website optimization using google analytics

Website OptimizationUsing Google Analytics

About Vertical Nerve

• Help organizations connect with their audience online• Help them convert that audience into customers

Web Analytics Consulting

Search Engine Marketing

Web Design & Development

Mobile WebDevelopment

About Me

• Director, Analytics & Search Engine Marketing• 10 Years of Search Engine Optimization /

Marketing Experience• 8 Years of Web Analytics Experience• Helped the following organizations:

About Me

• Also an Olympic Weightlifter getting ready to leave for London.

TOTAL LIE

Why Do We Need Analytics?

• Analytics helps you discover what works…

…and STOP doing what doesn’t.

Why Do We Need Analytics?

• Without Data,the HiPPO Rules!

• What’s the HiPPO?

(Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)

About Google Analytics

• Free, enterprise level web analytics solution• Installed on over 10M sites worldwide• 60% of Top 100k sites online• Over half the Fortune 500

How it Works

• Invisible page tag using JS & Cookies• When those pages are viewed, the code runs

behind the scenes, sending data to Google’s secure servers

• This data is processed and reported in Google Analytics

• Note: Data is not shared without permission

What Does GA Track?

• It Tracks a Visitor’s:– Approximate Location (city)– Browser and System Specs (OS, language, etc)– Referral Information (previous site and/or query)

• It Does Not Track:– Email Addresses– Specific Locations– Any Personally Identifiable Information

WHEN IT COMES TO GOOGLE ANALYTICS, HERE’S THE COMMON SCENARIO…

Common Scenario

• Most organizations “use” Google Analytics– It’s installed on the website…that’s about it.

• Most organizations do not use Google Analytics– No confidence in the data– No conversion goals– No marketing campaign tagging– No visitor segments– NO VALUE!!!

WHY?

“I don’t want to be a pirate web analyst!”

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS…

The Good News

• Using Google Analytics doesn’t have to be confusing or overwhelming

• Anybody can quickly learn some of the basics and start making data-driven decisions

A FEW NICE AND EASY METRICS

Engagement Metrics

Avg. number of pages viewed per website visit

Avg. time spent on the website

Percentage of in-n-out visits

Conversion Metrics

Total number of goal completions

% of visits completing a goal

What’s a Conversion Goal?

• Every page has a purpose, and every site has goals. Identify these and use them.– Online Application– Schedule a Visit– Request Information– Watch a Video– Etc..

1st Takeaway: Goals

• Google Analytics is virtually useless without conversion goals, so identify and create some!

• Anything is better than nothing, so don’t be shy

Example: UTSAThese are goals!

KEY QUESTIONS

Key Questions

• How Can Google Analytics Help me Recruit More Students?

• How Can Google Analytics Help me Market More Effectively?

WEBSITE OPTIMIZATION

Website Design & Changes

• What’s the biggest influence on most website design decisions today?

• Why?– No alternative.

Here’s an Idea!

• Identify website goals • Optimize design, content,

images, buttons, etc. towards the goals

• Let data be the guide• Feed data to the HiPPO

(trends, charts, etc.)

Conversion Goals (cont.)

• For any given page on a site, be able to answer these two questions:– How effective is this page at getting visitors to my

goals?– Is this page more or less effective than it used to

be?

Conversion Goals (cont.)

• For your website or section, be able to answer:– What % of all my visitors are completing a

conversion goal?– Is my conversion rate increasing or decreasing?– What traffic sources provide the best visitors?

(most likely to complete a goal)

A/B Split Testing

• Test & improve content pages with new Content Experiments feature in GA

• Makes data-driven decisionseasy!

MARKETING ANALYTICS

GA for Marketing Analytics

• Prospective students come from many channels

WEBSITE

Search Engines

YouTube

Blogs

Magazines

News Sites

Analyzing Channels

• Which channels or campaigns are producing the highest conversion rate?

Remember, conversion rate is the % of visits completing a website goal.

• Which channels or campaigns have the lowest bounce rate, or highest engagement rates?

Analyzing Channels (cont.)

• In order to easily analyze traffic channels, they must be tagged or grouped appropriately.

• Ever visit should have:– Medium– Source

• Some also have:– Campaign– Keyword– Ad / Content

Example: Performance by Medium

Traffic Categories Engagement Metrics Conversion Metrics

Analyzing Campaigns

• Some traffic sources have campaigns– Paid Search– Display / Banner Advertising– Social Media Advertising– Email Marketing

• Use the Google Analytics campaign tagging variables to track these cleanly inside of Google Analytics

2nd Takeaway: Tag Campaigns

• Ensure that, whenever possible, online marketing campaigns are tagged appropriately in Google Analytics

Marketing Analytics

• With key goals identified and marketing campaigns tracking properly, answering these questions is easy:

“Where should I spend my next marketing dollar?”

“Which campaigns are not producing ROI?”

5 MORE VALUABLE BENEFITS OF GA

Track Mobile Success

• What % of a Site’s Traffic is from Mobile?• How are those Visitors Performing?

Track Social Interactions

• See when visitors on your site tweet, share, like, etc.

• See which social networks are driving traffic to your site.

CRM Integrations

• Important for lead generation websites• Campaign information all through the sales

process

Visit

Campaign ABC

Lead

Campaign ABC

Sale

Campaign ABC

Watch Real-time Response

• Data within 2 seconds!

Track Website Speed

• Studies have proven, slow sites = less money• GA now automatically tracks your page load

times, so optimize your web experience

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Takeaways & Tips

• Identify & Configure Conversion Goal(s)• Track all Marketing Campaigns using GA tags• Care for Analytics Account (brush, floss, etc.)• Utilize Scheduled Email Reports & Alerts• Share Data within your Organization

And One More Thing…

• Please don’t let this happen…

Thank You!

• Leave a card to join our weekly Google Analytics newsletter (free tips & new features)

• Visit our table outside and enter to win a free Google Analytics Audit! ($1,500 value)

• Visit us online at www.verticalnerve.com

Q & A