Google Analytics

Google Analytics

by Justin Cutroni
Released August 2010
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596158002

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Book description

Do you know what people do when they visit your website or web app? Or how much the site contributes to your bottom line? Google Analytics keeps track and makes it easy for you to learn precisely what's happening. This hands-on guide shows you how to get the most out of this free and powerful tool -- whether you're new to Google Analytics or have been using it for years.

Google Analytics shows you how to track different market segments and analyze conversion rates, and reveals advanced techniques such as marketing-campaign tracking, a valuable feature that most people overlook. And this practical book not only provides complete code samples for web developers, it also explains the concepts behind the code to marketers, managers, and others on your team.

  • Discover exactly how the Google Analytics system works
  • Learn how to configure the system to measure data most relevant to your business goals
  • Track online marketing activities, including cost-per-click ads, email, and internal campaigns
  • Track events -- rather than page views -- on sites with features such as maps, embedded video, and widgets
  • Configure Google Analytics to track enterprise data, including multiple domains
  • Use advanced techniques such as custom variables and CRM integration

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Table of contents

  1. Google Analytics
  2. Preface
    1. Who This Book Is For
    2. Who This Book Is Not For
    3. What You’ll Learn
    4. Other Learning Options
    5. If You Like (or Don’t Like) This Book
    6. Conventions Used in This Book
    7. Using Code Examples
    8. How to Contact Us
    9. Safari® Books Online
    10. Acknowledgments
  3. 1. Introducing Web Analytics
    1. Defining Web Analytics
      1. Quantitative and Qualitative Data
      2. The Continuous Improvement Process
      3. Measuring Outcomes
    2. What Google Analytics Contributes
    3. How Google Analytics Fits in the Analytics Ecosystem
  4. 2. Creating an Implementation Plan
    1. Gather Business Requirements
    2. Analyze and Document Website Architecture
    3. Create an Account and Configure Your Profile
    4. Configure the Tracking Code and Tag Pages
    5. Tag Marketing Campaigns
    6. Create Additional User Accounts and Configure Reporting Features
    7. Perform Optional Configuration Steps
  5. 3. Under the Covers: How Google Analytics Works
    1. Data Collection and Processing
    2. Reports
    3. About the Tracking Code
      1. The Mobile Tracking Code
      2. App Tracking
      3. The (Very) Old Tracking Code: urchin.js
    4. Understanding Pageviews
  6. 4. Tracking Visitor Clicks, Outbound Links, and Non-HTML Files
    1. About the Tracking Cookies
  7. 5. Google Analytics Accounts and Profiles
    1. Google Analytics Accounts
    2. Creating a Google Analytics Account
      1. Creating Additional Profiles
      2. Access Levels
    3. All About Profiles
      1. Basic Profile Settings
      2. Profile Name
      3. Website URL
      4. Time Zone
      5. Default Page
      6. Exclude URL Query Parameters
      7. E-Commerce Settings
      8. Tracking On-Site Search
        1. Basic implementation
        2. Advanced implementation
      9. Applying Cost Data
  8. 6. Filters
    1. Filter Fields
    2. Filter Patterns
    3. Filter Type
      1. Include/Exclude Filters
      2. Search and Replace Filters
      3. Lowercase/Uppercase Filters
      4. Advanced Profile Filters
      5. Predefined Filters
  9. 7. Tracking Conversions with Goals and Funnels
    1. Goals
      1. Time on Site
      2. Pages per Visit
      3. URL Destinations
      4. Additional Goal Settings
    2. Tracking Defined Processes with Funnels
  10. 8. Must-Have Profiles
    1. Profile Roles
      1. Raw Data Profile
      2. Master Profile
      3. Test Profile
      4. Access-Based Profiles
    2. Using Profiles to Segment Data
      1. Exclude Internal Traffic
      2. Include Valid Traffic
      3. Force Request URI to Lowercase
      4. Force Campaign Parameters to Lowercase
    3. Keeping Track of Your Configuration Changes
  11. 9. Marketing Campaign Tracking
    1. How It Works
    2. How to Tag Links
    3. Tracking AdWords
    4. Tracking Other CPC Sources
    5. Tracking Email
      1. Email Messages to Complete Conversion Activities
    6. Embedding Campaign Tags Within a Page
    7. Understanding Conversion Attribution
    8. Tracking Internal Marketing Campaigns
      1. Step 1: Create a New Profile
      2. Step 2: Tag Your Internal Campaigns
      3. Step 3: Configure Site Search Settings
      4. The Reports
  12. 10. Advanced Tracking Techniques
    1. Tracking Across Multiple Domains
      1. How It Works
      2. Implementation
    2. Tracking Across Multiple Subdomains
      1. Implementation
    3. Tracking Across Multiple Domains with Multiple Subdomains
    4. Frames and iFrames
      1. Frames
      2. iFrames
    5. E-Commerce Tracking
      1. How It Works
      2. Implementation
      3. Common E-Commerce Problems
        1. Garbled data in e-commerce reports
        2. All transaction sources are your website
        3. Missing transactions
        4. Tracking third-party e-commerce platforms
        5. Yahoo! store transactions
        6. Inflated e-commerce revenue
      4. Using E-Commerce Tracking on Non-E-Commerce Sites
    6. Event Tracking
      1. Getting Started with Event Tracking
        1. Understanding the data model
    7. Pulling It All Together
      1. Implementation
        1. Step 1: Tag your pages
        2. Step 2: Add code to create event data
      2. Reporting
      3. Tracking a Distributed Object
        1. Tracking clicks as events
    8. Custom Variables
      1. Custom Variable Implementation
      2. Custom Variable Reporting
      3. Segmenting Members from Nonmembers
      4. Custom Variables for E-Commerce
      5. Custom Variables for Publishers
      6. Roll-Up Reporting
        1. Roll-up reporting for subdomains
        2. Roll-up reporting across multiple domains
  13. 11. Enterprise Implementation Considerations
    1. Issue #1: Roll-Up Reporting
    2. Issue #2: Unique Visitors
    3. Issue #3: Page Tagging
    4. Issue #4: Hosting External JavaScript
    5. Issue #5: URL Structure
    6. Issue #6: Campaign Tracking
    7. Issue #7: Data Integration
    8. Issue #8: E-Commerce Data
    9. Issue #9: AdWords Cost Data
  14. 12. CRM Integration
    1. Using Regular Expressions to Extend Goals
  15. 13. Tools and Add-Ons
    1. Reporting and Analysis Tools
      1. Juice Concentrate
      2. Google Analytics Report Enhancer
      3. Keyword Trends in Google Analytics
    2. Debugging Tools
      1. Firebug
      2. LiveHTTPHeaders
      3. Firefox Web Developer
      4. Regex Coach
      5. Time
  16. A. Google Analytics Compliance with WAA Standards
  17. B. Regular Expressions
    1. Wildcards
    2. Quantifiers
    3. Operators
    4. Anchors
  18. Index
  19. About the Author
  20. Colophon
  21. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Google Analytics
  • Author(s): Justin Cutroni
  • Release date: August 2010
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596158002