Google Analytics 101Social Media Association of Michigan #SMAMI

Nicole BullockSenior SEO Associate, iProspect

About Nicole Bullock• Senior SEO Associate at iProspect, GM • 7 years as a full-time digital marketing

professional• Experienced SEO and social media speaker at

local, national, and international conferences, seminars, and events• Featured in stories for newspaper, blogs,

television, podcasts, and NPR• Former blogger who learned SEO to make her

blog more successful, and then decided that SEO was more fun and profitable than blogging

The Good News and the Bad News

Good: You will learn the basics and terminology used in Google Analytics to utilize the existing online resources to increase your working knowledge of the platform

Bad: You will not be leaving this event today being a certified Google Analytics Master

Not Just Google Analytics, Google’s AnalyticsGoogle offers valuable website traffic and metrics data to users in more than one location and platform

• Google Search Console• Google AdWords• Google Data Studio• Google My Business Analytics

Basic Background Knowledge for Google Analytics

What is Google Analytics?Google Analytics (GA) is a service which collects data about digital interactions on all device types and provides an interface for authorized users to review data, dimensions, and metrics

For GA to function correctly, every page on the website must include a snippet of code containing a unique GA ID (UA-XXXXXX-X).

• The code collects anonymous information about your site's visitors and their behavior, including their location and browser, their path through your website, and how they interact with specific pages. This information can then be accessed and analyzed by you on the Google Analytics website .

Dimensions vs MetricsDimensions describe data. Think of them as the 'what': what keyword did the visitor use, what browser are they using, what city are they from.

Metrics measure data. Think of them as answering 'how many' or 'how long': how many pages did they view, how long was the site visit duration

In this data table, dimension is marked in blue, and the associated metrics are in pink.

Account Structure: Account/Property/View

Account – highest level entity (your business)Property – a specific website or mobile app. Identified for unique ID number (UA-xxxxxxx)View – access point for data review, customized for data to be filtered or processed in a certain way

Permissions and User RightsPermissions and access rights can be granted at account, property, or view level. They are set and managed using Google Accounts (the same credentials you use to access Gmail).

Four permission levels are available:• Manage Users: Add or delete users and assign permissions.• Edit: Add, modify, or delete accounts, properties, and views.• Collaborate: Create and share personal assets, dashboards,

annotations.• Read & Analyze: Can access, pivot, and manipulate data.

Sessions vs PageviewsA session is a series of interactions by a user on your website. One session can include multiple pageviews, events, and ecommerce transactions. There are two main ways a session can end:• Time-based expiration: At midnight, or after 30 minutes of

inactivity.• Campaign change: User arrives via one campaign, leaves, and

then comes back via a different campaign.

• Hierarchy Navigation

• Report Navigation• Date Picker• Report Tabs• Graph Display• Data Table• Account Settings

and Notifications

The Reporting Interface

Getting Around in GA• Accounts, Settings, and Notifications - Your personal Google

account, links to other analytics apps like Google Tag Manager, and notifications about the current property.• Hierarchy Navigation - Allows you to easily switch between

accounts, properties and views.• Report Navigation - Your primary means of navigating to a

particular set of data in GA. The five main reporting groups are: o Real-Time (live data)o Audience (including geography, technology, demographics)o Acquisition (traffic sources, social, AdWords)o Behavior (landing pages, content performance, events) o Conversions (goals, ecommerce, attribution)

Refine and Display your Metrics• Date Picker - This appears at the top of every Analytics report, and allows

you to change the date range reflected in the report. You can also use the Date Picker to compare two date ranges.• Report Tabs - Allow you to switch between multiple versions of the same

data. Most reports include an Explorer tab, which presents your data in both visual (charted) and tabularized forms. These determine which metrics are displayed in the data table.• Graph Display - While these areas of the interface will vary depending on

which report you're viewing, most Explorer tabs will include a graphical view of your data.• Data Table - Your data in tabularized form, plus controls for searching

and pivoting. You can change the sort order, apply visualizations, change/add dimensions, and execute advanced searches.

The Rest of the Data You Can Get From Google – for Free

The Search Data Reporting TimelineWhere the magic happens before and after clickthrough

Google Search ConsoleSearch Analytics Report: • Clicks and impressions data on actual keywords used• Average keyword ranking position• Click-through rate• Secure keyword info that is “Not Provided” in Google Analytics

Tools and Information in Search Console: • Site errors• Data highlighter• “Fetch as Google”• Structured data testing tool

Google Data StudioGoogle’s latest data and analytics visualization offering• Easily connect to a variety of data

sources, including Google Analytics and Search Console

• Visualize your data through attractive, dynamic, and interactive reports and dashboards.

• Ability to create branded reports for clients

• Share and collaborate with others, just as you can in Google Drive.

Google My Business InsightsGoogle My Business Insights gives you a detailed look at how people find your business listing on the web.

Because many customers find businesses on Google Search and Maps, Insights focus on how customers use Search and Maps to find your listing, and what they do once they find it.

Google My Business dashboard can be linked to Google Analytics and Google Adwords for more comprehensive business data and insights.

Tools and ResourcesGoogle Analytics Academy – Comprehensive training leading to certificationGoogle Analytics Help Center – Official GA support hubGoogle Tag Assistant – A Chrome extension which is now the single most useful tool for debugging Google Analytics & Google Tag ManagerGoogle Data Studio Tutorial – How to bring together a visualization of data from Google Analytics and Search Console

Questions? Concerns? Let’s Connect!Nicole Bullock

@cuteculturechic

@cuteculturechick

linkedin.com/in/nicolembullock Nicole.Bullock@iProspect.comwww.cuteculturechick.com