Dave Hodgins Data Coordinator amp Web Developer Library Research Service Colorado State Library wwwlrsorg wwwlibraryjoblineorg About Me I am the Data Coordinator and Web Developer at Library Research Service ID: 667186
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Slide1
Unlocking the Mystery of Web Analytics
Dave Hodgins
Data Coordinator & Web Developer
Library Research Service, Colorado State Library
www.lrs.org / www.libraryjobline.orgSlide2
About MeI am the Data Coordinator and Web Developer at Library Research Service (
www.lrs.org
).
I produce data and tools that empower libraries to improve the lives of all Coloradans.Slide3Slide4
Goals
Spark interest in beefing up your web analytics strategy, and take away one or two keywords/concepts that you will research further.Slide5
Talk is cheap,
but so are
web analyticsSlide6
Web analytics offer you valuable insight into your users’ behaviors, wants, needs, etc.Slide7
Web analytics are essential to successful goal/data driven decision making.Slide8
We use Google Analytics because
It’s free
It’s well documented
It’s built & supported by one of the largest advertising companiesSlide9Slide10
We use awesome open source tools like
Laravel
and
Bootstrap
…
…because they make the process of producing cool and useful stuff…
…quick and (relatively) painless
.Slide11
We roll our own analytics because
We want granular control over our data
We want to accurately track “tricky” stuff like direct file access
We canSlide12Slide13
Server -> MySQL -> Laravel, fronted by Twitter BootstrapSlide14
Custom pivot table in LibraryJoblineSlide15
Tip: Measurable ~!= Useful
Just because you CAN track something doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD. Reduce signal-to-noise ratio by designing PURPOSEFUL data collection strategies.Slide16
A Brief History of Web Analytics
Server-side
Server logs traffic
Log analyzer (poorly) parses data
Analytics are…generousSlide17Slide18
A Brief History of Web Analytics
Client-side
JavaScript logs user interactions
Data are pre-processed and parsed by Google
Analytics are more accurateSlide19
The Mighty Google Analytics Tracking CodeSlide20
A Brief Tour of Google AnalyticsSlide21
Lets Make This BetterSlide22
Filters
Filtered Views allow you to exclude or modify data
before
they are saved to GA.
Since the manipulation occurs before storage,
you
cannot apply filters to historic data
!Slide23Slide24
Filters
Filtered Views are handy when you want to
limit
a user’s access to a
subset
of your data.
Filters views
permanently
alter your data, so always maintain a
raw, unfiltered view
!Slide25
Tip: Filter Early and Often
While GA provides methods for segmenting existing data, filters are often more convenient; but they
cannot
be applied to historic data. Anticipate future needs!Slide26
Filters
Typical filters include:
Exclude data that doesn’t belong to your site (apply to every view)
Exclude internal traffic
Segment by sub/domain
Segment by content/servicesSlide27
Filter OptionsSlide28
Tip: Suck it Up and Learn Regular Expressions
Regular expressions are like keyword searching using Booleans, wildcards, and placeholders, except with the additional pain of a hot poker to the brain.Slide29
Tip: Suck it Up and Learn Regular Expressions
Regular expressions let you do things like…
Find URLS that begin with 4 digits (e.g. WordPress permalinks): ^/\d{4}Slide30
Tip: Suck it Up and Learn Regular Expressions
…and do things like like…
Find URLS for content in the “data and tools” section of the site: ^/data-toolsSlide31
Segments
Segments allow you to group data without making permanent changes to your GA profile.
Multiple segments can be viewed side by side, making comparisons easy.
You can create custom segments using the same criteria as filters.Slide32Slide33
Tip: Filter vs Segment
Filter
Segment
Historic Data
No
Yes
Compare Data
No
Yes
Permanent Change
Yes
No
Restrict Access
Yes
NoSlide34
Events
Events are user activities that do not generate pageviews. They might include: clicking a link, changing a form value, toggling dynamic content, etc.Slide35
Events
Events are essential for tracking user interactions in situations like…a single page website, and/or dynamic (AJAX) contentSlide36Slide37Slide38
Events vs Virtual Pageviews
A virtual pageview is a pageview that you manually create and send to GA.
They get lumped in with all the rest of your “normal” analytics data.Slide39
Events vs Virtual Pageviews
Use virtual pageviews to track clicks and/or links to static files that cannot have the GA tracking code, such as…PDF, DOC, XLS, JPG, etc.Slide40
Campaigns
A campaign is process for tracking EXTERNAL traffic. In it’s simplest form it is a series of parameters that you attach to URL’s and that are used by external sources.Slide41
Campaigns
This is your querystring:
www.lrs.org/really-cool-article/?page=1
This is your querystring on GA campaigns:
www.lrs.org/really-cool-article?page=2&http://www.libraryjobline.org/job/4797/Parttime-25-hour-Concierge?ref=email&
utm_source
=newjobemail&
u
tm_medium
=email&
utm_campaign
=new%20job%20emailsSlide42
Campaigns
Track external and/or 3
rd
party content and links such as…
Email
Social media
Non-HTML content (PDF, Word, etc.)Slide43
Campaigns
Campaigns are especially useful for social links because:
Links within mobile apps
do not
sent referrer data
Your links will (hopefully) be shared via other sites/networksSlide44
Tip: Use Campaigns to AB/Split Test
Want to know which version of your newsletter/banner/etc. is most engaging? Campaign those suckers.Slide45
Campaigns
NEVER use campaigns to track internal linksSlide46
Campaigns
Create campaigns using Google’s URL builder @
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867Slide47Slide48
Done!