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. 

Make Setting Goals Your New Year’s Resolution

A key pillar of your Analytics reporting process should be using goals to track how well your site is performing. It’s important, however, to make sure that you have set up the right goals so that you’re getting the fullest picture of how your site is working.

Macro and Micro Goals

Your ‘Macro’ goal is the key purpose of your website. If you’re the owner of an ecommerce site your macro goal will be to sell products. You should already be tracking your macro conversions through conversion rate.

Obsessing over your conversion rate, however, won't grow your business. It’s too broad a goal and so doesn’t help you make decisions about what to optimise. Tracking ‘micro’ goals will help you break the customer journey down into manageable chunks that you can optimise.

Email Sign Up

Micro goals are goals that don’t have revenue attached but are good indicators of business growth.

The best example is email newsletter sign-up. Email marketing is one of the most dependable revenue generators and so more email addresses means more revenue. Tracking email sign-ups, therefore, is an good indicator of future revenue.

Aside: If there is no ‘Thank You’ page for email sign-up you will have to set up Event Tracking in Google Analytics. We can help you with Analytics Implementation or you can see more here. 

Once you can track sign-up rate you can optimise your sign-up process and design and see the results. Until you are tracking this, you are flying blind with one of your key performance indicators.

Attaching a Cost to Goals

Without attaching a value to individual goals you can’t truly assess what impact the different elements of your sites are making.

To find out the value of an email address, for example, use the following sum:

(Revenue from Email per year) / (Number of Active Subscribers) = Value of Active Subsciber

If each subscriber is worth £50 you know that if you can increase your email list by 100 people you stand to make £5,000 more a year.

Other Micro Goals

Other goals you should start tracking this year include Contact Us Form, Add To Basket, Request A Catalogue.

Other ways to split up your macro conversions is to segment by source. For example you might concentrate on just your email conversion rate as a way to increase your overall conversion rate.

We are ecommerce consultants and are passionate about helping businesses grow. If you would like more information about Analytics call us on 0207 492 1929 or email info@moneyspyder.co.uk.