Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics

Brian Clifton, PhD, is an internationally recognized web analytics expert who specializes in performance optimization using Google Analytics for a variety of high-profile brands. He formerly led the Google Web Analytics team for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and he initiated and helped launch the online learning center for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ). Brian regularly speaks at industry trade shows, maintains the popular blog Measuring Success (www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/), and wrote the previous two editions of this book, which are used by students and professionals worldwide.

Foreword xix

Introduction xxi

Part I Measuring Success 1

Chapter 1 Why Understanding Your Web Traffic is Important to Your Business 3

Website Measurement—Why Do This? 4

Information Web Analytics Can Provide 7

Where to Start 9

Decisions Web Analytics Can Help You Make 12

The ROI of Web Analytics 13

How Much Should I Invest in This? 13

How Web Analytics Helps You Understand Your Web Traffic 16

Where Web Analytics Fits In 16

How is Google Analytics Different? 18

Targeting Digital Marketers Rather Than IT Departments 19

Where to Get Help 19

Resources Provided by Google (Free) 19

Non-Google Resources (Free) 20

Official Google Analytics Certified Partners (Paid) 20

Summary 20

Chapter 2 Available Methodologies and Their Accuracy 23

Page Tags and Logfiles 24

Cookies in Web Analytics 26

Understanding Web Analytics Data Accuracy 27

Issues Affecting Visitor Data Accuracy for Logfiles 28

Issues Affecting Visitor Data from Page Tags 29

Issues Affecting Visitor Data When Using Cookies 33

Comparing Data from Different Vendors 35

Why PPC Vendor Numbers Do Not Match Web Analytics Reports 41

Data Misinterpretation: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics 44

Improving the Accuracy of Web Analytics Data 45

Privacy Considerations for the Web Analytics Industry 47

Types of Private Information 48

The EU Privacy Law 49

Summary 52

Chapter 3 Google Analytics Features, Benefits, and Limitations 53

Key Features and Capabilities of Google Analytics 54

Standard Features 54

Advanced Features 59

How Google Analytics Works 63

The Google Analytics Tracking Code 63

What is Not Tracked by Default 65

The Default Attribution Model 67

Google Analytics Limits 68

What Google Analytics Does Not Do 70

Service-Level Agreement 70

Indefinite Data Retention 70

Provide Professional Services 71

Data Reprocessing 71

Bid Management 72

Import Third-Party Data 72

Per-Visitor Tracking (against Google Policies) 72

What is Google Analytics Premium? 73

Comparing Google Analytics Premium versus Free 75

Google Analytics and Privacy 77

Common Privacy Questions 79

What is Urchin? 82

Differences between Google Analytics and Urchin 83

Urchin Advantages 84

Criteria for Choosing between Google Analytics and Urchin 85

Summary 86

Part II Using Google Analytics Reports 87

Chapter 4 Using the Google Analytics Interface 89

Discoverability and Initial Report Access 90

Navigating Your Way Around: Report Layout 92

Dimensions and Metrics 94

The Data Table 94

Date Range Selector 96

Aggregate Summary Metrics 97

Chart Options 98

Changing Table Views 101

Plotting Multiple Rows 105

Secondary Dimensions 105

Changing the Displayed Dimension 106

Table Sorting 106

Table Search 108

Table Filters (Advanced) 109

Chart Display and Annotation 110

Report Sections 112

Tabbed Views 112

Advanced Segments 112

Export 113

Email Reports 114

Add to Dashboard 115

Summary 116

Chapter 5 Reports Explained 117

The Home Overview 118

Real-Time Reporting 118

Intelligence Events 119

Flow Visualization 126

Dashboards 129

Top Standard Reports 132

Multi-Channel Funnels 132

Social Interactions 138

Visitors: Location 138

E-commerce: Overview Report 140

Motion Charts 141

Goal and Funnel Reports 144

Visitor: Mobile Report 146

Traffic Sources: Search Engine Optimization 147

AdWords: Campaigns 149

AdWords: Keyword Report 151

AdWords: Matched Queries Report 152

AdWords: Keyword Positions Report 153

Content: Navigation Summary 154

Content: Site Speed 156

Site Search: Usage Report 157

Content: In-Page Analytics 158

Understanding Report Sampling 160

Summary 162

Part III Implementing Google Analytics 163

Chapter 6 Getting Started: Initial Setup 165

Creating Your Google Analytics Account 166

General Account Information 168

Configuring Data-Sharing Settings 169

Accepting the Terms of Service 169

Tagging Your Pages 170

Understanding the Google Analytics Tracking Code 170

Deploying the GATC—Tagging Pages 173

Back Up: Keeping a Local Copy of Your Data 176

Using Accounts, Web Properties, and Profiles 179

Creating a New Profile 180

Creating a New Web Property 182

Creating a New Account 183

Roll-up Reporting 184

Choosing between Roll-up Reporting and Multiple Profiles or Multiple Web Properties 186

Agencies and Hosting Providers: Setting Up Client Accounts 186

Integrating with Your AdWords Data 188

Testing after Enabling Auto-Tagging 191

Integrating with Your AdSense Data 192

Integrating with Your Webmaster Tools Data 194

Integrating with Feedburner 195

Tracking Mobile Visitors 198

Server-Side Tracking for Mobile Sites 199

Common Pre-implementation Questions 200

Summary 205

Chapter 7 Advanced Implementation 207

_trackPageview: the Google Analytics Workhorse 208

Tracking Unreadable URLs with Virtual Pageviews 209

Tracking File Downloads with Virtual Pageviews 211

Tracking Partially Completed Forms with Virtual Pageviews 212

Virtual Pageviews versus Event Tracking 213

Tracking E-commerce Transactions 213

Capturing Secure E-commerce Transactions 214

Transactions via a Third-Party Payment Gateway 218

What to Do When a Third-Party Gateway Does Not Allow Tracking 220

Tracking Negative Transactions 222

Campaign Tracking 223

Adding Campaign Parameters to Your Landing Page URLs 225

Creating Custom Campaign Fields 234

Event Tracking 236

Setting Up Event Tracking 237

The _trackEvent Function 237

Defining Your Event Reporting Structure 239

Tracking Flash Video and Animation as Events 243

Tracking Banners and Other Outgoing Links as Events 248

Tracking Mailto: Clicks as Events 249

Tracking Embedded Video from YouTube 249

Customizing the GATC 251

Subdomain Tracking 252

Multiple Domain Tracking 255

Controlling Time-Outs 260

Setting Ignore Referrer Preferences 261

Site Speed Sample Rate 262

Anonymize IP Addresses 263

Sampling: Controlling Data Collection 264

Summary 265

Chapter 8 Best Practices Configuration Guide 267

Initial Configuration 268

Setting the Default Page 268

Excluding Unnecessary Parameters 269

Currency Setting 270

Enabling E-commerce Reporting 270

AdWords Cost Source Settings 271

Enabling Site Search 271

Goal Conversions and Funnels 273

The Importance of Defining Goals 274

What Funnel Shapes Can Tell You 276

The Goal Setup Process 277

The Funnel Setup Process 282

Tracking Funnels for Which Every Step Has the Same URL 285

Why Segmentation is Important 286

Choosing Advanced Segments versus Profile Filters 288

Profile Segments: Segmenting Visitors Using Filters 289

Creating a Profile Filter 290

Understanding Filter Logic 292

Custom Filters: Available Fields 293

Five Common Profile Filters 295

Assigning a Filter Order 303

Report Segments: Segmenting Visitors Using Advanced Segments 303

Default Advanced Segments 304

Custom Advanced Segments 306

Example Custom Segments 307

Creating Custom Intelligence Alerts 311

Summary 313

Chapter 9 Google Analytics Customizations 315

Why Customize an Existing Product? 316

Custom Reports 317

Day-on-Day Custom Report 317

Unique Visitors by Page 320

Affiliate Performance 321

Better AdWords 323

Managing Custom Reports 323

Customizing the List of Recognized Search Engines 326

Making Search Engines Region-Specific 327

Adding New Search Engines for SEO 329

Labeling Visitors, Sessions, and Pages 330

Implementing Custom Variables 333

Tracking Error Pages and Broken Links 336

Differentiating Pay-Per-Click Network Partners 340

In-Page Analytics: Differentiating Identical Links 344

Matching Transactions to Specific Referral Data 345

Tracking Campaign Links to File Downloads 348

Changing the Referrer Credited for a Goal Conversion 351

Ignoring a Referrer for a Conversion 352

Roll-up Reporting 353

Tracking Roll-up Transactions 353

Implications of the Roll-up Technique 353

Improvement Tip: Simplify with Pageview Roll-up 354

Summary 355

Part IV Using Visitor Data to Drive Website Improvement 357

Chapter 10 Focusing on Key Performance Indicators 359

Setting Objectives and Key Results 360

Selecting and Preparing KPIs 363

What is a KPI? 363

Preparing KPIs 365

Presenting Your KPIs 367

Presenting Hierarchical KPIs via Segmentation 370

Benchmark Considerations 372

KPI Examples by Job Role 373

E-commerce Manager KPI Examples 374

Marketer and Communication KPI Examples 381

Social Media KPI Examples 389

Content Creator KPI Examples 391

Webmaster KPI Examples 402

Using KPIs for Web 2.0 412

Why the Fuss about Web 2.0? 413

Summary 415

Chapter 11 Real-World Tasks 417

Identify and Optimize Poor-Performing Pages 418

Using Landing Pages (Bounce Rates) 418

Funnel Optimization Case Study 424

Measuring the Impact of Site Search 431

The Revenue Impact of Site Search 432

Summary of Site Search Impact 436

Optimizing Your Search Engine Marketing 437

Keyword Discovery 437

Campaign Optimization (AdWords) 440

Attribution Optimization 445

Landing Page Optimization and SEO 449

AdWords Day Parting Optimization 455

AdWords Ad Content Optimization 457

Monetizing a Non-E-commerce Website 462

Approach 1: Assign Goal Values Method 463

Approach 2: Pseudo E-commerce Method 464

Tracking Offline Marketing 470

Using Vanity URLs to Track Offline Visitors 471

Using Coded URLs to Track Offline Visitors 475

Combining with Search to Track Offline Visitors 478

Combining with URL Shorteners 480

Combining with Quick Response Codes 480

Summary and Case Study 481

An Introduction to Google Website Optimizer 482

Common Misconceptions 483

AMAT: Where Does Testing Fit? 484

Choosing a Test Type 485

Getting Started: Implementing a Multivariate Experiment 488

Calyx Flowers: A Retail Multivariate Case Study 495

YouTube: A Content-Publishing Multivariate Case Study 499

Summary 502

Chapter 12 Integrating Google Analytics with Third-Party Applications 503

Extracting Google Analytics Information 504

Importing Data into Your CRM Using JavaScript 504

Importing Data into Your CRM Using PHP 506

Working with the Google Analytics Core Reporting API 509

How to Use the Core Reporting API—the Basics 511

Example Apps 518

Example App Case Studies 522

Excel and Spreadsheet Integration 522

Survey Tools: Voice of Customer Integration 526

Demographics within Google Analytics 527

Call Tracking with Google Analytics 529

Video on Demand Tracking with Google Analytics 531

Mobile App Tracking with Google Analytics 534

Integrating Website Optimizer with Google Analytics 538

The Integration Method 539

Summary 542

Appendix A Regular Expression Overview 543

Understanding the Fundamentals 544

Regex Examples 545

Appendix B Useful Tools 551

Tools to Help Audit Your GATC Deployment 552

Browser Add-ons 553

GATC Plug-ins 555

Desktop Helper Applications 555

Appendix C Recommended Further Reading 557

Books on Web Analytics and Related Areas 558

Web Resources 558

Blog Roll for Web Analytics 559

Index 561