Google Analytics

Which metrics should publishers be using in Google Analytics?

I was reading this article on paidcontent over the weekend, which points out the value of analytics to publishers, but only if they are using the right metrics. 

The key point was the danger in focusing on pageviews, as this doesn’t necessarily help to build the kind of audience that publishers and their advertisers need. 

I would agree with that, and though pageviews are not insignificant, there are many more useful metrics for publishers to view. 

In this post, I’ll attempt to answer the question by sharing some of the ways I use Google Analytics for this blog, while this post presents 10 shortcuts to Google Analytics reports and dashboards for publishers, bloggers and content marketers. 

50% of businesses cite lack of budget as main barrier to successful online measurement

For the second year in a row 50% of businesses have cited lack of resource and budget as the main barrier to implementing a successful online measurement strategy.

The second most common reasons were siloed organisation/lack of co-ordination and lack of strategy, both of which were identified by 25% of respondents.

The findings come from the Econsultancy/Lynchpin Online Measurement and Strategy Report 2013 which contains a comprehensive analysis of issues affecting the web analytics industry and valuable insights into the use of analytics and business intelligence tools.

How to measure branded search traffic in the ‘Not Provided’ age

Many SEOs spend a lot of time trying to improve rankings for non-branded search terms, for all sorts of reasons. We do this too, but I’ve always kept a very close eye on branded search volume.

When we launched this blog in 2006 one of our primary aims was to improve our overall share of search. Another was to move the key brand metrics in a favourable way, not least because a visitor who adds ‘Econsultancy’ to a search term is 8-12 times more valuable than somebody who doesn’t include our brand in their query.

As such, branded search traffic is very important to us, but the horror show that is ‘Not Provided’ means that it is increasingly hard to track it. In fact, you will be appalled if you only look at your analytics data.

With this in mind, I thought I’d show you our numbers, and provide a workaround for you to try.

56% of businesses rely exclusively on Google for web analytics: report

More than half of businesses rely exclusively on Google Analytics (GA) for their web analytics while just 11% don’t use the tool at all, according to data included in the new Econsultancy/Lynchpin Online Measurement and Strategy Report 2013.

This is a massive increase since 2009 when just 23% of respondents said they used GA exclusively.

With GA having a reputation as both free and easy to use, and having a strong community around getting the most out of the tool, it is no surprise to see the majority use it. 

The increase since 2011 could, however, be partly due to the discontinuation of Yahoo’s free analytics tool, which was used by 8% of companies and 18% of agencies last year.

10 useful Google Analytics custom dashboards

A bit of customisation always helps if you want to extract maximum value from Google Analytics. Custom reports are a great way to do this, but custom dashboards also play a useful role, allowing you to view key metrics at a glance and tailor the view to your own needs. Here I’ve rounded up 10 […]

Cross Device Measurement in Google Analytics will turn mobile marketing on its head

At Google’s annual I/O developer conference, an important new feature to Google Analytics was announced that’s going to turn mobile marketing on its head.

Built on the back of the new Universal Analytics platform and its baked-in ability to track users across sessions and devices, Cross Device Measurement is like Multi-Channel Funnels for devices.

And it’s huge….

What insights can you gain from branded and unbranded keyword traffic?

My last article detailed the benefits of focusing on website analytics specifically around site search data.  

This article continues with the same theme of valuing website analytics, but the focus turns to unbranded keyword traffic. 

In the context of reviewing analytics, “unbranded keywords” are those words/phrases not containing the retailer’s name.  

People who type “Apple iPod Nano” into Google and land on the JB Hifi website is an unbranded keyword phrase from the perspective of JB Hifi. The keyword phrase “JB Hifi” is a branded term for this retailer. 

Understanding the dichotomy between branded and unbranded keyword phrases is necessary in order to effectively assess site performance and build a focused plan for growth. 

11 valuable Google Analytics advanced segments

Along with custom reports (and sometiimes in conjunction with them), custom advanced segments are a great way of gaining extra insight and value from your Google Analytics account. 

In this post, I’ll round up ten very useful custom segments that you can import straight into your GA account, and save yourself the trouble of creating them yourself. 

Please suggest any other segments you find useful in the comments… 

A guide to using Google Analytics advanced segments for beginners

Google Analytics is a great tool, but its standard reports can be limited, so a little customisation is necessary to improve the quality of insight you can gain. 

One way to do this is to create custom reports, which is an excellent idea, and another is to use GA’s advanced segments, which allow you to filter reports to find the insights you need. 

In this post, I’ll explain how to use advanced segments. It’s for GA beginners really, so I apologise in advance to any GA experts reading this…  

10 valuable Google Analytics custom reports

Google Analytics’s standard reports can be limited, so a little customisation is necessary to improve the quality of insight you can gain. 

If like me, you’re a relative amateur with Google Analytics, ready-made custom reports can save you a lot of time. 

There are various reports here, some useful for publishers, some for ecommerce sites, and some for SEO analysis. 

Just log in to your Google Analytics account and click the links to add these to your custom reports list… 

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