Using Web Analytics including Google Analytics

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flyingrose

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Posted: 05/13/2006 01:45 pm

NOTE: Thread to discuss and ask questions about Google Analytics.

Since Google is now offering free Analytics (formerly Urchin) I'll start posting some basic uses for monitoring your PPC campaigns. Anyone can now obtain an account instantly.

Although Google provides code during the initial process of opening your account that is only for traffic. In order to track e-commerce transactions, revenue, and ROI you'll need to use more complex code with revenue parameters on the page buyers see after making a purchase.

See the Google help file How do I track e-commerce transactions? for details.

If you only have traffic data so far the first thing to monitor is traffic to your site. This is a simple process and easy to visualize due to the graphing capabilities in Google Analytics.

Click on Analytics, then View Reports. The default in the Dashboard is Executive View so you will be able to see your traffic data in the first graph called Visits and Pageviews. Monitoring this regularly will let you know if your traffic is growing and sliding.

If you see traffic drop you can then go find the cause and quickly get back on track before being hit in the pocketbook from dropping sales. Change the date range (left side of the page) to get a longer view and more easily see trends.

You can click on the month to select any entire month, use the arrows next to the year to change years, or select a specific date range. Trends are easiest to see if you use about a month first and then a larger or shorter timeframe to see the latest or larger picture.

Click on the arrows next to the month to move forward or back, then on the date you wish to start in the left calendar and end in the right one. Click Apply range and the graphs will show data for your selected date range.

[ Message was edited by: flyingrose 10/28/2006 04:23 pm ]

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flyingrose

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# Posts: 3361

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Posted: 06/18/2006 02:33 pm

A very basic overview of Google Analytics can be found in the Review: Google Analytics.

Learn more about Google Analytics on the Google Analytics site.

Read the official Google Analytics blog.

Unofficial (non-Google) Google Analytics blogs and articles:

ROI Revolution Google Analytics blog

This Just In Google Analytics blog

[ Message was edited by: flyingrose 10/19/2006 04:33 pm ]

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flyingrose

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Posted: 06/18/2006 02:36 pm

More Google Analytics links:

Official Google Analytics Conversion University

Google Analytics Help Center

Google Analytics User Forum

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flyingrose

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Posted: 06/19/2006 09:39 pm

SETTING UP TRACKING FOR NON-GOOGLE SOURCES OF TRAFFIC

In order to get Google Analytics to track other sources of traffic properly it is necessary to use a tracking code with their specific code and format. The Google Analytics URL Builder provides this code.

Google automatically tracks their own PPC ads. You'll want to tag every keyword and/or ad at any PPC engine, sites that refer traffic (possibly your manufacturers if they drop-ship for you or related sites sending you free traffic), affiliate sites (you may have another method of tracking those but you might also want to have all the data in one place), and any other traffic you can tag.

You can use the tool to generate the tracking code for one url and then a script in Excel to automatically create the tracking codes for any number of keywords.

Justin Cutroni has generously posted a spreadsheet to add Google Analytics tracking codes for public use.

[ Message was edited by: flyingrose 01/15/2007 11:39 am ]

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flyingrose

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Posted: 08/23/2006 08:20 am

CHECKING ADWORDS CAMPAIGN, AD GROUP, and KEYWORD PROFITABILITY

Exactly where this data is located in Google Analytics and what to do with it is discussed in the thread Using Google Analytics to Analyze Adwords Sales.

VIEW THE ACTUAL POSITIONS WHERE YOUR ADS APPEAR Go to All Reports, Search Engine Marketing, Adwords Keywords Positions. Click on the + in front of the keyword you wish to view.

[ Message was edited by: flyingrose 08/28/2006 09:05 pm ]

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flyingrose

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# Posts: 3361

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Posted: 10/08/2006 01:40 pm

There is a new Google Analytics book out in paperback and available at Amazon.com. See the review before deciding whether to buy this book.

There is also a free Webinar offered by ROI Revolution called Learn How to Turn Google Analytics Into Pure Profit.

Google Analytics does not pull much of the data you expect from Yahoo Stores. I'm using a solution from Monitus. Since installing it I can now track PPC revenue and effectiveness. Their solution includes other features to increase revenue. Definitely worth checking out if you have a Yahoo store.

WHICH REFERRAL GETS THE CREDIT IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

You've greatly increased your PPC ads, sales go way up, but the percentage of sales and revenue attributed to your ads isn't as high as you would expect.

According to the ROIRevolution article Google Analytics and the Extended Sales Cycle "By default, Google Analytics does not overwrite a visit from a UTM-tagged link with a direct visit to the site (i.e., address typed into a browser, or bookmark accessed). It will overwrite with any tagged link, any referral from another website, or any search query."

This means that if your visitor originally clicked on a PPC ad and comes back to your site from ANY other ad, other Web sites, or organic search results the sale will not be attributed to your advertising. Be careful of making changes to your PPC campaigns based on this incomplete data.

For more detail on how Google Analytics tracks see What Source Really Generated That Sale?.

Before you make any changes I recommend you read Making Decisions Based on Conversion Data for details on actual results from advertisers.

[ Message was edited by: flyingrose 11/02/2006 05:28 pm ]

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