Groove Commerce » Web Analytics

8 Ways to Improve Google Analytics

Mike Pantoliano — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:07:36 +0000

I use Google Analytics constantly. It is a permanently opened tab in my browser from the minute I walk in the door. I have some experience with other Analytics packages, but for the most part, you just can’t beat the value that GA provides. Over the years, GA has slowly rolled out formerly enterprise-only features to its users, making the decision to use it over a paid package much easier. That said, there’s still plenty of improvements Google Analytics can make to further back those paid solutions into a corner.

1. Faster Data Reporting

Who wouldn’t like to review their data faster? Anyone that has ever been anxious to see today’s stats in Google Analytics knows that there seems to be various points in the day when updates are pushed out. And even once that happens the numbers are unreliable for another several hours.

This can be extremely frustrating when dealing with Google Analytics installations that require modifications to the tracking code and/or advanced filtering and segmentation. Better not make an error, or you’ll have to wait until tomorrow before realizing something is wrong.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Google could guarantee that any data after a certain number of hours was accurate?

2. Real Time Traffic

Another popular and really powerful feature that could be added to Google Analytics is a real time traffic spy, much like Clicky Web Analytics. Their “spy” feature allows users to see how many visitors are on the site at that moment and includes basic referral data, as well.

I likely don’t have to go through just why having a real time traffic spy is useful, but imagine monitoring traffic levels after publishing some linkbait, or sending out an email campaign.

3. An Improved Date Picker

I hate Google Analytics’ date picker, and I’d like to think I’m not the only one. I am frustrated endlessly by the unintuitive nature of selecting dates with it, and I’m praying Google is hearing my cries.

Why not feature Google AdWords-like preset date selections, like last 7 days, this month, last month, etc? Even more useful would be an easier to use “compare to past” option. Comparing 2009 to 2008 stats is hardly a simple task, and likely a common one.

In the scenario to the right, AdWords is allowing me the opportunity to fix my obvious date error before sorting, whereas Analytics is forcing me to go back and fix my date before moving on and changing the other date. Yeesh.

4. Trendlines!

This is a feature that the folks at Raven SEO Tools have implemented in their reporting, and I can’t live without it.

Wouldn’t this be nice in Google Analytics?

5. A Better/More Customizable Overview Screen

Both the AdWords “My Client Center” and Analytics Overview screen suffer from the same problem. It is impossible to customize them to include whichever metrics you find most important. For an eCommerce client, wouldn’t it be useful to see sales over the past month?

Additionally, for those of us with access to anymore than 10 accounts, we’re forced to expand the list every time to a higher number of rows, or click through to the next set of 10. It would be nice if when I asked GA to show 100 rows, it remained that way until I changed it back, instead of resetting to 10 every time I log in.

6. Report Exact Keywords from Paid Search

Whenever we begin a new PPC campaign for our clients here at Groove Commerce, we immediately install advanced filters that extract the raw keywords from which users are entering the site. This is really valuable data. After a few days, we usually have a slew of new negative keywords that we didn’t originally think to include.

By default, GA only reports visits to the AdWords keyword with which the raw search term is matched. The question is, why? Why should I have to install this hack of a filter to get this data?

By the way, if you haven’t installed this raw query filter, SEOptimise has a good article to set you in the right direction.

7. Let Me Rid My Account of Empty Profiles

Deleting old Google Analytics accounts can be troublesome. I’m not sure if this is a widespread problem, but I have seen it in two separate, unrelated accounts.

Here we have a few empty accounts that just won’t go away! And since the GA Overview page is so difficult to manage with anymore than 10 profiles, it’d be nice to get rid of unneeded accounts.

8. Step Up the Support

This can almost be said of almost all Google apps, and considering it is free to use and doesn’t generate direct revenue for Google, maybe I’m asking too much. However, the help documents for GA contain a lot of mistakes and outdated information that can be very frustrating to even seasoned webmasters. It’s one thing if there’s a lack of support, but another thing if there is support that leads you down some of the wrong paths.

I may not be alone in being frustrated by the Google Analytics documentation, as it seems like Google is holding surveys about the help center at this very moment. With any luck, some of the feedback will lead to improved documentation.

That’s Enough Complaining

Google Analytics is free and awesome. And it is getting better. The addition of annotations, the new asynchronous tracking snippet, and the ability to track many more goals are some recent welcome additions.

What else would you like to see in Google Analytics?

Google Shows us What the World is Searching For!

Mike Calabrese — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:08:17 +0000

Google recently launched a new web metrics tool that geared towards those in the wonderful world of web marketing. It’s called Google Insights, and though it is very similar to Google Trends, there are definitely some unique features worth checking out.

In addition to the keyword popularity by location and across different times available in Google Trends, Insights gives us two new metrics: Top Searches and Rising Searches. Google defines them as the following:

Top Searches – “These terms are related to the filter you’ve selected (time/location/term).”
Rising Searches – “Rising searches are searches that have experienced significant growth in a given time period, with respect to the preceding time period.”

Overall, a very helpful tool that we’re starting to use right away for keyword research, SEO, and other marketing initiatives. Visit Google Insights for more info!

Quickly Find Out How Much Your Competitors Are Making

Mike Calabrese — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:10:44 +0000

In the eCommerce world, everyone is looking for a benchmark, a standard from which they can measure their own site against. Are my 10,000 monthly visits average for my industry or am I at the bottom of the barrel? What’s the deal with my 1% conversion rate? Ideally, you’d like to compare yourself to the competing companies in your industry. So why not figure out what they’re earning? Here’s a great way to estimate what your competitors are making on a monthly basis:

Your Competitors Monthly Visits

There are some great tools on the web that can estimate the traffic of a site:

Compete.com
Quantcast.com

Both estimate the monthly traffic of a site (only U.S. traffic). I’ve seen some sites where they’re dead on, and some sites where they only estimate 30% of the actual traffic. On average, they seem to estimate a little less than half of a site’s actual traffic, so use these tools wisely.

Your best bet is to plug in your own site into these tools and see what numbers you get. Base your competitors traffic estimate on the same formula. Example: If compete.com says your site gets 5,000 hits a month and you actually get 10,000 (double), then simply double the estimate that compete.com gives for your competition.

Your Competitors Conversion Rate

Looking at todays (11/2/2007) Fireclick Conversion Rate Index, I see an average conversion rate of 2.30% across the board. This rate is taken from a number of eCommerce sites across the web and is one of the most accurate figures that we can access.

Fireclick also provides conversion rates by industry. Below are todays conversion rates, by industry:

Fashion and Apparel: 2.4%
Electronics: 0.5%
Catalog: 7.7%
Specialty: 1.8%
Outdoor and Sports: 0.6%
Software: 3.80%

Base the conversion rate of your competitor on these industry averages; if you or your competitors don’t fall into these categories, then use the overall average conversion rate of 2.30%.

Your Competitors Average Order Value

Use the following averages, as reported here to determine your competitors Average Order Value (AOV)

Computer Hardware: $584.87
Event & Movie Tickets: $121.60
Automotive: $119.23
Office Supplies: $102.47
Consumer Electronics: $99.12
Child/Baby Care: $86.13

If you or your competitors don’t fall into any of the above categories, use the overall average of $185.87.

Here’s the formula:
Monthly Visits x Conversion Rate x Average Order Value (AOV) = Estimated Monthly Earnings

This is a quick and simple way to estimate your competitors monthly earnings – if anyone has other suggestions to add to this formula, please contribute!

ATouchofBrass.com – The Remix

Ethan Giffin — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:35:10 +0000

Like children, it’s always exciting to see your clients hit different milestones. A Touch of Brass came to us in late 2004 with a desire to increase their online business threefold and we have done just that. But with a design dating back to 2005, we all decided it was time to add a fresh coat of paint. Today, I am proud to announce the launch of their next generation eCommerce web site.

Some of the highlights include:

A more standards based layout to better utilize the larger screens of today
Category, Sub Category and Product pages that better highlight the products and “lifestyle branding”
Newly optimized pages for organic search
Integration with their back office software
eCommerce tracking with Google Analytics
And our streamlined one page checkout

We’re looking forward to an increase in traffic, sales, and the overall conversion rate of A Touch of Brass. If you’re interested in Door Hardware, Bath Accessories, or Cabinet Hardware or you simply want to see our latest handiwork, check out ATouchofBrass.com.

An Interview with Rand…

Ethan Giffin — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:33:52 +0000

Rand Schulman that is…. Our friend (and mentor) Rand was interviewed over at Stone Temple Consulting on the state of web analytics, his amazing background and the real low down on what happened at Web Side Story. As a former Web Side Story customer it was disappointing to see the mass exodus after the so called takeunder.

Read the whole story her:
http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-rand-schulman.shtml

V2 of Google Analytics, Check it Out

Ethan Giffin — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:05:47 +0000

If you haven’t seen the new version of Google Analytics, then you need to check it out. I am incredibly impressed with the depth of features for a free product. I was also impressed with the new design and usability – you can see the Jeffrey Veen Touch. Avinash Kaushik, an Analytics Evangelist for Google, writes about the first five things to do in v2 of Google Analytics, check it out!