
In the previous blog we told you how you could increase your online sales using Google Analytics. Here we’re going to get a little more technical and tell you how to measure data, analyze it and how you can view the output to see meaningful information. Using a visual usually does the trick in understanding what we are getting at :
All your website traffic is usually generated through the content you put out or through social media. This traffic does not magically appear in Google Analytics in the form of data.
The traffic is measured and tracked using tools like Google Tag Manager (GTM), UTM Parameters and Google AdWords.
Let us look at how you can use these three tools to measure the data.
A tag is nothing but a fragment of a code which is usually present on a few or all pages of your website. This tag helps you track and analyze the traffic to your website.
Platforms like Google Analytics are usually included in these tags. Other user tracking areas like Google AdWords can also be included.
In order to know what a user on your website wants, you need to create a tag for each goal and add it to the relevant pages of your website. Implementing tags is not enough.
The changes on the website need to be made live for the tracking to actually begin.
Moving on let’s see how you can track button clicks with GTM :
First, create a GTM account
Make sure the GTM Pixels are installed on your website.
Tags that you add to a URL are UTM parameters, it literally is that simple. When a click on a UTM enabled URL happens, tags are sent back to Google Analytics for tracking.
UTM Parameters will provide you with information about how people are reaching your website.
The most common way to create UTM Parameters for your links would be by using the Google Analytics URL Builder
One thing to make note of is that UTM Parameters are case sensitive. If you use sentence case tags on a few links and upper case tags on a few links, they will show up as separate campaigns in Google Analytics.
Do not use tags that you want to remain hidden as they will appear in the browser’s address bar.
The usage of UTM Parameters will depend on how you would want the information to be displayed in Google Analytics.
Website Profile > Traffic Sources > Sources > Campaigns
This will enable you to see the various campaigns which are tagged using the utm_campaign parameter on your link.
Additional details as tagged for each campaign can be viewed by clicking on the campaign name and using the utm_source/utm_medium parameters.
Linking your AdWords and google Analytics accounts isn’t necessarily required. However, you should definitely consider linking them.
Some of the data shown in Adwords and the data in Google Analytics may be the same. Google Analytics does however give you additional insight as to what a user does on your website post a click.
AdWords is basically a PPC model and understanding what a user does post click gives you an insight into their behavior on your website.
Analytics > Admin > Property > AdWords Linking
Something you should not overlook,
Click ‘Select All’ and then proceed to link accounts. Also ensure that auto-tagging is enabled in AdWords.
Now that your accounts are linked, let us see how you can view the data in Google Analytics :
Typically, you should be able to see all your campaign statistics in the Google Analytics platform. Important data like Campaigns, Keywords, Search Queries etc. can be viewed here.
Bear in mind that viewing is not the only way see your data.
Suppose you use the path Behavior > Site Content > Exit pages, an alternate dimension can be selected followed by ‘source/medium’ to see how many AdWords users clicked on to make it to your thank you page.
In the case of conversion tracking measurement, this information will help you ensure that there are no massive discrepancies.
There is a small variation in how Google Analytics and AdWords record data. Each visit is reported as a click in AdWords and as a session in Google Analytics.
Suppose a user visits your website and revisits it within a set time period, AdWords will measure it as two clicks whereas Google Analytics will consider it as one session.
Leverge your Biggest Asset Data
Inquire Now
Once the data is viewed in Google Analytics, the reports can be downloaded for further understanding of user behavior and to determine improvement areas.
Another way for you to view and make sense of this data is to export it to excel or other dashboard tools. This is essentially the whole process of how you can track your traffic, measure it and analyze it.
Using these tools is extremely crucial as it gives you insight into user behavior, problem areas, campaign results, website issues etc.
Knowing this information will guide you to make the right decisions, basically actionable insights are what are required and that is exactly what you get!
By Indium
By Indium
By Uma Raj
By Uma Raj
By Abishek Balakumar
Abhimanyu is a sportsman, an avid reader with a massive interest in sports. He is passionate about digital marketing and loves discussions about Big Data.