Advanced Google Analytics Techniques
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Transcript of Advanced Google Analytics Techniques
• Goals
• Custom Reports
• Custom Variables
• Advanced Segments
• Bonus: New GA UI
Goals
• What do you want your site visitors to do?
• Download a PDF?
• Submit a form?
• Click the "contact us" link?
• Sign up for a newsletter?
• How many visitors reach the goal?
• Where do visitors abandon goals?
Example: Ask an Expert
• How many visitors are "Asking an Expert"?
• What happens when they use the Ask an Expert form?
• Problem: the search results for the form create unique URLs
Solution: Virtual Pages
• The solution is create a virtual page with the GATC method: _trackPageview()
• We're going to overwrite the actual, dynamic URL with a made-up, virtual URL
Step 1. Define the Goal
• "Question submitted" page
• Problem: it's not a hardcoded web page (there is no thankyou.html page)
• (The "thank you" page URL is dynamic because the visitor is returned to their previous page)
Make Up a Descriptive URL
Before:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
After:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/ask-an-expert-question-submitted']);
In GA, this page view shows up as: www.extension.org/ask-an-expert-question-submitted
Goals in the New UI
Step 2. Set up a Goal
Step 3. Define the Funnel
Result: Visualization Funnel
Funnel Detail
Analyze
• Are visitors doing what you expect?
• Where are they dropping off?
• What's wrong with those pages?(focus redesign efforts there.)
Funnels in the New UI
Custom Reports
Why Custom Reports?
• When you want more than the general GA reports: traffic sources, pageviews, search terms, visitor location, etc.
• Only the metrics you want to see
• Organized exactly how you want to see it
• Create report combinations that don't exist by default
Create a New Report
Custom Report Builder
Metrics vs. Dimensions
• Metrics: think Numbers(145 visitors, pages, or goals)
• Dimensions: think Descriptions(145 visitors in NC who came from Organic Search)
• Want to measure AaE Submissions and total visitors (Visits and Goals - metric)
• Where are Ask an Expert submissions coming from? (Geography - dimension)
• How are these visitors finding the Ask an Expert form? (Traffic source - dimension)
Example: Where are AaE Questions Coming From?
Step 1. Select Metrics
• We are choosing metrics related to AaE Goals
• Drag and arrange in any order you prefer
Step 2. Select Dimensions
• Pick a Primary dimension
• Choose the order of drill-down dimensions
Step 3. Save and View
View Later
Custom Variables
• Create additional, custom traffic segments
• visitor types
• which sections are most popular
Step 1. What's the scope?
• Visitor-level — the individual that visits the site, and everything about that person
• Session-level — the visit itself and everything that takes place during that time
• Page-level — individual pages that the visitors interacts with. Generally a pageview.
_setCustomVar(index, name, value, opt_scope)
• Name-value pairs (section, horses)
• index: the slot for the custom variable. limited number. 1-5.
• opt_scope: 1 (visitor-level), 2 (session-level), or 3 (page-level, the default).
Examples
Category tracking? Use page-level scope (3).(rat = resource area tag)
_gaq.push(['_setCustomVar', 1, 'rat', 'horses', 3]);
User-type tracking? Visitor-level scope (1).
_gaq.push(['_setCustomVar', 2, 'login', 'internal', 1]);
Custom Vars in the New UI
Drilling Down
Advanced Segments
• Define the specific slice of traffic that you are interested in
• Activate that segment and view any report in Google Analytics
Segments in the New UI
Another way
Step 1. Create a New Segment
Step 2. Define the Segment
Step 3. Apply Segment
Every report is now limited to "via Twitter"
New GA UI
• Faster
• Can switch between profiles and stay on the same report
• Doesn't have PDF export or report emailing yet
Happy Analyzing!
• http://www.slideshare.net/chillnc/
• twitter: @chillnc