful web analytics applications
available today. The fact that, like many Google offerings, it’s an entirely free
program, makes it even more appealing.”- KISSMetrics
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
What is Google Analytics?
6. • Allows you to track website traffic (and sometimes booking engine revenue)
• It’s FREE
• Integrates with other Google products including Google AdWords and Google
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
Webmaster Tools
• Easy to use
Why should I use it?
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
How do I get started?
1. Go to www.Google.com/Analytics
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
2. Select “Sign Up”
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
3. Provide account information
10. 4. Copy and paste provided tracking code and send to your website developer for
implementation on every website page
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
11. 5. If you are implementing revenue tracking, make sure ecommerce is turned on
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
6. Create a filter to exclude the business’ IP address
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
Other setup features to think about before you get started …
Linking Google AdWords and Google Webmaster Tools accounts
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
Setting up specific goals to track
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
Adding multiple account users
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
What can I measure?
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
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www.rezstream.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
23. Admin Account settings Check “Anonymously with Google
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3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
and others”
24. CONCLUSION
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• Set up your free Google Analytics account today (if you haven’t already)
• Ensure account settings are correct
• Utilize time periods to analyze data
• Explore Google Analytics reports to better understand your site’s traffic
sources, audience and website performance
• Make adjustments to your marketing program to improve results
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
25. CONCLUSION
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www.rezstream.com
Website: www.RezStream.com
Email: Liz.Day@RezStream.com
Toll Free: 866.278.9354
Social Media:
– www.Facebook.com/RezStream
– www.Twitter.com/RezStream
– www.Plus.Google.com/+Rezstream
– www.RezStream.com/Blog
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
26. www.rezstream.com
Image Credit:
Blog.Clickdesk.com
NetWortech.com
MageeWP.com
BigStory.ap.org
SearchEngineJournal.com
MyCommerce.net
Gaumina.ie
SearchEngineLand.com
Pinterest.com
3801 E Florida Ave. Suite 800
Denver, CO 80210
Sales: 866-360-8210
Editor's Notes
So we’re a small company, but we have a lot of love for the travel industry which really appealed to to me when I took the job 4 years ago because well, I love travel and I was going to be able to become an expert in the field, not just a jack of all trades
Reservation software is the foundation of the company and we’re currently in Beta testing for the new reservation software release which is expected to launch in the next few months
Online booking engine includes a desktop and a mobile booking engine
Website design services include custom and template website solutions
Digital marketing services include SEO, PPC, Social Media and Email Marketing services
Google Analytics was originally developed from the Urchin on Demand software that Google acquired in the spring of 2005
The first Google-branded version was released in November 2005
Early on, Analytics was available by invitation only, as demand for the product was very high. It wasn’t fully available to all users until nearly a year after its initial release (August 2006)
Allows you to track website traffic
GA tracks website activity by using cookies so a cookie is dropped every time you visit a website
A cookie is a text file that captures information about the visitor or the visitor’s computer
RezStream recommends setting up a unique Gmail account for your business/property
To create a unique Gmail account, select “Create an account” on the Google Analytics landing page
From there, you’ll be prompted to fill out your account information
Important to have all information accurate especially the website’s URL and time zone for reporting purposes
If your booking engine supports Google Analytics for revenue tracking, your website developer may need to implement a few additional tracking items
To prevent your own website visits from being tracked, make sure you exclude the business’ IP address by creating a filter
You can use filters to include or exclude certain pieces of data or record data in a specific manner
When you link Google AdWords to Analytics, you can share data between the two accounts as well as receive additional reports via Google Analytics, i.e. revenue generated, what campaigns are working effectively and keywords referring traffic, etc.
Same applied to Google Webmaster Tools
Goals let you measure how often users take or complete specific actions including form submissions or online reservations
RezStream sets up booking engine goals for desktop and mobile booking engines to track between the two
Although it’s not mandatory, it’s recommended to receive additional information including what steps are causing friction to prevent users from completing that reservation and/or what page is performing well
You can give users access to your Google Analytics account
Users can be assigned with specific permissions including read only, collaborate which applies to certain reports and edit ability to update the account’s settings
Change to reflect whatever period you want to analyze, i.e. yesterday, last month, last quarter, this month
For the travel industry, you’ll most likely want to use “previous year” allowing you to compare to last year’s results due to trending/seasonality that can occur with your business
If you don’t have YOY data, utilize previous period to get a sense of how your site is performing over time
Use this report to compare traffic from search engines, referrals, and email campaigns.
How actively are users engaging with your site and content? Review engagement metrics like Bounce Rate, Pages/Session, and Avg. Session Duration.
Do users complete activities important to the success of your business or site/app? Look at conversion metrics like Goal Completions or to measure ecommerce outcomes, look at Transactions, Revenue, and Ecommerce Conversion Rate.
Source: reflects the website’s URL , i.e. Google, BedandBreakfast.com, TripAdvisor
Medium is the traffic channel, i.e. organic, email, referral and/or PPC
Sessions: Total number of visits to your website (counts as a new session after 30 minutes of inactivity)
Transactions: The number of online reservations or bookings resulting from your website’s booking engine, i.e. online reservations
Revenue: Total reservation revenue generated through your website’s booking engine.
Conversion Rate: Percentage of visitors who made an online reservations, i.e. 1.5% or above is positive
These reports show you what happened after people clicked on your ads and arrived at your site.
Traffic, engagement metrics like time on site as well as revenue generated associated to the campaign, ad group, keyword
Sessions: Total number of visits to your website.
% of New Sessions: Percentage of new users landing on the website, i.e. positive to see a high percentage due to online growth
New Users: Unique visitors landing on your website, i.e. positive to see a high percentage due to online growth
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visits in which the visitor only views one page of your website before leaving, i.e. 30%-40%, anything lower is great
Pages / Session: The average number of pages viewed during a session. Repeated views of a single page are counted, i.e. low pages per session could mean they got what they wanted or they couldn’t find what they needed so they left
Avg. Session Duration: Avg. time spent by each session/visitor
Transactions: The number of online reservations or bookings resulting from your website’s booking engine, i.e. online reservations
Revenue: Total reservation revenue generated through your website’s booking engine.
The Audience reports provide insight into your audience characteristics including demographics and mobile devices used
Geographic locations to better target users
Mobile users to enhance your mobile strategy and the platforms you need to develop to grow those audiences
The mobile reports allows you to understand your mobile users both on smartphones and tablet users so you can enhance your mobile strategy
Use the mobile report to identify what types of devices are performing well for you in terms of traffic, new users, online reservations and online revenue
Mobile = Smartphone
Tablet = Tablets
Desktops = Desktops
Our clients are seeing increases in both mobile and tablets users which then impacts their online revenue
This report will allow you to identify if smartphone users are having a positive experience on the website and/or if they are having a terrible experience which is negatively affecting the amount of revenue you could be generating from those visitors
This section of Google Analytics is focused on your site- its content, performance and interactivity.
The report allows you to identify new opportunities, user intent based on the pages they’re looking at and assist in evaluating poor performing content on the website
All Pages report shows traffic metrics for each page on your site.
Look for very high bounce rates, exit rates, low average time on page to determine lower quality pages
These pages should be addressed immediately because they could be preventing visitors from making reservations with you
Pageviews is the number of times a page was viewed whereas Unique Pageviews is the number of sessions in which the page was viewed.
Bounce Rate is the percentage of visits in which the visitor only views one page of your website before leaving.
Google Analytics announced yesterday that they’ll be rolling out new benchmark reports over the next few weeks, allowing users to compare their results to industry standard acquisition and engagement metrics.
The new benchmark reports are located in the “Audience” section of the reporting interface and will be available to users who have opted-in to share data anonymously.