Google Analytics Blog from Jeffalytics

How Do You Choose a Google Analytics Goal Value?

March 21, 2018 by Jeff Sauer 6 Comments

If you’re reading this, you probably have goals set up in your Google Analytics account, right?

And if you don’t, why not? Shame on you! – Ok, I’m not serious. We won’t make you wear a scarlet “G” for not setting up Goals.

Google Analytics goal values

The truth is, setting up Goals can be totally frustrating.

But, goals are a vital part of Google Analytics. Without goal tracking in place, there is no value in your conversion reports. These reports either have no data, or $0 value, which is pretty much useless for analysis.

The biggest pain in the goal set up process is choosing a goal value. It’s easy to enter a value, but how can you be sure it’s the right value? Most of the time, we don’t have immediate access to all the numbers we need to calculate the exact value of email opt-ins, or form submissions.

So what do you do when you don’t know your numbers? Assign no value? Pick an arbitrary number?

Let’s solve this problem together.

In this post and video, I am going to help you figure out how to assign values to your goals in Google Analytics. We’ll also discuss how to choose a goal value even if you don’t have access to all the data you need.

What’s the problem with goals?

Google Analytics goals are so 2006!

It’s easy to get psyched out or frustrated setting up goals in Google Analytics. The goal options are rigid, and in my opinion outdated. They operate based on web design and online marketing paradigms from 2006.

Now don’t get me wrong; we still want to use goals for marketing. But if you’re thinking “these options don’t make sense,” you’re not alone.

Let’s talk about why.

Goal options

Let’s start with the types of goals you can set up in Google Analytics. Goal types include:

Destination
Session duration
Pages/screens per session
Event

goal types

Destination goals

The destination goal is triggered by someone hitting a URL on your website. This goal is commonly used to assign conversion values to email opt-ins or form submissions. The trigger URL for this goal is usually a “thank you” page. (I may be one the few marketers left that still uses thank you pages, and that’s only because I am analytics purest).

Session duration and pages per session goals

Very few websites generate any real value from sessions or pageviews. So, I recommend most people avoid these using goals without a specific purpose.

Event goals

The event goal is triggered by an action on a web page. The most common example of an event goal is a video view.

Who knows these numbers?

The other problem with goals is that they require information we don’t always have access to.

As an analyst or marketer, you may not know what your company’s close rate is from online form submissions. Or, you might not have access to the data that helps you calculate the lifetime value of an email subscriber.

Internal company politics, and lack of communication often play a role in limiting our access to the data we need.

Also, for many businesses, these numbers are rough estimates at best.

Yet, Google Analytics still needs this information for us to enable goal tracking.

Technically easy… Practically difficult

I created a previous tutorial on setting up goals. So, if you need help with the technical aspects of enabling goals, you can reference this video and post – https://www.jeffalytics.com/google-analytics-conversion-tracking/.

In the goal tutorial video, I skipped over the pain point of goal values, because I thought that goal values deserved their own video explanation.

Google Analytics goals are technically very easy to set up, but anticipating the practical implications of your goals can be difficult.

Thanks to a question from Analytics Course student Adnan, I have decided to share my process for choosing goal values.

Analytics Course student question

Adnan asks:

In terms of assigning a value to a goal, if you have an e-commerce site, couldn’t your goal be the purchase of that product. For instance, could one of the goals for Jeffaytics Analytics Course be the purchase of a course valued at $500?

What value do you put in for your Goals

Before we delve into the ways we can assign goals values, let’s review Google’s guidance.

goal value

Google’s basically telling you to take your internal company data and do some math. And there’s nothing wrong with this direction. In fact, I would say their advice is 100% accurate.

But if you don’t know your internal numbers, this won’t help. Sometimes you have to rely on other resources to determine your goal values.

Here are some other numbers we could use as a goal value

Establishing your goal values is easy when those goal values are uniform. But what value should you choose as your starting point?

Here are some possibilities:

1. Maximum product value
2. Average order value
3. Minimum order value
4. Average Lead value
5. Target cost per lead
6. An arbitrary number
7. No value at all
8. ~~The perfect value~~

Which is the right choice?

Before we decide on the right goal value to use, here are a few things we need to consider:

1) Goal values are static, (except for event goals.)

Goal values do not dynamically change based on the data you collect. Let’s say you assign a $5 value to a goal. Then, every website visitor that reaches your goal is recorded as a $5 conversion in your analytics reports.

Event goals can be dynamic, based on the value of your events.

Event goal value

2) Goal values are permanent.

Goal values don’t update or change based on adjustments you make to your website. The value you assign is permanent in your analytics reports. It can’t be undone once the data is collected, (which is one of the reasons we’re spending so much time on this subject.) You need to pick your goal values wisely. Choosing completely inaccurate values can mangle your analytics reports.

3) Your goal value is assigned to every session that reaches the goal destination.

Make sure you choose actions that are of real value for your goals.

4) Google does not recommend goal values for ecommerce sites.

Goals values

When you set up a goal for ecommerce, turn the goal value off. You should still set up the funnel steps for your ecommerce related goals. Goal funnels could and should be a full tutorial on its own. So, we won’t get into funnel steps here. If you’re an Analytics Course member, you can reference our detailed lesson on goal funnels.

Goal funnel tracking

5) Goal values MUST be realistic.

There’s no easy way to say this politely.

If you choose no value or an outrageous value… You are going to DEVALUE your analytics data.

You want your analytics data to be trustworthy. Choose accurate values, so that you can trust your data.

Now that we understand more about how goal values work, let’s answer Adnan’s question.

Specifically, what value do I use for goals for course sales?

Well, my goal value for my course sales is turned off, because I’m using ecommerce reports. The value of the sale is calculated using ecommerce tracking.

Goal values for ecommerce sites can be left blank.

But they need to be set for everything else.

Let’s work through some common goal value scenarios.

Goal values for sales leads

There are many of ways to calculate the expected value of your sales leads. One of the interweb’s favorite ways to calculate your lead value is our PPC Course budget calculator. You can read our full tutorial on this calculator here – https://www.jeffalytics.com/google-adwords-budget/.

You don’t need to have PPC advertising data to use this calculator. The sales data fields in this calculator work independently of the other inputs.

Gaol value calulations

If you have limited access to your sales data, the calculator is a very useful tool. It will help figure out your net lead value based on percentage estimates of your sales activities. And as long as those estimates are fairly accurate, you can calculate your lead value.

Goal values for email subscribers

The scientific way to calculate the goal value of your email opt-ins is pretty similar to the Google’s recommendation.

Revenue from email/subscribers = value of an email subscriber

You can use this formula to calculate the value of your subscribers over the lifetime of your business.

Or, if that becomes cumbersome, you could use data from your last sales based email campaign.

And if you can’t get access to that data, you can choose an arbitrary number. $5 to $10 a subscriber, depending on your list size and product offerings, is a fairly safe estimate.

Remember this value isn’t a real revenue number. It’s the expected value of email sign-ups. So this value can change over the lifetime of your email list.

Goal values for content engagement

What should be the goal value for tracking content engagement?

In general, I would assign a very low value to engagement goals. Why? Because engagement doesn’t usually equal income. video views on your website are not typically a predictor of future revenue.

Engagement Goal value

I would recommend a value of a $1 or less for your engagement goals. Assigning high values to your engagement goal is… As the kids say, kray kray!

But you know what’ really krazy? Assigning no value to your goals.

So, DON’T do that.

Please assign realistic Google Analytics Goal Values

With the exception of engagement goals and ecommerce goals, empty goal values make many of your reports worthless. You can’t use attribution modeling, multi-channel reports, or page value data without assigning goal values.

So, set up goals for the websites you work on. And do your best to assign accurate values.

Let’s quickly recap our general guidance for assigning goal values

Ecommerce = No value (value is recorded using ecommerce tracking)
Lead Generation = Expected revenue per lead
Email subscriber = Realistically small number
Engagement = A very low number

Comment and questions

Google analytics goals can be confusing. If you have questions, leave a comment below.

And if you have a strategy for assigning goal values, share it in the comments. We can all improve our analytics by getting better at choosing goal values.

This post and video was episode 60 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

How To Set Up Cross Device Tracking in Google Analytics

March 14, 2018 by Jeff Sauer Leave a Comment

If you are a website owner, you’re probably aware that your visitors come to your website in many ways, shapes, and forms. It’s also possible that repeat visitors will come to your site from many different devices. You know, computers, phones, tablets (and possibly even cars, watches, TVs).

The same physical human being can visit your site in many ways across many browsers. But according to your analytics data, they will be treated as separate users taking separate actions after consuming your content.

That’s because by default, every modern analytics tool tracks devices, not people.

So, what happens to your analytics data when I visit your website from two different devices?

Your Google Analytics account will think I am “Regular Jeff” and someone else, who we will call “Mustache Jeff” for distinction and entertainment.

One user device - how to set up cross device tracking

Even though I am only one human being, Google will track all my devices as separate users for reporting purposes.

Tracking devices – instead of actual humans – can cause a big problem with how you trust your analytics data. If one person is counted as two, or possibly even five different users, it can mess up your confidence in analyzing the data you collect.

Good news! There is a potential fix for this problem that we will explore in detail: cross-device tracking.

To understand how cross-device tracking works we need to look at how Google Analytics tracks your website visitors.

How Google Analytics tracks users

Google Analytics doesn’t track people, it tracks unique browser cookies (specifically, the Client ID field) to determine users. Google tracks each unique Client ID they see as a unique user in your analytics reports.

Here is what the Client ID looks like when you visit a webpage. Your Client ID determines your uniqueness.

Google Analytics cookies

So think of your analytics account as a Cookie Monster. Google Analytics loves cookies.

Google Analytics cookies

But, too many cookies for one person can cause problems with your analytics, as well as your physical and mental health.

Each cookie is unique to its browser, and its device. Your cookies contain a Client ID for each website you visit. This ID allows Google Analytics to monitor your behavior on that website.

Client ID Google Analytics cookies

If Google Analytics recognizes your Client ID, it can match up your hits, sessions, and visits across devices. All devices merge into one user. Sweet!

Google identifies users by their Client ID

Let’s return to our original scenario where I visited your site on multiple devices. If you can sync my Client ID across those devices, then you get one “Jeff” in your Analytics report.

syncing user devices - cross device tracking

But if my Client ID remains different on each of my devices, Google Analytics will think I am multiple users. Google might think I a whole bunch of different “Mustache Men.” ( Sorry couldn’t resist. Look at those staches!).

users devices - how to set up cross device trakcing

If your analytics account is tracking devices, instead of users, it can cause a lot of problems for analysts. More issues than just skewing your visitor metrics.

You conversions become inflated, and it can mangle your attribution modeling.

So how do you fix this problem? How do we track users instead of devices? Cross-device tracking.

There are two ways to set up cross-device tracking in Google Analytics

You can implement cross-device tracking using cookies, or you can use the cloud.

Cross-device tracking with cookies

As we discussed, every browser cookie contains a unique Client ID.

If you want to use this cookie across devices for known users, you can access their Client ID using JavaScript. You can set up a JavaScript a function that reads your visitors’ Client IDs and stores it in your database or stores it in the users local browser.

Once you access the Client ID variable, you can do cool things like:

Attach the Client ID to a user record in your CRM

When your javascript function captures the Client ID variable, you attach that variable to a user record in your CRM or proprietary database. You can even match up the Client ID to an email address in your CRM. Then you can store the Client ID as a custom field in your CRM user records.

Store the Client ID on the browser

You can also store the Client ID on the browser’s local storage.

I am not sure of the advantage here, but it seems like there is a use case I’m missing. If you can explain the use case, leave a comment, and I will update this portion of the post.

Set a new Client ID using code

You can access the Client ID using tracking code upgrades, and you can even override the ID using the value from your database. Then you can update the Client ID for each known user.

client ID variable

Use the measurement protocol to send hits to the client ID

Using the measurement protocol is an advanced technique for tracking in Google Analytics. The measurement protocol is an open way to send data into Google Analytics. This technique allows you to set the Client ID in your Google Analytics hit, and transmit data about that ID into Google Analytics.

Don’t worry if you’re a little confused right now. Cross-device tracking is pretty “heavy” stuff.

cross device tracking is heavy stuff

Let’s make it as simple as possible

You start by identifying your users as they hit your website. You could identify logged-in users of your site or app. Or it could be because they clicked through to your site from their email. Either way, you will begin the identification process outside of Google Analytics.
After you’ve identified your user, you tell Google Analytics to match up their Client IDs by setting the Client ID consistently on all devices. When Google processes the reporting data, the Client ID will match across devices and sessions, and they are treated as one unique user.

Once you identify your users, you can pass Client IDs across devices!

When you sync the Client ID across devices, all those mustaches disappear. And you have one user, one “Jeff,” instead of five random users, in your Google Analytics reports.

syncing user across device with cross device trackin

Is your mind blown right now? Mine was the first time I learned about cross-device tracking. Super amazingly cool stuff, right?

If you thought that was cool, then check this out: there’s a second way you can do cross-device tracking.

Cross-device tracking in the cloud (through User ID)

You can also have Google match up users across devices using their cloud computing power. This method doesn’t involve manipulating cookies. Instead, you identify each unique user by appending a unique User ID to the hits that are coming into your Google Analytics data.

Google will match up users, based on their User IDs, in the cloud.

Let’s break down how this works.

A User ID is a unique alphanumeric variable that you assign to each known user. There’s a line in your analytics code that allows you to set the User ID.

Using this tracking code enhancement, you can set any User ID that you define. Of course, you have to identify your users first. But once you’ve identified them, you can tell Google that they belong to that specific User ID.

User ID in cross device tracking

User ID accepts no PII, please

Google will not allow you to assign a User ID that can be personally identifiable. Some examples of unacceptable User IDs include name, SSN, email address, etc. The User ID has to be unique and cannot violate the user’s anonymity.

User ID policy

Here are some ways you can create new User IDs:

new User IDs in cross device tracking

Account database User ID.

If your site login system has a database record for each person, you can use that record as the User ID.

Email marketing tool ID

Usually, your email marketing tool assigns each user a unique number. This number has no personally identifiable characteristics. So you can use it as the User ID.

Your CRM User ID

You can assign you CRM ID as the new User ID. Using the CRM ID is similar to using your email marketing tool ID.

Randomly assigned ID

If you maintain other user records, you can randomly assign an ID to each record. As long as this ID is not recognized outside your system, it can become the new ID in Google Analytics.

Cross-device tracking is pretty advanced. That’s why we cover it in depth in our Advanced Google Analytics lessons.

But, the bottom line is, if you can tell Google Analytics who a user is, they will match that user up across all devices.

You can implement cross-device tracking using Client ID (cookies) or the cloud (User ID).

Why doesn’t Google automatically set up cross-device tracking?

Google has Chrome and user account records (Gmail). They likely have more data about user behavior at their disposal than anyone else in the world.

It would be more straightforward and more accurate if Google set up cross-device tracking across known users. But Google is not going to do cross-device tracking for you. And there are many good reasons why Google won’t share their user data.

Fred from our Analytics Course asks a great question about how Google uses their data.

Analytics Course student question

Fred asks:

But if I’m logged in to Google on each device, is it safe to assume that the demographic info Google collects about me is actually fed from all three devices? I’m thinking there’s a master “fred” demographic row in some giant database somewhere, that is fed by all the devices “fred” is logged into.

I understand the difficulty of tracking across devices. Even if I use Chrome on my desktop, tablet, and phone, that’s still three different sets of cookies that are placed on the different devices, and they’re not merged.

Essentially Fred wants to know if Google maintains a master profile on each one of us.

I don’t know the definitive answer to Fred’s question. But I do think that Google keeps a record of our user behavior in their third-party cookies.

I think Google matches people across Chrome and shares cookies on Google websites. Tracking is likely the main reason Google creates products like the Chrome web browser and Android operating system. These tools give Google full control of tracking their users across the internet.

I think Google uses this data for their advertising products

This data makes Google’s advertising platforms better.

But I don’t think Google is going to provide this same data automatically in Google Analytics. The best we will do is better targeting in AdWords and Doubleclick.

How does that work? One example is how Google estimates how many AdWords conversions you have, even without a tracking code. AdWords is Google’s biggest moneymaker, so they do whatever they can to keep you hooked on their ad platform.

Google has much less incentive to release their treasure trove of data into Google Analytics.

Sharing cross-device user data in analytics wouldn’t necessarily increase Google’s earnings. Also, it would be a privacy violation and GDPR nightmare for the EU. Changes in privacy regulations are making it harder to track users, not easier. We’re trending towards giving users the power to decide whether or not they accept tracking.

What do you think Google does with their top-secret data stash?

Those are my current thoughts on how Google tracks us and if they will ever share all their data. I would love to know what you think. Does Google maintain a master profile on us? And would they ever give us access to this information? Share your opinions in the comments below.

This post and video was episode 53 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for the 90-day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

What is the role of IP tracking in Google Analytics?

March 7, 2018 by Jeff Sauer 5 Comments

Where do IP addresses factor into the world of Google Analytics? The answer to this question is both complicated and straightforward at the same time.

Google collects IP addresses from your website visitors whenever you send a hit to their systems (think each time a page finishes loading). That means every Google Analytics hit from your tags is attached to an IP address.

But Google truncates this data before it enters your analytics reports. So it’s not something you can access via the reporting interface.

To get a clear understanding of how IP tracking works in GA, let’s walk through how Google processes your analytics data. If IP tracking is essential for you, we’ll also share some tools you can use that don’t filter IP data out of their reports.

Analytics Course student question

Kate, from our Analytics Course, asked one of the most common problems I hear about IP tracking in our private Facebook Group. She wants to know if she can see the IP data in her Google Analytics reports. Kate’s question is the perfect topic for a video because there’s often confusion around IP tracking in GA.

Analytics Course student questions

To answer Kate’s question, let’s take a look at how Google collects and processes IP Data.

There are four components of data processing in Google Analytics.

Collection
Processing
Configuration
Reporting

How data is collected by Google Analytics

Most of us only think about the reporting component of Google Analytics, because that’s where we do our work.

But, by the time our data hits the reporting stage, it’s been scrubbed and processed by Google.

Data collection and Google Analytics tracking code

The collection stage is where Google collects IP addresses. The addresses are picked up by the javascript embedded in your Google Analytics tracking code.

IP Addresses are collected by GA

There are many different ways you can install the Google Analytics tracking code on your site. Google Tag Manager is probably the easiest way to add your tracking code. You can also use gtag.js, analytics.js, or ga.js. If you’re super old school, you can even use urchin.js. (Please! Don’t use urchin.js. That was my way of telling an analytics joke!)

Each one of these tracking solutions collects IP addresses. Collecting IPs is a necessary component of data collection.

Anonymize IPs

You can anonymize the IPs coming to your site at the point of collection. Some Analytics users have to anonymize IPs due to the tracking regulations in their area.

You anonymize IPs by adding a function to your tracking code that tells Google not track IP data on your site.

You can anonymize IPs at the collection phase

Google Analytics data configuration

After collection, IP addresses enter the configuration and processing stages of Google Analytics. These stages are where you apply your filters for IPs.

IP Addresses are not processed by GA

Google Analytics IP filters

Most users filter their home/office IP address out of their reporting data. This filter prevents internal traffic from diluting their reports.

Here’s an example of an internal IP address filter.

Filter IP Addresses before processing

This exclusion filter removes traffic generated by the filtered IP from going into your reports.

Google Analytics data processing

During the processing stage, Google transfers data to a reporting database, which strips IP addresses along the way. Any IP data that hasn’t already been anonymized, or filtered, gets scrubbed at this point. Although the data from each user’s service provider (ISP) are visible in your reports, their IPs are not.

IP Addresses are not in GA reports

IP addresses are not available in your Google Analytics reports

So, while Google does collect IP addresses, Google doesn’t provide that data to end users. The bottom line is you are not able to see IP addresses anywhere in your Google Analytics reports.

You can’t even verify your exclusion filters, because Google completely removes any IP data before it gets to your reports.

Why doesn’t Google Analytics share IP address data?

There are privacy issues with collecting and sharing IP address information. Google decided a long time ago they wouldn’t store this information, and given the developments in internet privacy regulations, that stance is unlikely to change.

Tools that may track and report IP addresses

If you absolutely must collect and store IP address data, here are a few places you may want to look.

Landing page tools

Most landing page tools will show you IP address data for visitors. These tools often allow you to see which IP address visited your site. You can also view events related to those IPs, like form submission or email opt-ins.

Marketing automation tools

Many marketing automation tools utilize javascript tracking code, just like Google Analytics, to collect user data. Many of these tools also allow you to see the IP address data of users that visit your site.

I use Drip. As you can see in the example below my landing page tool, Thrive, is collecting an IP address. And Drip is tracking the IP address with my user’s data.

IP tracking in Drip

CRM (customer relationship management) tools

Many CRM tools are capable of IP address tracking. CRM systems track IPs to see if a lead has visited your site, and track that leads activity in your sales database.

Tools like Drip, will also “lead score” your you email subscribers based on visits to your site associated with their IP address.

CRM IP tracking

User analytics tools

Kissmetrics, Mixpanel, and other similar systems will show you IP data that you collect on users. These tools are designed to track users and may be a good alternative or complement to what you can collect in Google Analytics.

Web hosting and logs

Web hosting tools track and store IP addresses in their server logs. Your web host tracks IPs to help you protect your website, and allow you to manage your site’s security.

So, you do have options for IP tracking outside of Google Analytics.

But be careful what you track!

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. How and who you choose to track is about to come under a lot more scrutiny.

The European Union will implement the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) this May. GDP will increase internet privacy for web users. But, it will also have a massive impact on tracking in internet marketing.

GDRP

You can read more about whether GDPR applies to your business here – https://www.eugdpr.org/

Tracking IP addresses = can tell you a lot about your website visitors. But make sure you comply with internet privacy regulations. Just because your marketing tool allows you to track IP addresses, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!

This post and video was episode 46 in our 90-Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for the 90-day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

How to Setup Google Analytics Offline Tracking

February 28, 2018 by Jeff Sauer 3 Comments

Google Analytics is an online-only tracking tool.

True or False?

The answer is…

False.

Well, mostly false.

Google Analytics can track any visit to your website, even if it comes from offline promotions and advertising. As long as your offline advertising triggers someone to visit a website, Google Analytics can track it!

You can use Google Analytics offline tracking to measure print, radio or television advertising. You can even track phone calls.

Let’s talk about how offline tacking works and how we can set it up.

Analytics Course Student question

One of our Analytics Course students, Belladonna, asked the following question about offline tracking:

I’m really interested in tracking offline, direct mail and phone calls. Is it possible to get more information on those specifically?

Belladonna wants to know how to track her offline direct response advertising. And she wants to learn about call tracking in Google Analytics.

Let’s look at how to setup offline tracking using a simple 5 step process.

How to setup Google Analytics Offline tracking

Step #1 – Create a vanity URL

Vanity URLs are custom URLs that are commonly used in marketing material. Vanity URLs are often created for television and radio ads. They are intended to be easy to remember and share.

Here’s a vanity URL I created for this tutorial. This URL will direct people that want to follow our 90 day challenge videos to a page where they can opt-in to our email list. vanity url for google analytics offline tracking

Step #2 – Create your final destination page

Your final destination page is where you want your visitors to land when they type in your vanity URL. This page is typically designed around the call to action in your offline promotion. Depending on your ad you might want users to submit a form, opt-in to an email list, or buy your product.

In our example, my final destination is the opt-in page for our 90 day challenge email list.

final url for google analytics offline tracking

Step # 3 – Add UTM parameters to your destination URL

UTM parameters are tags you ad to your URL so you can track your URL in Google Analytics.

You can add UTMs to your URLs using Google’s campaign URL builder.

In the example below, I’ve built a campaign URL based on a fictional offline ad. Let’s say I want to advertise in the newspaper, right next to the Garfield comics! I don’t know if Garfield comics are still in print. But, he’s the perfect spokescat for our 90 day challenge videos.

The web address of your destination page goes in the website URL field of URL builder. The rest of the fields help you identify your campaign so you can find it in your analytics reports.

Google's campaign url builder

Once you’ve set up your URL parameters, copy your full URL to your clipboard for the next step.

Google campaign URL builder

Step #4 – Setup a redirect from your vanity URL to your final URL

You can use a 301 redirect to send traffic from your vanity URL to your final landing page. If you’re not a developer, and you use WordPress, there are a number of plugins that are designed to create redirects.

As you can see in my example below I’m directing traffic from the URL Jeffalytics.com/youtubers to my final URL.

Set up a 301 (permanent) redirect

Step #5 – Verify that your tracking works using the Google Analytics Real Time Reports

Using your Real Time reports, you can verify any hits to your vanity URL and make sure your tracking is working. When testing your tracking, make sure to use an unfiltered view of your Real Time reports. Or test your URL from an IP address you haven’t filtered out of your Google Analytics reports.

You can see the vanity URL is tracking!

Let’s recap our Google Analytics offline tracking process:

1 – Create an easy to remember/type vanity URL for your offline promotions.
2 – Setup a final destination page that people will be directed to when they type in your vanity URL.
3 – Add UTM tracking parameters to your final destination URL, so Google Analytics can track your traffic.
4 – Create a redirect that sends people using your vanity URL to your final destination page.
5 – Check your tracking in your Google Analytics Real Time reports.

That’s our five-step process. It’s that easy to setup your Google Analytics offline tracking!!

You can track any offline advertising you create a URL for – flyers, mailers, coupons, radio ads, pretty much anything.

The second part of our Analytics Course student question was about phone call tracking. Let’s take a quick look at how you can setup Google Analytics call tracking.

How to setup Google Analytics phone call tracking

Setting up your call tracking is also pretty easy.

Start by going to the Google Analytics Partners Gallery.

Select “Find a Solution.” Then, from the “Solutions Categories” menu choose the option for phone call tracking.

Visit the Google Analytics Partners Gallery

This selection will take you to a list of call tracking apps that integrate with Google Analytics. There are approximately 29 different phone tracking apps to choose from.

google analytics call tracking apps

Select the phone tracking app that fits your needs. Then, follow that app’s instructions for connecting your call tracking to Google Analytics.

integrate google analytics call tracking

Will you use Google Analytics offline tracking?

What do you think of these offline tracking strategies? Will you use them to track your offline promos? Do you use call tracking? If you do, please share your favorite call tracking app in the comments.

This post and video was episode 39 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

How to use Google Analytics Benchmarking Reports

February 21, 2018 by Jeff Sauer Leave a Comment

Google Analytics benchmarking reports allow you to see how your website is trending in your industry.

The data in these reports shows you how well you’re competing across traffic channels. Not only that, but you can also see which user devices are the most popular in your market and you can learn where your website trends on a global scale.

In this post and video, we’ll take an in-depth look at the benchmarking reports. Follow along, and learn how to do competitive analysis using Google Analytics benchmarking.

Google Analytics Benchmarking Reports

Let’s start with understanding where Google collects this data. The benchmarking reports use anonymous data from other websites. These reports allow you to see how your website is performing against the aggregated data of other analytics users.

Installing benchmarking is as easy as clicking a button.

Setting up benchmarking

To setup benchmarking, navigate to the admin section of Google Analytics. Then, in your account settings check the “Benchmarking” box.

Analytics Course student question about benchmarking

Figuring out how to use your benchmarking reports can be a little confusing. But it just comes down to finding the right data for your traffic comparisons.

Dave from our Analytics Course, asks a very common question about benchmarking.

Is there a way to filter the types of web properties Google is comparing too when I benchmark? Perhaps by industry?

Let’s answer Dave’s question and learn how to use these reports.

Google Analytics Benchmarking

How to use Benchmarking reports

You can find the benchmarking reports under the audience tab in your Google Analytics account.

Google Analytics benchmarking reports

Benchmarking filters

Your benchmarking reports include three filters.

Industry Vertical
Country/Region
Size by daily session

Benchmarking filters

Adjusting the filters is how you find the right niche for your traffic comparison.

In this example, I am using the Google Analytics Demo account to show you how benchmarking works. This Demo Account uses data from the Google Merchandise Store (GMS).

Since I am using the GMS account, I have chosen the “clothing Accessories” vertical. And I am making a traffic comparison based on sites that get 500-999 visits a day.

Volume of data in your Benchmark Reports

Using the filters allows you to be more targeted with your competitive analysis. But it also decreases the amount of data available at each level.

Google shows you how many web properties you’re comparing to each time you filter your report. web properties in benchmarking reports

If you filter too deeply, Google may not have enough data to display a report.

filtering benchmarking reports

Google Analytics benchmarking traffic channels

The first (and most useful) option in your benchmarking reports is to compare your traffic by channel. This report uses the default Google Analytics channel grouping to measure your data against your industry.

Your traffic channels that are performing above industry standards display in green. Traffic channels below the industry trend appear in red.

Google Analytics benchmarking by traffic channels

The percentages show you how much your site is trending above or below the averages.

It’s important to try to measure your site against competitors that get similar amounts of traffic.

The GMS is over-indexed in the first comparison I selected. We need to choose a higher daily traffic level to see a meaningful report.

benchmarking traffic channels

Bumping up to the 1000 to 4999 daily sessions level allows us to do a better traffic channel comparison.

Google Analytics benchmarking referral traffic

Location report

The location report allows you to view your industry data by country. I don’t find much utility in this report because most websites target a specific region.

benchmarking location report

If your site focuses on customers in the US, then international traffic is mostly irrelevant. Same goes for whichever country you may be located.

Also, you can do a more specific location comparison using the County/Region filter.

But if you work for a large multinational corporation, this report could be useful.

Devices report

The devices report shows which users devices are getting the best traffic numbers in your market. You can evaluate your traffic on desktop, mobile, and tablets. This report is fairly useful because it allows you to learn about user device trends in your industry.

Benchmarking user device report

You can see which devices are favored by customers in your niche. Then you can tailor your site design to meet those preferences.

Put your benchmarking data into context!

I love the benchmarking reports. But, keep in mind these reports are not much use without context.

Fair warning, I am about to go on a bit of web analytics rant. If you want to hear my full rant, watch the video above.

Here’s an example of what I mean by context. Let’s look at the benchmarking channel report for the GMS. The GMS significantly outperforms the industry standard for referral traffic.

Why is that?

benchmarking referral traffic

If you read our Jeffalytics post on cross-domain tracking, you would know the answer. The GMS gets most of its traffic from YouTube and other Google-owned websites. Their approach to customer acquisition is entirely different than the rest of their industry.

The GMS gets high-value traffic from other Google sites that have millions of daily visitors.

Without context, the overperforming referral traffic appears out of place. With context, we understand the GMS is leveraging a competitive advantage.

Make sure you add context to you benchmarking data. Think about why your site might be above or below industry standards.

Do these metrics indicate that you need to make changes? Or do they show that you’ve strategically prioritized certain traffic channels above others?

Let’s recap what we learned about Google Analytics benchmarking reports

1) Setting up benchmarking is easy.

Enabling this feature is as simple as clicking a button in your account settings.

2) Compare to similar industries, websites size, and country using the filters

Use the filters to find the right category for your traffic comparisons. Adjusting the filters will have big impact on the trends you see in your reports.

3) Benchmarking reports include traffic channels, locations and devices

I find the traffic channels report to be the most useful, by far. The user devices report can also be helpful. I almost never use the country report.

4) The benchmarking data is aggregated and very broad

To get enough data to run these reports you need to stay broad. If you get too specific with your filtering, Google can’t run your report. So, keep in mind you are looking at trends. Benchmarking reports provide general information about industry segments.

5) Combine benchmarking with specific data elsewhere to create a more valuable analysis

The general industry data you get from the benchmarking reports can only tell you so much. You need to combine this data with other sources of information to build a more complete picture.

You can use tools like Similarweb and Spyfu to help you learn more about your benchmarking trends. The video below walks you through how to use all three of these tools to build a competitive marketing budget.

**Required viewing**

6) Don’t read too much into benchmarking data as the sole source of information

Don’t rely on benchmarking as the sole source of information for your competitive analysis. Benchmarking is a great starting point for looking at trends in your market. But this shouldn’t complete your analysis. You need to dig deeper, add context, and bring in other reports to find real meaning in these trends.

Do you use the Benchmarking reports?

What do you think of the Google Analytics benchmarking reports? Do they help you improve your marketing? Or your website?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts on the benchmarking reports.

This post and video was episode 32 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 days of videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

Everything you need to know about Google Analytics permissions

February 14, 2018 by Jeff Sauer Leave a Comment

Who gave you permission to use Google Analytics? This is a serious question.

Permissions control what you can do in Google Analytics.

Understanding permissions and how access levels affect permissions is essential Google Analytics knowledge, no matter your skill level.

So, today we are going to review every level of Google Analytics permission. We’ll look how account, property, and view level access affect permissions.

And we’ll talk about how to ask for more permission… In Google Analytics of course. (Not in your personal relationships. That’s well beyond the scope of advice you can expect from a web analytics blog).

Google Analytics permissions

We recently received this question from Analytics Course student Anya:

I would like to learn about the limits of each permission level ie. what you can and what you cannot do.

As an analyst can you create custom segments? What permission level do you need to have in order to create a goal?

How do you go about asking your clients to give you access as a consultant – do you ask them for at least read only, then tell them what they need to do and offer to do it for them if they increase permissions?

This is a big question, but it’s also an important one! Let’s break down every permission level, and every access level in Google Analytics. Then, we’ll discuss how to ask clients or other account mangers to increase your permission level in Google Analytics.

There are four levels of Google Analytics permissions

Read and Analyze permission

Read and Analyze is the lowest level of permission in Google Analytics. This level of access allows you to see the data, but it doesn’t allow you to make any changes to the account.

Read and Analyze permission in Google Analytics

Read and Analyze is the beginner or “only on a need to know basis” level of access. Users with this level of access can look at the data all they want. But they can’t affect the account, and they can’t communicate with other users in Google Analytics.

Here’s what users with Read and Analyze permission can do:

View reports
Use table filters
Add secondary dimensions
Create custom segments
Build custom reports
Create and share dashboards
View shared reports

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do at this permission level. You can do most of the things you need to do to analyze the available data.

If you want to test the Read and Analyze permission level, then check out the Google Analytics demo account. The demo account gives you Read and Analyze access to the Google Merchandise Store.

Collaborate permission

Collaborate permission is one level above Read an Analyze. Users at this level can communicate in Google Analytics. They can annotate reports. They can also edit shared assets. Shared assets include features like annotations, custom reports, and dashboards.

collaborate permission in Google Analytics

Users at this level of permission usually have some analytics skills. But, they lack the technical capability to configure or manage a Google Analytics account.

This level of permission is great for teamwork. Team members can work in an account together without being dangerous to any of the settings. I call this the “Nerf” level of access. You can use all the tools, without doing much damage.

Here’s what you can do at the Collaborate permission level:

Everything you could do at the Read and Analyze permission level
Edit and make changes to shared assets

The Collaborate permission level is a small improvement over Read and Analyze. But it’s an important upgrade if you’re part of the team. This level of access let’s you move beyond just looking at the data, and allows to work on the data that’s accessible.

Edit permission

Edit permission is the full access level of Google Analytics. This permission used to be referred to as Admin access. The only thing you can’t do with Edit access is change other users’ permissions.

Edit permission in Google Analytics

Here’s what you can do at the Edit level, in addition to everything at the lower permissions levels.

Add, edit, or delete accounts, properties, and views
Add, edit or delete filters
Create or edit goals
Setup ecommerce
Create calculated metrics
Link your account to Google AdWords
Link to Google AdSense
Import data
Adjust property settings (session settings, user ID, referral exclusions etc.)

Edit permission is best reserved for advanced users. Users at this permission level need to know what they are doing in Google Analytics. Account members with Edit permissions should be Google Analytics certified.

Manage Users in Google Analytics

Manage Users is the highest level of authority in Google Analytics. You can do everything you can do at the Edit level. But you can also add/delete users from an account, and change users permissions.

This level of access should be used sparingly. Users at this level can lock other people out of an account. So make sure you really trust the users who you authorize at this level.

There are three places permissions can be applied. Where you apply permissions has a big impact on how permissions work.

Access levels for Google Analytics permissions

View level access

The most basic level of Google Analytics access is granted at the view level.

View level access in Google Analytics

Let’s say you want to give someone access to your Google Analytics reports. But you don’t want that person to be able to change anything. The best level of access for that user would be Read and Analyze permission at a view level.

Property level access

Granting permission at a property level restricts users to only that property. Typically, a property is associated with one domain or website. So when you issue access at the property level, those users can only track the domain in that property.

Account level access in Google Analytics

Account level access

User access at the account level means you can see everything. You have access to every property and view in that Google Analytics account.

Property level access in Google Analytics

You want to be careful how you choose to authorize account level access.

I almost never grant anyone account level access with a Mange Users permission. That level of access is like giving someone the deed to your Google Analytics account. It’s much safer and easier to authorize access at a property level.

You can see who has permissions

You can see who has Google Analytics permissions

Google allows full transparency of users’ permissions. This is a recent policy change that I’ve been pretty outspoken about.

Google Analytics experts are often contracted to audit the work of other account managers. It’s important for auditors to be able to do their work without disrupting the current analytics team. But now, everyone can see when a new user enters the account. Account users can also see the access level of other users.

This new policy prevents account auditors from working on accounts in anonymity. Essentially, this policy puts an end to James Bond 007 analytics undercover work!

You can read more about my thoughts on the policy change an how it affects analytics consulting here – Why the new Google Analytics User Management Policy is a Terrible Idea

google analytics permissions

What level of access do you need?

Maybe a better question is what level of access do you deserve?

Gaining permissions is like earning trust. You need to prove to the account owner that you are trustworthy and that you’re not going to mess up their account.

How do you prove you deserve a high level of access?

Remember, Anya asked about working as an analyst and setting up goals for an account she’s working on. Without gaining Edit level access, she can’t create goals for her client’s account.

She needs at least Edit permission at a property level to get her job done. This scenario is not uncommon.

If you’re trying to make a living as an analyst, or as a digital marketer, you want the most access you can obtain. More access equals more information.

Beyond being trustworthy, there a few things that factor into gaining higher level permissions in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics certification

First of all, the account admin needs to know you have the right skill set. The easiest way to prove you have the skills to work on Google Analytics accounts is to get certified.

Helping people get Google certified is the reason I created Analytics Course. A Google certification for an analyst is like a badge for a police officer. If you want to get access, you need to show your credentials!

Use Analytics Course to help you get Google certified and gain Edit level access

So, if you need Edit level access, take Analytics Course. Analytics Course is built to take you from zero to Google Analytics certified.

Analytics Course will also hold your hand while you’re working in Google Analytics. Following the course will save you from messing up anyone’s account.

And if you get stuck? You can ask questions in our private Facebook group and course forums. You’ll get your Google Analytics questions answered by me, or one of our savvy students. Then you can take our advice pass it off as your own work.

So let’s assume you’re one of my students, or another smart Google certified analyst. Let’s talk about how you get the access you deserve.

Here’s my process for getting the Google Analytics permissions I need to do my job as an analyst:

1- Explain exactly what you are going to do, why, and how you will do it.

how to gain google analytics permissions

Be transparent about the work you plan to do. Would you give someone access to your Google Analytics account without knowing why they need access? Probably not. So be straightforward with the account owner or administrator. Tell them what you’re going to work on. Why you’re doing that work, and how you’re going to do your job.

2 – Explain the risk of the change, and how you are mitigating the risk.

how to gain google analytics permissions

Account managers don’t want risk. Show them you understand the risks at the access level you need, and let them know how you can mitigate any risk.

3 – Show your experience and examples of your work to inspire confidence in your capabilities.

how to gain google analytics permissions

Show the account owner or admin you know what you’re doing! Show off your shiny Google Analytics certification. And if you can, speak to examples of similar work you’ve done for other accounts.

Present client or peer testimonials to help show off your work. Let the account manager know that they’re not handing over account access to a complete novice.

4- Develop a timeline for the work you’re going to complete

how to gain google analytics permissions

Present a timeline for your work. Tell the account owner when you’ll accomplish the objectives you’re going to work on. And let the powers that be know when they can expect to see the outcome of your work.

It’s likely that the analytics problems the account owner faces are holding up other work. If they know when you can help them get their business to the next step, they are probably going to give you access.

If you can map out these steps, then, in my opinion, you deserve access.

So let’s wrap this up back where we started.

What level of permission do you have, and do you have the right Google Analytics permissions to do your work?

If you’ve followed the steps we’ve mapped out, and you can’t get the access you need, leave a comment. We’ll take a look at the challenges you’re facing, and try to help you get permission.

Also, if you need to level up your Google Analytics skills so you can get permission, check out our Free Analytics Mini-Course!

This post and video was episode 25 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 days of videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.