PRESENTED BY MATT WILLIAMS, MPA OCHEA 2011 ANNUAL CONFERENCE MARCH 24, 2011 Leveraging Google Analytics To Identify and Reach Customers while Enhancing Marketing ROI

Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. What is Google Analytics?

VAR _GAQ = _GAQ || []; _GAQ.PUSH(['_SETACCOUNT', 'UA ']); _GAQ.PUSH(['_TRACKPAGEVIEW']); (FUNCTION() { VAR GA = DOCUMENT.CREATEELEMENT('SCRIPT'); GA.TYPE = 'TEXT/JAVASCRIPT'; GA.ASYNC = TRUE; GA.SRC = (' == DOCUMENT.LOCATION.PROTOCOL ? ' : ' + '.GOOGLE-ANALYTICS.COM/GA.JS'; VAR S = DOCUMENT.GETELEMENTSBYTAGNAME('SCRIPT')[0]; S.PARENTNODE.INSERTBEFORE(GA, S); })(); So Little Code…So Much Power!

You really don’t have to be a geek in order to use Google Analytics. I know that’s what your Calc Professor said, but this is different. Really! Take a Deep Breath…

Does This Look Better?

1. It’s Free! 2. Provides Hard Data in an Environment Where Data Drives Decision Making 3. Provides Insight Into Your Customers’ Behavior and Preferences 4. Make Real-Time Adjustments in PPC Spends & Other Offline Campaigns 5. Helps You to Plug Holes in Your Bucket Why Use Google Analytics?

1. Site Usage 2. Content 3. Goals 4. E-Commerce 5. Advertising Types of Metrics

How many people leave site right away? How are users navigating your site? Where are visitors entering your site? Where are visitors leaving your site? How long are they staying? What are they looking at? Site Usage

How many pages were viewed by visitors? How often is internal search is used? How often are users refined their searches? How do visitors “drill down” on search? Content

Are visitors accomplishing some objective that you want them to accomplish? How do you quantify the value of these goals in terms of CPC and other ad spends? What is the value per visit relative to your defined goals? Goals

Can visitors register for classes or buy instructional materials on your site? What opportunities exist for enhancing revenues from the site traffic that you are already capturing? Role of online courses? Students want to learn on line…why not buy online? E-Commerce

1. Visits 2. Pageviews 3. Bounce Rate 4. Average Time on Site 5. Percentage of New Visits 5 Core Metrics

The number of times your visitors has been to your site (unique sessions initiated by all your visitors). If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity will be attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes will be counted as part of the original session. Metric # 1 – Total Visits

The total number of pageviews for your site when applied over the selected dimension. For example, if you select this metric together with Request URI, it will return the number of page views over the returned result set for the Request URI for your report. Metric # 2 – Total Pageviews

The percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page). Metric # 3 – Bounce Rate

How long a visitor spent on a particular page or set of pages. It is calculated by subtracting the initial view time for a particular page from the initial view time for a subsequent page. Thus, this metric does not apply to exit pages for your site. Metric # 4 – Avg. Time on Site

The percentage of new visits by people who have never been to the site before. Metric # 5 – % New Visits

Google Analytics is free to use and easy to implement. In most implementations it only requires the insertion of a piece of code into the template, and the code is populated across the entire website. Implementing Google Analytics

Clicks Entrances Exits % Exit Time on Page Unique Pageviews Total Unique Searches Other Metrics

Visits with Search Search Refinements Time After Search Search Depth Search Exits Goal Conversions Goal Completions More Metrics

Total Goal Value Per Visit Goal Value Goal Conversion Rate Revenue Per Click (RPC) Click Through Rate (CTR) Cost Per Click (CPC) Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) Even More Metrics

Implementing Google Analytics is easy from a technical standpoint. Institutional issues, however, may or not present obstacles to implementation. Challenges to Implementation

THE IT DEPARTMENT… Relationship with the IT department varies by department and institution. Some programs have their own standalone website, while others are dependent upon the IT department to implement changes. …APPOINT A LIASON WHO SPEEKS GEEK Implementation Challenge 1

INSTITUTIONAL MARKETING If your institutional marketing department controls the Google Analytics account, you may need to educate them as to why you should be given access to reporting. …MAKE SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR INTENTIONS Implementation Challenge 2

IDENTIFYING KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Different stakeholders need different information to inform their decision making. Find out who needs what. …IF ALL ELSE FAILS (AND EVEN IF IT DOESN’T) RELATE IT TO JOB SECURITY Implementation Challenge 3

STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN Make sure that your stakeholders understand what you are trying to accomplish. Change can be difficult, but organizations must adapt in today’s environment. …SELECT A COUPLE OF KEY METRICS, AND COMMUNICATE CONSISTENTLY Implementation Challenge 4

TIME & EXPERTISE Everyone is busy. But Google Analytics will save your department time and money. Find a champion in your department. …IF ALL ELSE FAILS (AND EVEN IF IT DOESN’T) RELATE IT TO JOB SECURITY Implementation Challenge 5

1. Ensure that code is placed on all pages of your website. 2. Pay particular attention to how you define and configure your goals. 3. Enable filters to weed out internal traffic. Several Suggestions for Implementation

1. Utilize tracking URLs. 2. Embed Tiny URLs in off-site web content. 3. Incentivize your instructors to author and post “Expert” articles with trackable backlinks. 4. Content is Still King 5. Integrate tracking into ALL offline media placements. 6. Tag campaigns. 5 Ideas for Leveraging Google Analytics

1. Utilize online support chat with course and subject specific materials that the operator can “push” out to the visitor. 2. Don’t overlook your student assistants as a resource. They are “way into” Web Give SMS Short Code and Bluetooth Marketing a shot. It’s inexpensive, easy to implement, trackable, and helps you to be found in a crowd. A Few More Tricks

1. Help Articles Google Analytics IQ Google Analytics Developer Docs Google Analytics YouTube channel GA Seminars for success Additional Resources

Phone: LinkedIn: ttp:// Matt Williams