August 2010 update
Google has announced a major upgrade to their Analytics Intelligence feature. I'm a big advocate of the custom alerts GA Intelligence (not the automated alerts) since it helps the process of making analytics useful by alerting marketers to problems or opportunities rather than us having to remember to review.
The main feature for all to be aware of is the inclusion of AdWords data which has I noted below in the guide was the biggest omission. It still only provides top-level figures across all campaigns but it gives a good way of independently checking your spend effectiveness particularly if you have an agency investing separately in Adwords for you. I suggest setting up alerts for:
Impressions
Cost - total and Cost Per Click
Clickthrough rates
Depending on your level of investment a good threshold to start with is + or…
Just published this week, and now in its second edition, this new book on Google Analytics, by ex-Googler, Brian Clifton is a "must-buy" for any company serious about using Google Analytics to help their company succeed online.
The book's title is Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics, but the title of this review is intended to highlight why I think it's essential reading. I think much of its value is in customising or tailoring Google Analytics to a business. I say this since, when working with clients or training, I find that the majority of companies don't have Google Analytics with a tailored setup which is right to improve results for their business. This prompted me to write my post giving a checklist of 6 customisation options from simple to difficult.This book explains how to implement all of these setup steps in an easy to follow format.
2015 update
Although I am a big…
Dave Chaffey's summary of the most significant postings and developments giving guidance on Google Analytics Setup and configuration which I think all digital marketers need to be aware of. I have given a star rating of the importance [rating=5] of the updates based on their importance to the average small-business business installation of Google analytics. Analytics Ninjas or power users may well rate more highly.
As well as my take on the major updates, you will also want to check out the Google Analytics Update page if you don't know about - it's tough to find. I also track the Google Analytics Blog which is great for analytics folk, but not most general marketers.
Retweets previously
recommending this post
on Marketing Online wiki
before new site:
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Major developments in Google Analytics Setup and new features
Google Analytics Annotations now available in…
Google Analytics is a fantastic tool from the moment you arrange to have the tracking code installed and you experience the thrill or anxst of your first reports appearing showing how real people are interacting with your business.
Every business now needs a Google Analytics customisation strategy
You can certainly get a lot of value from reporting and analysis using the standard setup, but to really drive results for your business, you're better off spending some time on customisation.
Retweets previously
recommending this post
on DaveChaffey.com
before Smart Insights
launched:
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With each passing month there are more customisation options available in Google Analytics, so I believe you really need a strategy of what to customise, particularly if there are several team members using the account. This post gives my ideas on a…
I'm excited by the new opportunities to readily access and manipulate your Google Analytics data through the tools provided by Microsoft Excel gives great opportunities for creating custom dashboards or in-depth analysis. This post shows you how and highlights some of the free and paid tools to help.
But many site owners or marketers who aren't web analytics specialists may have missed the announcement in April when Google Analytics launched an API to enable developers to access Google Analytics data and incorporate it into other web services or software.
You can see the tools available to link to Excel in the Google Analytics Application Gallery.
This is significant since as Econsultancy recently reported in their Online measurement and strategy report, 80% of surveyed businesses are now using Google Analytics, so there is a great opportunity for many companies to get more from their Google Analytics installation by devising reports and analysis to it…
A 12 step guide for marketers, designers and site owners
I've written this guide since I now find when training, that the majority of the marketers on the courses have Google Analytics installed on their websites.
But oftentimes, although Google Analytics is installed, it hasn't been configured to help marketers track and review their campaign or site effectiveness.In fact, when I take attendees through the configuration options, it seems very often little or no configuration has been done in their organisations!
So, I have written this guide as a checklist for non web-analytics specialists. It is a top-level guide, but I have provided links through to detailed descriptions on more specialist sites on the technical approaches needed to configure.
This guide steps through all main configuration concepts and issues to consider for using Google Analytics to improve your results from online marketing. I haven't seen any other lists that cover everything in a single list…
The concept of segmentation, is of course, well-known to marketers but it is a term increasingly applied within web analytics. While analytics specialists may be up-to-speed on online segmentation options, most marketers won't have time to get-to-grips with the options.
So, I'm pleased to be present this interview with analytics specialist Hugh Gage to enlighten us about the online segmentation options.
For example segmentation is now a prominent tool within the latest versions of Google Analytics and Visual Sciences and it has always been easy to create granular segmentations in ClickTracks.
In this interview, I talk to web analytics consultant Hugh Gage of Engage Digital who was previously a senior analyst at Logan Tod & Co and before that Head of Online Planning and Buying at Manning Gottlieb OMD.…
