book

Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI

Name: Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI
ISBN: 9780470578315

by Sebastian Tonkin, Caleb Whitmore, Justin Cutroni

April 2010

Beginner to intermediate

504 pages

12h 1m

English

Wiley

Read now

Unlock full access

Copyright
Credits
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
Why You Should Read This BookWhat's in This BookHow to Use This Book
I. Competing for Customers on the Web
1. Swimming in the Digital Sea
1.1. Understanding the Impact of Data Democracy1.2. Recognizing Customer Empowerment and Why It Matters1.2.1. Reality 1: Users lead, businesses follow1.2.2. Reality 2: The almighty algorithm decides1.2.3. Reality 3: No product is safe from comparison shopping1.2.4. Reality 4: Web surfers listen to one another first and marketers second1.2.5. Reality 5: Online competitors spring up at a moment's notice1.3. Building an Online Strategy Based on Evidence instead of Hype1.4. Seven Basic Principles of Effective Online Marketing1.4.1. Principle 1: Be real about putting customers first1.4.2. Principle 2: Know your desired outcomes1.4.3. Principle 3: Keep it simple1.4.4. Principle 4: Embrace change1.4.5. Principle 5: Treat data as a strategic asset1.4.6. Principle 6: Use the right tool for the right job1.4.7. Principle 7: Expect and accept accountability
2. Data-Driven Marketing Basics
2.1. Making Online Marketing Measurable and Goal-Driven2.1.1. Your Web presence as a living, breathing system2.1.2. Planning your online strategy by channel2.1.3. Marketing for conversions2.1.3.1. Orienting your Web site toward a conversion process2.1.3.2. Defining good Conversion Goals2.2. Tools for Understanding Visitors and Performance2.2.1. Understanding the "what" with Google Analytics2.2.1.1. What Google Analytics does for you2.2.1.2. What Google Analytics does not do for you2.2.1.3. How Google Analytics compares to other Web analytics tools2.2.1.4. Top 10 myths about Google Analytics2.2.2. Understanding the "why" with voice-of-the-customer research2.2.2.1. What voice-of-the-customer research does for you2.2.2.2. What voice-of-the-customer research does not do for you2.2.2.3. Top five methods for understanding your visitor experience2.2.3. Seeing the big picture with competitive and market analysis2.2.3.1. What competitive and market analysis does for you2.2.3.2. What competitive research does not do for you2.2.3.3. Top five methods for competitive and market analysis2.2.4. Tying it all together
3. Putting Google Analytics to Work in Your Organization
3.1. Leading the Charge for Analytics3.2. Assembling a Google Analytics Dream Team3.2.1. Four essential skill sets for a successful team3.2.1.1. Raphael, the developer3.2.1.2. Leonardo, the administrator3.2.1.3. Donatello, the analyst3.2.1.4. Michelangelo, the motivator3.2.2. Tips for building your team3.3. GETUP and Go: Defining Your Measurement Strategy3.3.1. Goals and strategy3.3.1.1. Expertise3.3.1.2. Tools3.3.1.3. Unified data3.3.1.4. Process integration3.3.2. 25 tips for putting data to work3.3.2.1. Goals and strategy3.3.2.2. Expertise3.3.2.3. Tools3.3.2.4. Unified data3.3.2.5. Process integration3.3.3. Seeing GETUP in action3.3.3.1. Twiddy & Co.: The little guy3.3.3.2. pbs: Teaching people to fish3.3.3.3. Nokia: Enforcing standards in a big company3.3.4. Overcoming common obstacles3.3.4.1. Long sales cycles and the "fuzzy factor"3.3.4.2. No senior advocate

II. Google Analytics Essentials
4. Understanding How Google Analytics Works
4.1. How Data Is Collected4.2. How Data Is Processed4.3. Accounts and Profiles: Data Organization4.4. Generating Reports
5. Installing and Administering Google Analytics
5.1. Planning an Implementation5.1.1. Gathering business requirements5.1.2. Gathering technical requirements5.2. Creating a Google Analytics Account5.3. Adding the Tracking Code5.4. Configuration Steps5.4.1. Basic configuration steps5.4.1.1. Create additional profiles5.4.1.2. Exclude Query String Parameters setting5.4.1.3. Specify the default page5.4.1.4. Configure site search reporting5.4.1.5. Set up some goals5.4.1.6. URL Destination Goals5.4.1.7. Time on Site goals5.4.1.8. Pages/Visit goals5.4.1.9. Configure funnels5.4.1.10. Normalize data with simple filters5.4.1.11. Exclude internal traffic5.4.1.12. Force request URI to lowercase5.4.1.13. Force campaign parameters to lowercase5.4.1.14. Configuring campaign tracking5.4.2. Advanced configuration steps5.4.2.1. Tracking subdomains5.4.2.2. Tracking multiple domains5.4.2.3. The virtual pageview5.4.2.4. Event Tracking tool5.4.2.5. Custom variables5.4.2.6. Advanced site search tracking5.4.2.7. Ecommerce tracking5.4.2.8. Filters5.4.2.9. Include and Exclude filters5.4.2.10. Uppercase and Lowercase filters5.4.2.11. Advanced filters5.5. Maintaining Your Implementations5.5.1. Changes to GATC5.5.2. Changes to Configuration Settings5.5.3. Incorrect campaign tracking
6. Basic Analysis Features and Concepts
6.1. Nine Tips for Becoming an All-Star Analyst6.2. Navigating the Google Analytics Interface6.2.1. Accessing your reports6.2.2. Using the header to navigate between accounts and profiles6.2.3. Exploring basic Dashboard features6.2.3.1. Changing the date range with the Date Selector6.2.3.2. Reading the Site Usage section of the Dashboard6.2.3.3. Manipulating data with the Graph tool6.2.3.4. Customizing the Dashboard using report summaries6.3. Working with the Google Analytics Standard Reports6.3.1. Understanding terminology and definitions6.3.2. Exploring the Google Analytics standard reports6.3.3. Working with data tables6.3.3.1. Reading the scorecard6.3.3.2. Sorting and paging through table rows6.3.3.3. Changing table views6.3.3.4. Filtering data with the Filter Box6.3.3.5. Filtering with regular expressions6.3.3.6. Filtering with the Advanced Filter tool6.3.4. Exporting and e-mailing reports6.3.4.1. Exporting your data6.3.5. E-mailing reports
7. Advanced Analysis Concepts and Features
7.1. Using Segmentation to Find Meaning in Your Data7.1.1. Understanding dimensions and segmentation: Thinking in 2D versus 3D7.1.2. Dimensions available in Google Analytics7.1.3. Applying basic segmentation techniques for standard reports7.1.3.1. The cross-dimension reporting tool7.1.3.2. Accessing the cross-dimension feature7.1.3.3. Using Secondary Dimensions7.1.4. Creating your own dimensions using custom variables7.1.4.1. How custom variables work7.1.4.2. Understanding and analyzing Custom Variable reports7.1.4.3. Common uses for custom variables7.1.4.4. Analysis scenario: Content optimization through content grouping7.2. Analyzing Data with Advanced Segments7.2.1. Using Advanced Segments to answer business questions7.2.2. Understanding how Advanced Segments work7.2.2.1. The key segmentation concept: Selection of data7.2.2.2. Limitations of Advanced Segments7.2.3. Using Advanced Segments7.2.3.1. Combining dimensions and metrics for selection criteria7.2.3.2. Inverse inclusion7.2.3.3. Behavioral segmentation7.2.4. Managing and sharing Advanced Segments7.3. Bringing Together Key Metrics and Dimensions with Custom Reports7.3.1. Example uses for custom reports7.3.1.1. Managing and sharing custom reports7.3.1.2. Limitations of custom reports7.4. Visualizing Data Across Multiple Dimensions with Motion Charts7.4.1. Understanding the key features of motion charts7.4.1.1. X and Y axes: Linear or logarithmic, time-based or metric-based7.4.1.2. Time slider7.4.1.3. Chart modes: Dots or bars7.4.1.4. Coloration and size7.4.1.5. Dimension selection7.4.1.6. Trails7.4.2. Other resources for motion charts7.5. Grouping and Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables7.6. Measuring Spikes and Trends with Intelligence Reports and Custom Alerts7.6.1. How Intelligence reports work7.6.1.1. Using Intelligence reports intelligently7.6.1.2. Managing Intelligence alerts7.6.1.3. Using custom alerts
III. Controlling Costs and Planning Profits
8. Maximizing Web Site Performance
8.1. Understanding Core Optimization Concepts8.1.1. Getting into the optimization mindset8.1.2. Key optimization tools and methods8.2. Evaluating Web Site Performance8.2.1. Analyzing goal performance in Google Analytics8.2.2. Key goal performance measures8.2.2.1. Using the Google Analytics interface to analyze goal performance8.2.2.2. Segmenting goal performance8.2.3. Understanding your conversion funnel8.2.4. Understanding visitor intent8.2.4.1. Method 1: Inbound traffic analysis8.2.4.2. Method 2: Internal site search analysis8.2.4.3. Method 3: Interrupts and exit surveys8.2.5. Identifying basic usability problems8.2.5.1. Giving users a way to complain8.2.5.2. Running task completion tests8.2.5.3. Applying heuristic analysis and best practices8.2.6. Examining your value proposition8.2.6.1. Evaluate your site against competitors8.2.6.2. Combine experimentation with best practices to find what works8.2.6.3. Go deeper into the hearts and minds of customers8.3. Optimizing through Continuous Improvement8.3.1. Zeroing in on high-impact pages and elements8.3.2. 10 tips for continuous improvement
9. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
9.1. Search Engine Marketing Basics9.1.1. Strengths and weaknesses of SEM as a marketing channel9.1.2. Major SEM platforms and tools9.2. Planning for Success with SEM9.2.1. Conducting keyword research9.2.1.1. Google Insights for Search9.2.1.2. Google AdWords Keyword tool9.2.1.3. Other tools9.2.2. Structuring campaigns for success9.3. Preparing to Measure SEM with Google Analytics9.3.1. Understanding the role of Google Analytics9.3.2. Setting up tracking for AdWords9.3.3. Setting up tracking for other SEM providers9.3.3.1. Overcoming the issue of scale with SEM campaign tracking tags9.3.3.2. Avoiding data accuracy pitfalls with SEM tracking9.3.4. Configuring settings in Google Analytics9.3.5. Quick checklist for SEM tracking setup9.4. Analyzing and Optimizing SEM Campaigns9.4.1. Understanding key dimensions and metrics in the context of SEM analysis9.4.2. Differentiating sponsored (SEM) from nonsponsored (organic) search traffic9.4.2.1. Using the Search Engines report9.4.2.2. Using the Keywords report9.4.2.3. Using Default Advanced Segments to your advantage9.4.3. Standing in the intersection of interest and intent: Principles for SEM analysis9.4.3.1. Focus on the keyword level9.4.3.2. Goal Value measures9.4.3.3. Engagement analysis9.4.3.4. Ecommerce analysis9.4.3.5. Analyzing geographic performance and value9.4.3.6. Understanding landing page performance9.4.4. AdWords-specific report analysis9.4.4.1. Leveraging the Clicks tab9.4.4.2. Analyzing the Keyword Positions report9.4.5. Tracking the "actual" search query for a purchased keyword
10. Measuring and Optimizing Display Advertising
10.1. Display and Rich Media Advertising Basics10.1.1. Major display and rich media advertising formats10.1.2. Pre-click metrics for evaluating display and rich media advertising performance10.1.3. Pitfalls of measuring display and rich media10.1.3.1. Making impressions that count10.1.3.2. The fallacies of view-through measurement10.2. Understanding Display Ad Tracking with Google Analytics10.2.1. Avoiding the death of your data10.2.2. Using the right dimensions for display ad tracking10.3. Setting Up Your Ads for Tracking10.3.1. Planning your naming conventions10.3.1.1. Using data-rich values10.3.1.2. Consistency is critical10.3.2. Creating and managing campaign tracking tags10.3.3. Integrating tracking tags into ads10.3.4. Validating that ad tracking is working properly10.3.5. Tracking Flash ads10.3.6. Measuring display and rich media campaign history10.4. Analyzing Display Ad Performance10.4.1. Assessing display ad performance at a high level10.4.2. Comparing display ads to other mediums10.4.3. Analyzing campaign outcomes10.4.3.1. Overall performance10.4.3.2. First stop: Analyzing the Bounce Rate10.4.3.3. Engagement performance10.4.3.4. Goal performance10.4.3.5. Ecommerce performance10.4.4. Using Advanced Segments to analyze display ads10.4.5. Using custom reports with display ads10.5. Troubleshooting Common Display Ad Tracking Problems10.5.1. What happens when ads aren't tagged10.5.2. Identifying problems at the ad-server level10.5.3. Avoiding common, costly mistakes
IV. Growing Organic Search and Conversions
11. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google Analytics
11.1. Knowing Truth from Fiction with SEO11.1.1. How search engines work11.1.2. An arms race with robots, spiders, and spam11.1.3. Driving true success with SEO11.1.3.1. Follow the unique-authoritative-relevant principle11.1.3.2. Putting the customer first11.1.3.3. Using the right words11.1.3.4. Building it right11.2. Understanding the Case for Web Analytics and SEO11.2.1. Dispelling the fallacy of "top ranking"11.2.1.1. "Ranking" is dead11.2.1.2. Looking beyond rank as a measure of SEO success11.2.2. Defining your SEO measurement framework11.2.2.1. Determining your measures of SEO success11.2.2.2. Ensuring accurate SEO data is collected11.3. Measuring Effectiveness of SEO Efforts with Google Analytics11.3.1. Trends matter more than metrics11.3.1.1. Viewing trends by week and month, not day11.3.1.2. Comparing time periods11.3.2. Traffic metrics that matter11.3.2.1. Total traffic from organic search11.3.2.2. Traffic from each search engine11.3.2.3. The percentage of total traffic from organic search11.3.3. Keyword measurements that matter11.3.3.1. Measuring keywords from head to tail11.3.3.2. Understanding traffic percentage from head versus tail11.3.3.3. Branded versus nonbranded volume11.3.4. Measuring SEO against goals11.3.4.1. Transactional goals versus engagement goals11.3.4.2. Goal Conversion Rate11.3.4.3. Goal Value per Visit11.3.5. Measuring ecommerce value11.3.5.1. Measuring Revenue versus Conversion Rate11.3.5.2. Optimizing for gold: How Revenue metrics work together to indicate success11.4. Advanced SEO Analysis Techniques11.4.1. Understanding landing pages using Advanced Segments11.4.2. Creating custom reports for SEO reporting11.5. Validating That Your SEO Metrics Are Accurate11.5.1. How Google Analytics tracks organic search traffic11.5.2. Checking host names
12. Social Media Marketing
12.1. Social Media Defined12.2. Social Media Marketing Basics12.3. Measuring Social Media Activities and Campaigns12.3.1. Putting together a keyword list12.3.2. Finding relevant conversations online12.3.3. Quantifying "buzz" with keyword trends12.3.4. Understanding content and sentiment12.4. Analyzing Site Traffic from Social Media12.4.1. Business value measures12.5. Measuring Social Media Tools on Your Site12.5.1. Tracking comments12.5.2. Tracking subscriptions12.5.3. Tracking content-sharing tools12.5.3.1. Tracking content-sharing usage12.5.3.2. Tracking traffic from content-sharing tools
13. Measuring E-mail Marketing
13.1. E-mail: What's It Good For?13.2. Defining E-mail Measurement13.2.1. Pre-click data13.2.2. Post-click data13.2.3. Continuously improving your e-mail campaigns13.3. Tracking E-mail with Google Analytics13.4. Data and Analysis
V. Extending Google Analytics
14. Tracking Offline Marketing
14.1. Tracking TV and Radio14.1.1. Tracking ads without an online component14.1.2. Tracking ads with an online component14.1.2.1. Using a redirect for tracking14.1.2.2. Tracking microsites14.2. Tracking Print Ads14.3. Tracking Direct Mail
15. Using the Data Export API, Community Additions, and Other Tools
15.1. Hello Data! Understanding and Using the Google Analytics Data Export API15.1.1. Learning the Data Export API15.1.2. Where to start building useful applications15.1.3. Recommendations and other considerations for working with the API15.2. Technical and Diagnostic Tools15.2.1. Browser-based troubleshooting and diagnostic tools15.2.1.1. Firefox browser and Firefox tools15.2.1.2. Chrome browser15.2.1.3. Other tools and browsers15.2.2. Web-based technical and diagnostic services15.3. Reporting Tools and Analysis Tools15.3.1. Tools for integrating data into Excel15.3.2. Other analysis tools15.4. Other Tools and Hacks
VI. Appendixes
A. Other Resources
A.1. BlogsA.1.1. Occam's Razor by Avinash KaushikA.1.2. Analytics for Marketers by usA.1.3. Analytics Talk by Justin CutroniA.1.4. Analytics Prose by Caleb WhitmoreA.1.5. Official Google Analytics BlogA.1.6. Advanced Web Metrics by Brian CliftonA.1.7. VKI Studios BlogA.1.8. WebShare BlogA.1.9. Grok Dot ComA.1.10. LunaMetricsA.1.11. ROI RevolutionA.1.12. E-marketerA.1.13. EconsultancyA.1.14. ClickZA.2. Books
B. Glossary
B.1. Common Google Analytics TermsB.2. Common Marketing TermsB.3. Google Analytics Dimension DefinitionsB.3.1. Visitor dimensionsB.3.2. Campaign dimensionsB.3.3. Content dimensionsB.3.4. Ecommerce dimensionsB.3.5. Internal search dimensionsB.3.6. Navigation dimensionsB.3.7. Event dimensionsB.3.8. Custom variable dimensionsB.4. Google Analytics Metric DefinitionsB.4.1. Visitor metricsB.4.2. Campaign metricsB.4.3. Content metricsB.4.4. Ecommerce metricsB.4.5. Internal search metricsB.4.6. Goal metricsB.4.7. Events metricsB.4.8. utm.gif request parametersB.5. Additional Glossary Resources
Google Analytics Individual Qualification Test Coupon

Content preview from Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI

Chapter 4. Understanding How Google Analytics Works

IN THIS CHAPTER

How Data Is Collected
How Data Is Processed
Accounts and Profiles: Data Organization
Generating Reports

Understanding how to use Google Analytics requires a solid understanding of how Google Analytics works. So first we'll describe how data is collected and processed to give you that grounding before we explain what each report means and show you how to analyze the data.

Don't worry if you're not a programmer or a nerd. This section, like most sections in this book, is geared toward marketing professionals. We're not going to overcomplicate this objective! If you still haven't created your Google Analytics Account or logged into your reports, don't worry. We'll show you how later on. Explaining how Google Analytics works is all about process. There are three fundamental processes that work together to create all the reports in Google Analytics.

The first process is data collection, or how Google collects data about your Web site traffic and sends it back to Google's Analytics servers. The second is data processing, which is how Google turns the raw data collected during data processing into reports. The third process is report generation. Reports are generated in real time, every time you view a report in your browser.

How Data Is Collected

Google Analytics, like many Web analytics tools today, uses a technology called a page tag to track Web site traffic. A page tag is a small piece of JavaScript code that is placed on ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.

Julian F.

Head of Cybersecurity

I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.

Addison B.

Field Engineer

I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.

Amir M.

Data Platform Tech Lead

I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.

Mark W.

Embedded Software Engineer

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470578315Purchase book

Cloud Computing

Data Engineering

Data Science

AI & ML

Programming Languages

Software Architecture

IT/Ops

Security

Design

Business

Soft Skills

Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI

by Sebastian Tonkin, Caleb Whitmore, Justin Cutroni

Chapter 4. Understanding How Google Analytics Works

How Data Is Collected

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.