9 Tips and Tricks for getting the most from your Google Analytics reports

1. data mining with Google Analytics9 Tips and Tricks for getting the most from Your Analytics reports Greg Bray, President, Blue Tangerine Solutions www.BlueTangerineSolutions.com July 30, 2009

2. Web Analytics Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. -Wikipedia

3. Two Types of Analytics Programs Log file readers Imports Web server log files No changes required to site Difficult to capture transactional data Page Tagging Use javascript code embedded on each Web page to transmit tracking data Data only available “going forward” after setup More flexibility to capture additional parameters Google Analytics is a Page Tagging program

4. Important Reminders Analytics programs may measure things slightly differently Tracking is not exact or perfect IP Address based locations are approximations Focus on trends and comparisons Reporting delay

5. 9 Google Analytics Tips Adwords Auto-tagging Ecommerce Tracking Goals & Funnels Campaign Tracking Codes Customize the Dashboard Schedule Email Reports Site Search Tracking Event Tracking Explore Advanced Reports

6. Tip 1: Turn on Adwords Auto-tagging Allows full Adwords expense data to be included Step1 - Link your Adwords and Analytics account (In Adwords) Reporting -> Google Analytics Step 2- Turn on Auto-tagging (In Adwords) My account -> Account preferences -> Tracking (edit)

7. Tip 2: Configure Ecommerce Tracking Allows you to include transaction values and measure ROI. Step 1 – Turn on Ecommerce Tracking Edit Profile -> Edit Main Website Profile Information Step 2 – Add additional tracking code to checkout “Thank You” page www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=11001

8. Tip 3: Configure Goals & Funnels Track specific visitor conversion activities, and follow the path to conversion. Checkout process Email sign up form Landing page conversion Edit Profile -> Edit Goal Only 4 Goals per profile allowed, but you can create additional profiles.

9. Tip 4: Campaign Tracking Codes Allows you to include Email Marketing, Banner Ads, Blog posts, etc. in the Traffic Sources report. Add URL tracking variables to your click-through links utm_source, utm_medium, utm_term, utm_content, utm_campaign URL Builder: www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578

10. Tip 5: Customize the Dashboard Put key reports into a single, combined report, to make it quick and easy to find data of interest View desired report -> click on Add to Dashboard button

11. Tip 6: Schedule Email Reports Automate regular report distribution to multiple recipients. Automatically converts data to PDF, Excel, etc. View desired report –> click Email button -> Schedule

12. Tip 7: Configure Site Search Tracking Allows you to see what searches are being conducted on your site, and where users go after particular searches. Step 1 – update Web site to include search query in URL string Step 2 – Turn on Site Search tracking Edit Profile -> Edit Main Website Profile, enter query string variable

13. Tip 8: Configure Event Tracking Allows Flash, Ajax and other events to be tracked. Embed additional javascript function call into Flash, Ajax code, etc. to trigger tracking. _trackEvent(category, action, optional_label, optional_value) code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/eventTrackerGuide.html

14. Tip 9: Explore Advanced Reports Date Range Comparisons Graph Metric Comparisons Advanced Segments Site Overlay Map Overlay Visualization Custom Reports

15. Additional Resources Google Analytics Signup and Product Tour www.google.com/analytics Google URL Builder www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578 Google Analytics Video Training www.youtube.com/googleanalytics?hl= Definitions of General Analytics Terms en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics

16. Special Offer 50% discount on Google Analytics basic tracking configuration (regular price $250) Available to first 12 requesters Must have site hosted with Blue Tangerine Solutions 1 month free hosting to new hosting customers with 12 month contract Contact: info@BlueTangerineSolutions.com Offer expires August 31, 2009.