5 ms·

Advanced Google Analytics for Startups

155 points by commondream 15y ago

AdamTReineke 15y ago
What are really good resources on using Google Analytics? I don't check more than my pageviews, referrers and popular search terms, but I know that barely scratches the surface of what it can do.
- tnorthcutt 15y ago
  I'd like to know too. I haven't found any blogs that cover this really well, but I bet they're out there.
- minouye 15y ago
  Avinash Kaushik's blog is pretty fantastic (http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/ http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/). Pretty much every post is packed with actionable information.
- benmccann 15y ago
  I'd suggest goals and segmentation are two of the most interesting things you should look into. Goals allow you to track things like conversions. E.g. how many people filled out my contact form, how many people purchased something, etc. Segmentation allows you to see how groups of users are behaving. E.g. are my first time visitors looking at as many pages as my returning visitors?
- janesvilleseo 15y ago
  A really great resource is Google's Conversion University. They have video lessons and if you want a test you can take at the end to get certified. (disclaimer: I am certified) http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=indexSplash&rd=1 http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/bin/reque...
  - ryancarson 15y ago
    What did you have to do to get certified?
    - tpiddy 15y ago
      you take an online test ($50) and have to get 80% correct to get the individual qualification.
- ryancarson 15y ago
  I'd say enabling e-comm in GA is extremely important. Then you'll have valuable data on conversion rates.
  - rsloan 15y ago
    Even if your site is not an ecommerce site set up fake or 'pseudo-ecommerce' where you make up values, say $1, for key metrics like a sign-up. Conversion rates give you 'value': - 500 visits from source A, 10 sign ups, 2% conversion rate - 100 visits from source B, 10 sign ups, 10% conversion rate
- tpiddy 15y ago
  this is the guy http://cutroni.com/blog/ http://cutroni.com/blog/
micmcg 15y ago
A well written guide, but I'm not sure what it has to do with startups specifically, except for link bait
- benologist 15y ago
  Most have websites and GA is a ridiculously popular analytics platform for websites.
  - micmcg 15y ago
    Yes but why is it "Advanced Google Analytics for Startups" and not "Advanced Google Analytics" or "Advanced Google Analytics for Websites"?
    - ryancarson 15y ago
      Because Alan (the author) learned and implemented this advanced GA strategy in our startup. It's something specifically that should be done in startups that will help increase profitability. Basically, it's all about using GA in startups. I think that qualifies for adding "startup" to the title ;)
- commondream 15y ago
  I was thinking of the cycle that startups typically go through in trying to discover what makes their business tick as I wrote the article, but you're completely right that it's also applicable to pretty much any company on the web. I think Abe Lincoln said "If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will."
paraschopra 15y ago
One major flaw with Google Analytics is its last click attribution which simply distorts your view of where traffic is coming from. If visitor first came via a Tweet, reads about your product and the next day he searches or types in your web address, GA would attribute the last traffic source as the real source of this visitor. You would never realize that it was tweet that brought him to the website. Seldom any visitor converts on first visit and so it becomes extremely hard to calculate true conversion rate for different mediums in GA. How would you know which medium is most effective?
- lmkg 15y ago
  Google Analytics has a No-Override feature for traffic attribution, which is disabled by default: http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJSApiCampaignTracking.html#_gat.GA_Tracker_._setCampNOKey http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJS... I haven't worked with this setting myself so I can't say whether it works on all traffic sources or only campaigns. First Referrer information is stored in one of the GA cookies, so it's always available on the page, even if it's not getting passed to the GA servers. If you really wanted to get creative, you could yank it out of the cookie and throw it into a Custom Variable. This has the advantage of giving you First and Last Attribution, in different reports.
thomasbachem 15y ago
You should also have a look at my server-side Google Analytics client http://code.google.com/p/php-ga http://code.google.com/p/php-ga which opens the door for many many advanced usages.
- leftnode 15y ago
  I've been looking for something like this. Thank you!

155 points by commondream 15y ago

What are really good resources on using Google Analytics? I don't check more than my pageviews, referrers and popular search terms, but I know that barely scratches the surface of what it can do.

tnorthcutt 15y ago
I'd like to know too. I haven't found any blogs that cover this really well, but I bet they're out there.
minouye 15y ago
Avinash Kaushik's blog is pretty fantastic (http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/ http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/). Pretty much every post is packed with actionable information.
benmccann 15y ago
I'd suggest goals and segmentation are two of the most interesting things you should look into. Goals allow you to track things like conversions. E.g. how many people filled out my contact form, how many people purchased something, etc. Segmentation allows you to see how groups of users are behaving. E.g. are my first time visitors looking at as many pages as my returning visitors?
janesvilleseo 15y ago
A really great resource is Google's Conversion University. They have video lessons and if you want a test you can take at the end to get certified. (disclaimer: I am certified) http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/bin/request.py?hl=en&contact_type=indexSplash&rd=1 http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/bin/reque...
- ryancarson 15y ago
  What did you have to do to get certified?
  - tpiddy 15y ago
    you take an online test ($50) and have to get 80% correct to get the individual qualification.
ryancarson 15y ago
I'd say enabling e-comm in GA is extremely important. Then you'll have valuable data on conversion rates.
- rsloan 15y ago
  Even if your site is not an ecommerce site set up fake or 'pseudo-ecommerce' where you make up values, say $1, for key metrics like a sign-up. Conversion rates give you 'value': - 500 visits from source A, 10 sign ups, 2% conversion rate - 100 visits from source B, 10 sign ups, 10% conversion rate
tpiddy 15y ago
this is the guy http://cutroni.com/blog/ http://cutroni.com/blog/

micmcg 15y ago

A well written guide, but I'm not sure what it has to do with startups specifically, except for link bait

benologist 15y ago
Most have websites and GA is a ridiculously popular analytics platform for websites.
- micmcg 15y ago
  Yes but why is it "Advanced Google Analytics for Startups" and not "Advanced Google Analytics" or "Advanced Google Analytics for Websites"?
  - ryancarson 15y ago
    Because Alan (the author) learned and implemented this advanced GA strategy in our startup. It's something specifically that should be done in startups that will help increase profitability. Basically, it's all about using GA in startups. I think that qualifies for adding "startup" to the title ;)
commondream 15y ago
I was thinking of the cycle that startups typically go through in trying to discover what makes their business tick as I wrote the article, but you're completely right that it's also applicable to pretty much any company on the web. I think Abe Lincoln said "If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will."

paraschopra 15y ago

One major flaw with Google Analytics is its last click attribution which simply distorts your view of where traffic is coming from. If visitor first came via a Tweet, reads about your product and the next day he searches or types in your web address, GA would attribute the last traffic source as the real source of this visitor. You would never realize that it was tweet that brought him to the website. Seldom any visitor converts on first visit and so it becomes extremely hard to calculate true conversion rate for different mediums in GA. How would you know which medium is most effective?

lmkg 15y ago
Google Analytics has a No-Override feature for traffic attribution, which is disabled by default: http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJSApiCampaignTracking.html#_gat.GA_Tracker_._setCampNOKey http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/analytics/docs/gaJS/gaJS... I haven't worked with this setting myself so I can't say whether it works on all traffic sources or only campaigns. First Referrer information is stored in one of the GA cookies, so it's always available on the page, even if it's not getting passed to the GA servers. If you really wanted to get creative, you could yank it out of the cookie and throw it into a Custom Variable. This has the advantage of giving you First and Last Attribution, in different reports.

thomasbachem 15y ago

You should also have a look at my server-side Google Analytics client http://code.google.com/p/php-ga http://code.google.com/p/php-ga which opens the door for many many advanced usages.

leftnode 15y ago
I've been looking for something like this. Thank you!