/google-analytics-essentials-notes

Notes on the Google Analytics Essential Training course

Notes on Google Analytics Essential Training

Terminology

  • GA360 - enterprise version
  • Google Tag Manager

Get started

  • Requirements
    • User must allow first party cookies
    • Every page must have embedded JS tracking code

Fundamentals

  • Properties and views
    • account > property > view
    • should have at property for each site or platform
    • views allow for different filters
    • at a minimum should have these views:
      • main reporting, testing, raw data

UI and reports

  • "Insights" - tells you some interesting things about your data
  • Reports
    • Audience - who's visiting the site?
    • Acquisition - how are users finding the site?
    • Behavior - user engagement
    • Conversion - if you've set goals
  • Metrics and dimensions
    • Metrics
      • measures data
      • e.g. page views, sessions
    • Dimensions
      • qualitative
      • describes data in groups of that data
      • e.g. browser, device type
    • Scope
      • Levels: hit, session, user, product
      • metrics and dimensions should apply to same scope
    • Graph data over time
      • can overlay 2 different metrics for comparison
      • can compare 2 time periods with the same metric
      • can plot data for individual dimension (e.g. desktop and mobile)
    • Using annotations in metric reports
      • can be private (note for individual user) or shared
      • e.g. when filters are changed, notes about anomalies
    • Viewing data
      • Acquisition > Channels
        • can select two different metrics to compare
        • can also view using pivot table
        • there is a term cloud button

Filter and segment data

  • View filters

    • can be dangerous to use as it can filter out data from the views

  • basic/quick inline filters

    • better to use the search bar to filter to get all instances

  • advanced inline filter

    • can use reg expressions to search OR by using a pipe, "Matching RegExp"
      • e.g. to find traffic only from facebook or youtube: "facebook|youtube"
      • Acquisition > ALl traffic > source/medium
    • Can filter by primary dimension or also by metric

  • Segmentation intro

    • intent
    • landing page
    • type of browser
    • mobile vs desktop
    • connection speed, screen resolution
    • can segment and subsegment
    • should think in terms of segments not all users as a whole
    • GA has presegmented reports and also customizable options
    • Can use secondary dimensions to combine multiple dimensions
    • Under "Channels", you can "Add segments"
      • Can then create your own segments
        • e.g. US male, age 25-34, Windows
        • can then compare segment against all users
    • What segments do we want?
      • active users
    • lifetime
    • cohort
    • audiences
      • can create audiences
      • audience definitions
        • similar to segments but across other properties
    • user explorer
      • look into individual user behavior
    • Benchmark
      • to compare to other industry benchmarks
    • users flow

  • Audience reports

    • overview
      • use date range comparison
      • not too much for analysis
    • demographics and interests
      • can break down by gender, age
      • can sort by different dimensions (e.g. conversion rate)
    • geographic location
      • can drill down by location
      • can break down by per user (e.g. per session value)
      • to see user engagement (e.g. session duration)
      • these metrics may not be reliable
    • technology
      • browser and OS
        • can use to surface browser compatibility issues
        • can use a "weighted sort" to filter out insignificant results
        • use this to optimize site for user needs
    • mobile
      • desktop, mobile, tablet
      • devices report
        • specific brands and devices
        • e.g. Apple vs Android
      • compare mobile vs desktop

  • Acquisition reports

    • Overview
      • channels
    • All traffic
      • Channels
        • Q: Which channel/medium sends you the most traffic?
        • Q: Which channel is the most bang for buck?
        • organic search - i.e. Google search
        • paid search - sponsored search results
        • direct - user types in URL or lack of information
        • referral - user clicking on a link
        • social - social media sites
        • affiliates - affiliate marketing efforts
        • display - graphical ads (not search ads)
      • Source/Medium
        • identifies specific sources
        • answers "who is the source?"
      • Referrals
        • to see sites that refer to your site
        • add secondary dimension of landing page to see the page where users are coming to
      • Campaign tracking
        • to track by campaign name from same source and medium
        • works by using UTM parameters that are added to the URL
        • GA then uses this URL for tracking
        • hint: tag your campaigns (e.g. tweets) to get more granular data by building campaign URLs
    • Behavior
      • Q: How are your users engaging?
      • Overview
        • pageviews: user can view same page multiple times
        • unique pageviews: per session
        • bounce rate: when entire visit only had one page
        • % exit: how many users are leaving the site from that page
      • Behavior flow
        • where are users dropping off?
        • useful if you have content groups
      • Site content
        • All pages
          • idea: click comparison button then select bounce rate to see problem areas by specific page
            • can then click that page and see how users got to that page
            • find pages with high bounce rates
        • Content drilldown
          • good for sites with deep structure and hierarchy
      • Site speed
        • measures load time and latency of pages
        • Q: what pages load the slowest?
          • we can then fix these first
        • Click "Technical" stats to get more details
        • Check load time of landing pages
          • Change primary dimension to landing page
        • Check load times by OS
          • e.g. Chrome OS vs Android
        • Check average load time over time range to look for anomalies
        • Also check map overlay to see if there are any issues in specific locations
        • speed suggestions
          • gives suggestions for how to improve speed
      • Events
      • Conversion reports
        • Overview
          • can configure 20 goals per view
          • need to configure goals to use this
          • can assign monetary value to goal
            • can also use goal conversion rate, not monetary/revenue
          • to find what segments/users are outperforming or underperforming
          • Goals
          • Goal URLs
            • to see the exact location where goal was completed
          • Reverse goal path
            • use this to find the path user took to achieve goal
        • Funnel visualization
          • funnel report
            • allows you to see where users abandoned the site or the funnel (set milestones)
        • Goal flow report
          • can drill down to specific parameters
          • see more details such as funnel exits
        • IDEAS for goals
          • anytime someone sees a product page
          • time on site
          • number of pages viewed
        • TODO: Must have goals configured and set up to make use of these reports
      • Real-time reports
        • see instantaneous results
        • could be important for sites with content that changes multiple times daily
        • can be useful to track interaction during promotions or campaigns
        • advanced tip: can use real-time API to publish this data
    • Basic configuration
      • 100 accounts, 50 properties, 25 views
      • In properties, can create audience definitions
      • In view section
        • TIP: set up goals here
      • can do user management at account/property/view level
    • IMPORTANT: Set up goals
      • View > Goal
        • can use templates for ideas
      • e.g. successfully complete contact us page, i.e. form completion
      • e.g. duration of 5 min or longer
      • e.g. pages per session
      • e.g. goals based on event interactions
      • if goal has clear steps, set up a funnel
      • if goal has a $ value, add value