The Tracking Concept – How to Plan Your Web Analysis

After discussing important tools for web analytics and a clean basic configuration of Google Analytics in the last two articles The Best Tools for a Successful Start in Web Analytics and Google Analytics Basic Configuration – What You Should Consider, we now need to plan further tracking implementation.

There are often various reasons to extend Google Analytics standard tracking. As an agency, we are frequently asked whether it is possible to analyze specific website elements such as buttons, sliders, videos, or similar with Google Analytics. Tracking external campaigns or newsletters is also included, as well as setting goals in Google Analytics.

This is precisely where the tracking concept comes into play. It ensures that everything necessary is investigated and evaluated. It also ensures that users do not get overwhelmed by too many metrics, which could cause important evaluations to be overlooked. This way, it is guaranteed that every employee receives the exact data they need and that tracking is constantly monitored. Google itself describes the Measurement Plan as follows:

1. Document your business objectives.

2. Identify the strategies and tactics to support the objectives.

3. Choose the metrics that will be your key performance indicators.

4. Decide how you’ll need to segment your data.

5. Choose what your targets will be for your key performance indicators.

It should be noted, however, that creating a measurement plan is only a part of implementing clean tracking.

The Google Measurement Plan (as of 12/11/2015)

Before discussing the individual points of the tracking concept, it must be mentioned again how important it is that all data is collected correctly. If necessary, collect fewer metrics and ensure that the collected metrics are correct and error-free. Furthermore, it is essential to collect data consistently. That means, for example, if you are tracking Facebook posts or newsletters, make sure that every Facebook post and every link in every newsletter is correctly marked. No gaps should occur here.

But what exactly does the tracking concept look like?

Step 1: Document your business objectives

The starting point of the tracking concept is always understanding the workflows and goals of the company. Questions that can be asked here are:

• What is the goal of the company? What does it truly want to achieve?

• Are there different departments in the company? If so, what are their contributions to the company goal?

• What hierarchy levels exist in the company?

• What is the motivation for web analytics?

• etc.

Information like this is of enormous importance to us as an agency because it allows us to develop an understanding of the processes and their relevance. Even for online marketing employees in companies, these questions are relevant, as most employees do not deal with this subject. Only when there is a complete understanding of the matter can the next step be taken. Therefore, we work very closely with our clients in this phase to ensure that no aspect is forgotten.

Step 2: Identify the strategies and tactics to support the objectives

This step involves identifying methods and tools that support achieving the company's objectives. It should be noted that this must be broadly defined so that all instruments are considered. An example outcome of this step might include the following topics:

• A website exists

• AdWords is used

• Search engine optimization is continuously implemented by a 5-person SEO team

• There are regularly changing discount promotions in shops

• Customers can now pay with smartphones in stores

• Users receive marketing information in certain areas of the store directly on their smartphones using beacon technology

• Flyers with QR codes are printed for individual campaigns and distributed on the shopping street

• Quarterly conference calls between GF and department heads are conducted

• A web analysis tool is already in use but is only used by an online marketing manager

• There are collaborations with external companies

• etc.

All of the company's measures must be discussed here. Once these are known, discussions can follow on which measures and tools make sense to track in the future. At this point, it is particularly important to use a healthy measure of judgment. Many users say that all metrics must be collected. As an agency, we often step in and argue that this only leads to users getting lost in the multitude of metrics, becoming frustrated, and then no longer using web analytics at all. This situation can even affect the company financially if, for example, it is not checked in a third tool like Google Analytics whether the AdWords traffic is still performing as well as AdWords reports. Possible problems may not be identified this way because web analytics is left out.

Step 3: Choose the metrics that will be the key performance indicators

If the goal of the web analysis software is to be used as a pure reporting tool, simple KPIs can be defined at this point. Classic examples are:

• Number of sessions

• Pages/session

• Bounce rate

• etc.

If event tracking is used, metrics from this can also be used as KPIs.

Even if comprehensive web analytics are conducted with Google Analytics, it is still worthwhile determining KPIs for regular success checks. KPIs are particularly suitable for higher hierarchy levels, such as management or directors, as the preferred choice. This is especially true if they can be easily represented in dashboards or automated reports. Online marketing managers can then spend more time on the actual web analytics and only need to care about reporting metrics afterward.

Step 4: Decide how you’ll need to segment your data

At this point, it's time to get down to business! If, for example, it was determined in one of the upper steps that scroll depth should be measured and used as a KPI, it is advisable to define this additionally as a segment. Additionally, the data could be segmented by region or gender, for example. Another example comes from Enhanced E-Commerce and might be that only users who exit in the third step of checkout should be considered.

In general, to work accurately and confidently, one must segment, segment, segment!

And this must be mapped here. How should the data be divided so that, as end-users, you get exactly the information and insights you need for your work? At this point, consider again who is working with the data, where the person sits within the company, and how the general process should look for the employees. Which segments should be created and used company-wide, and which are only relevant to individual employees?

Step 5: Choose what your targets will be for your key performance indicators

Now that it is known what the KPIs will be and how the data should be segmented, it is essential to determine what goals the individual KPIs should achieve. This can be anything but must be specified very precisely. Examples are:

• A specific URL was accessed

• Users were on the website for a certain time

• A specific document was downloaded

• A certain scroll depth was reached

• A video was watched for at least 2 minutes

• A form was filled out

• etc.

If these specifications are set as goals in Google Analytics, they can be checked much more easily and correlated with other data. Individual targets can also be assigned a monetary value to measure the website's financial success better with an event value.

Please Note the Following

The procedure explained here must be followed to define clean tracking that goes beyond standard reporting. However, some points of this concept also cover topics of standard reporting. For example, it must be determined which metrics are used as KPIs or which employees receive which reports, even in standard reporting. In addition, we have omitted some topics in this brief explanation not to overwhelm you as the reader with too much information. Of course, questions such as:

• Should there be a custom channel assignment?

• How will reports be delivered?

• Are custom dimensions needed?

• etc.

Therefore, there is still much to be done before achieving fully and correctly implemented tracking.

What We Can Do for You

Do you want to have your tracking reviewed or are not sure if you are utilizing the full potential of Google Analytics? Have you identified opportunities to improve your tracking to increase leads? Do you want to use web analytics to optimize future online marketing measures more precisely? Then contact us and we will discuss together how collaboration may look to meaningfully expand your tracking.