Google Analytics Summit 2014 – Key Announcements

Last week Moneyspyder were at the Google Analytics Partner Summit in San Francisco. At the Summit Google announced some great new functionality that improves the quality of data collected by Analytics, as well as making the insights it provides more accessible and actionable.

• Enhanced Ecommerce
• Data Import
• Remarketing 

What This Means for You

1. Upgrade to Universal Analytics - Enhanced Ecommerce and Data Import are only available to Universal Analytics users. If you haven’t upgraded yet, you should consider doing it sooner rather than later. Google are going to start phasing out the old version of Analytics soon

2. Use Google Tag Manager – Google Tag Manager allows you to add and change tracking tags without having to deploy new code, and without involving your developer. This makes upgrading Analytics easier and cheaper.

3. Get a retargeting strategy – retargeting is becoming an ‘always on’ marketing solution. Review your analytics to define your most valuable segments and market to them with the remarketing tool. A good place to start is with Google’s ‘Smart List’, which creates a remarketing list of your most valuable visitors, based on their behaviour on your site.

Google’s main announcement was Enhanced Ecommerce, which is a dramatic redesign of the ecommerce functionality in Analytics. Enhanced Ecommerce automatically tracks and displays your checkout funnel. It also allows you to view more information about products. Whereas previously it has only been possible to see how many products you have sold. Enhanced Ecommerce shows how many times a product has been viewed and how many times it has been added to the basket and then purchased.

This makes Enhanced Ecommerce a powerful merchandising tool; allowing you to identify and promote your top performing products.

You can see a much more detailed summary here.

Google’s other announcements make Analytics a much more accurate reporting tool. With the existing Data Import functionality, businesses could automatically upload cost data such as the cost of your email, affiliate and display ads. This makes Google’s ROI calculations more accurate.

It is now possible to upload many more types of data into Analytics. You can import your refund figures so that your revenue number in Analytics starts to reflect your actual bottom line. You can also upload additional product data, such as what category or brand they belong to.

There’s more information here.

One final thing to emphasise is the improved remarketing capabilities. Businesses can now use advanced segments as remarketing lists meaning targeting has never been more accurate.

To take full advantage of these improvements, and to stay up to date with these Analytics changes, we recommend you do the following:

1. Upgrade to Enhanced Ecommerce and Universal Analytics.
2. Make your life simpler by using Google Tag Manager to manage your Analytics tags. 
3. Grow your Remarketing Campaigns - Make sure you don't miss out on easy revenue.

If you want any more information on what these changes mean, or for help configuring your Analytics call us on 0207 492 1929 or email us on info@moneyspyder.co.uk.

Best Ecommerce Articles from Around the Web - November Edition

Well, it's official - Amazon is predicting that online Christmas sales will peak at 6pm on 2nd December. Now that has been sorted out, here is a round up of some of the most useful articles and blog posts we've read this month.

So if you need a bit of inspiration to bump up your Christmas site conversion, or improve your content, look no further:

1.             7 Ecommerce Optimization Tips to Help You Achieve Record Breaking Holiday Sales - A good checklist for making the most of Christmas sales. Read here.

2.             What content marketers can learn from the 'Jerusalem' cookbook - An interesting article reiterating the importance of interesting content that looks great; tell a story, add quality images. Read here.

3.             Search: Not Provided: What Remains, Keyword Data Options, the Future - Everything you need to know about (not provided) keywords in Analytics and how to cope. Read here

4.             Future of retail is in ‘bricks and clicks’, says John Lewis - A good mobile site is the link between online and in-store purchase. More stats from John Lewis here.

5.             The 7 High-Converting Places to Add Email Sign-Up Forms to Build Your List - A comprehensive look at where to put your email sign-up forms. Read here.

If you need help with any of the above areas - site optimisation, content creation, Analytics, SEO or email marketing - take a look at our site to see what we do, or drop us an email.

Regards

The MoneySpyder team

Google Analytics Summit – the Key Announcements & What They Mean for You

The Google Analytics Partner Summit happened earlier this month. It’s an opportunity for Google Analytics Partners (like MoneySpyder) to meet together next door to the Google campus in Mountain View and get the inside scoop on developments for Google Analytics.

Here are the top three announcements that we think are going to make it easier for every business gain insight and add revenue in the coming months.

1. Migrating to Universal Analytics – Universal Analytics was last year’s big announcement but until now there hasn’t been a way to migrate all your data into the new version. Previously if you wanted to take advantage of Universal Analytics you had to do it without all your existing data.
2. Demographic Segmentation – Previously the demographic section of Google Analytics was limited to location and language. Now it is possible to segment your data by age, gender, and even interests. These insights comes from the data Google uses to target ads on the Google Display Network. You can see what Google thinks about you on your settings page. It's not always totally accurate, however, as we're not into 'Metals and Mining' or 'Maritime Transport' half as much as Google thinks we are.
3. Analytics Academy – Not only are there more how-to videos and tips in Analytics itself, Google have launched the Analytics Academy. The course lasts three weeks and is self taught via online videos and is a must for all newcomers to Analytics.

To get access to the additional features of Universal Analytics and demographic data you will have to make some changes to your tracking code. A simple way to update your code would be to install Google Tag Manager. Tag Manager allows you to make changes to your tracking codes without re-deploying your code or bothering your developers. Get in touch if you want more information on setting this up or any other Analytics quandaries. 

Best Ecommerce Articles from Around the Web - July Edition

Just in case you were looking for some light weekend reading we thought we would share some of the most useful articles and blog posts we've read this month.

So if you need a bit of inspiration to bump up your site conversion, or to help you think smarter thoughts about your marketing strategy, look no further:

1. Ecommerce Customer Service Lessons From America - Great tips from the land of customer service. Read here.
2. 12 Useful Tips for Webform Optimisation - No list like this would be complete without something about making your checkout better. Read here.
3. See, Think, Do - A Content, Marketing, Measurement Business Framework  - Simplify how you think about your business by reading this complicated article. Read here.
4. 25 Mindblowing Email Marketing Stats - Use these numbers to improve your email campaigns. Read here.
5. Top 10 Retargeting Tips Guide - A simple checklist to make sure your retargeting is on the right track. Read here.

If you need help with any of the above areas - best practice design, online marketing strategy, retargeting or email marketing - take a look at our site to see what we do, or drop us an email.

Best Ecommerce Articles from Around the Web - June Edition

Just in case you were looking for some light weekend reading we thought we would send you a round up of some of the most useful articles and blog posts we've read this week.

So if you need a bit of inspiration for your PR campaigns or need to brush up on your Analytics look no further:

1. How to Rank: 25 Step SEO Master Blueprint - A great practical guide to SEO. Read here.
2. How to Create A KPI Dashboard - An interesting case study which demonstrates the importance of tracking the right metrics. Read here.
3. Startup PR Tip: To Get Press, Don't Pitch Your Product - Are you a PR guru? If not, these tips will help you write better press releases. Read here.
4. 12 usability flaws that are spoiling the mobile web - Mobiles again. Have you got your responsive mobile site working yet? Get in touch with us, if not. Read this article here.
5. Obsess About Real Business Profitability - Avinash tells us why we're being stupid. Again. Read here.

If you need help with any of the above areas - Analytics, mobile sites, SEO, PR - take a look at our site to see what we do, or drop us an email.

Best Ecommerce Articles from Around the Web - May Edition

Just in case you were looking for some light weekend reading we thought we would give you a round up of some of the most useful articles and blog posts we've read this week. So if you need a bit of inspiration for your site content or need to brush up on your Analytics look no further: Eight Silly Data Myths Marketing People Believe That Get Them Fired - Analytics guru Avinash Kaushik gives a robust view of the do's and don'ts of making decisions based on data. Read here. The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing - An in-depth guide to planning and executing your content strategy. Useful even if you don't get past the Contents page. Read here. Six Case Studies and Infographics on the Optimal Time to Send Emails - Less than 50% of companies test when they should send their emails. Read here. The Small Business Guide to Youtube - Youtube is the second biggest search engine in the world. This article will help you make the most out of it. Read here. Debunking the Myths of Big Data - A short but sweet reminder to keep things simple when it comes to writing and tracking your emails from Adestra. Read here. Need help on any of the above topics? Get in touch. See our site for more about Ecommerce Consulting and Ecommerce Solutions.