This is a follow-up QR Code test to Thursday's post: Google Campaign Builder and Martians:
I've embedded the medium size below (177×177)
Google Campaign Builder and Martians
My more frequent readers know that I am trying to raise my Marvin the Martian Google SEO rating (SEO = Search Engine Optimation). While my campaign may be humorous, the topic of tracking how your guests interact with your web site is very serious. If you build a web site with the goal of increasing sales, or publish press releases oriented towards accomplishing your organization's public relations goals, without the use of web analytics, how can you understand whether you are succeeding? This blog post explains how I conducted my Marvin the Martian SEO Ranking Campaign. I'll show and link the tools (all free), and the resulting insight I gain via Google Analytics.
My example involves both "upstream analytics" and "web site analytics". In other words I track users both before they reach my web site (NorthstarNerd.Org) and during their hoped for visit to my web domain. Here is an overview.
Campaign Overview
- Create your campaign strategy. Will it include:
- Web pages hosted on your site?
- Press releases?
- eMail correspondance?
- Posts to social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)?
- Create the required content (web pages, emails, etc)
- Embed Google Analytics tracking code in all links created in step #2
- Shorten the links built in step #3
- Replace all links on your web pages, emails, etc with the new versions created in step #4
- Activate your campaign
Up-Stream Analytics
As noted previously, you want to track analytics before people reach your web site. It is entirely possible that you will find unexpected sources which pick up your campaign and republish using their own services. You also will be able to better understand where your customers / visistors are coming from, and whether various methods are effective in generating desired visits / actions on your web site. There are two steps to this part of the process. You need to use Google Campaign URL Builder and a URL shortening service.
In the first part of the campaign you link to Google Campaign URL Builder and enter your data. There is no coding required. You just need to create three labels which will help you identify and track your campaign / visitors. You must be logged in to your Google account which must also be the same account you use for Google Analytics for the "campaign builder" tool to properly work. Skip down past the image to continue reading this post.
(click to maximize this image):
Up Stream Analytics Process Continued
You should now have a long url built by the Google tool which has embedded code that tracks back to your web site. You should repeat this process for every link you want to track. Remember to use the same campaign name for each additional link!
If your "long url" will be part of a press release, sent out via Twitter, or posted to a social network like Facebook, you should shorten these url's using a standard url shortening service. I use the budURL shortening service, but there are many acceptable alternatives. Take your Google Campaign Builder URL(s) and shorten each link via your shortening service. These are the links you should use on all external media. I've included images from my sample budURL reports. After reviewing the images, you'll understand why I have named this part of the process "up-stream analytics". The reports allow me to view who else picks up my tweets, or publishes my links on their own sites, etc … and track usage before people link back to my own web domain. You'll see that the budURL service also generates QR codes which I may utilize. (i.e. for customers who use smartphones, scan QR codes and link in that manner)
Full example of budURL report (pdf)
Click upon the image given below to maximize (skip down to read on)
Up Stream Analytics Process Continued
You have now completed the first step of your campaign, Up-Stream Analytics. Let's move on to reviewing your data via Google Analytics.
.
Google Analytics and Your Campaign
You built it; did they come? You should ask additional questions about your visitors:
- Where did they go on your site?
- Is their path on your site what you expected? If not, why not?
- Did your visitors take desired actions?
- Download a pdf (product document)?
- Purchase a product?
- Read more about your PR campaign?
- Leave a comment?
- Only visit one page (high bounce rate)?
You now have the opportunity to answer these kinds of questions. Without having created a specific campaign, it would be impossible to differentiate these visits from other users. It gets back to the basic theme … you created content with a desired purpose. Without analytics you can not determine whether you work achieved its desired goal. Given analytical data and what you learn, you may also adjust future work / campaigns.
Let's examine some reports from my Google Analytics account. You will see how I track visits by campaign. While your reports will be different, the key concept is one may identify "groups" of users uniquely by campaign. Please understand you could view your data in many more ways than the two reports I have shown. The key concept is to add "secondary dimensions" to your basic reports, and then limit the results shown by your campaign. For instance, I could have provided reports showing mobile visits, or the geographic region visits generated by my web campaign.
In closing, I hope this post has created a desire on your part to more effectively use analytics, and by using some basic tools obtain better insight into your visitors. You spend the time to create web based content; you might as well know if that same content is succeeding at its desired purpose.
Click upon either image to view at full size.
Virtual Page Views Using Google Analytics
Today's entry starts a series of Google Anlytics (GA) posts on features I use which extends its functionality. My first topic is virtual pageviews. When you install GA on your web site, you are given javascript which is hosted on every "html" page. However non html pages will not be tracked (like pdf's or MS Office files).
Perhaps you've created a manual (pdf) and you would like to know how many people have downloaded the file. As Adobe pdf's do not have a html header to host the Google Analytics javascript, it would seem impossible to track stats. Enter virtual pageviews which can track either files or links to other web sites. One must code each link you wish to track with individual snippets of code which tells Google what action to perform. For example, I track how many people click upon my LinkedIn profile link given towards the upper right of this web page. I also track virtual pageviews of an iPad for Business Manual I created.
Let's review the process for actually tracking virtual pageviews. My examples assume you are using the GA asynchronous code.
- This Example utilizes the standard Google Analytics asynchronous tracking method / script. If you are using the traditional method, I suggest upgrading. The code I give below will NOT work.
- Asynchronous Code Identification: Take a look at your Google Analytics code.
- Look for the following piece of code in your <head> section:
- var _gaq = _gaq || [];
- If you see that piece of code, or any reference to ‘_gaq‘, then you’re using the newer asynchronous code.
- Look for the following piece of code in your <head> section:
- Here is the example GA code. You need to replace the code for any given link with this script.
- <a onclick="javascript: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview', 'GA Virtual Location']);" href="file web address">file public web label</a>
You will need to replace everything in bolded red with your information
- GA Virtual Location: This drives how you find analytics in your Google reports. I personally like to save all virtual pageviews in a "virtual directory". Thus, my own links start /GA-Virtual/ followed by the file name. Thus when I drill down my Content in GA all my virtual pageviews are grouped together. You can provide whatever name you desire. Avoid GA reserved characters.
- File Web Address: This should be obvious. This is the address of your content or link. Thus, for my own site I might have an address http://www.northstarnerd.org/example.pdf
- File Public Web Label: This is the label for your link which the vistor sees while viewing your web page. It can be anything.
Finally, here is a working example of tracking a web link that leads off my web site.
Here is the code: (follows process outlined above)
- <a onclick="javascript: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/GA-Virtual/LinkedIn-Profile']);" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/richhoeg">LinkedIn Profile: Rich Hoeg</a>
Here is the link:
I've included two images below to help you get the idea (click to maximize).
A Father’s Joy!
My grandson, Ben, is extremely near taking his first steps … walking on his own. Much to my surprise, while getting a few final items put away in our new townhome, what should I find but a note I penned over 20 years ago when my youngest son, Erik, learned how to walk. This entry is dedicated to my children … Karen, Carl and Erik!
From April 26, 1991 (transposed word for word from my handwritten note):
I will attempt to write regularly and document Erik's development from age 1 on. I should have done this for Karen and Carl, but as I still expected to have more children after both of them, the need to write was not so intense. Years from now it would otherwise be impossible to remember what a joy (and pain!) little children can be.
Within the last three weeks Erik has learned to walk. The first night was special. Carl, Karen and I were strung out on my bed watching TV (Molly was at a Women of Today meeting). Suddenly as I looked over towards my bureau, there was Erik walking across the bedroom floor. I cheered, picked up Erik and hugged him. I bounced Erik up and down in my arms and cheered some more. Although Erik couldn't talk, he giggled and giggled. He was proud of himself and quite happy.
Anyhow, Carl, Karen and I proceeded to have Erik walk … walk … walk. He only was willing to try if he was in the bedroom … I think 7 or 8 steps was his limit. Since it was a special night, I let all three children stay up past their bedtime (7:30 p.m.) so we could all show Mommy. I am proud to say when Molly came home about 8:30 p.m., Erik performed like a star.
Erik is going through a Daddy phase right now. One of his favorite tasks is to help me get dressed. He particularly likes to get my shoes out of the closet and bring them to me. Erik's idea of fashion is one sneaker and one leather shoe. This morning Erik insisted that I put on my leather work shoes. The fact that I only had my socks and underpants on didn't phase him in the least. When I took a walk inside thusly attired Karen thought I looked weird!! I just told her that Erik had picked out my clothes for the day.
——————————–
Finally, here is one photo from about the correct time period … one of the few I have scanned at this point. Karen and Carl are "helping" Great Grampa Hoeg open his birthday presents! I inserted a photo of Erik from when he was a bit older.
Social Network Engagement vs SPAM
I just received my latest group update from LinkedIn, the Duluth Business Network. Much to my surprise and amazement, without any action from me they decreased the frequency of my group email update from daily to weekly!
While this may seen counter intuitive, consider some facts:
- I had not visited this group in a while (measurement … yea for analytics!)
- LinkedIn decided daily emails might be just piling up, and thus could indicate rather than reading the updates I use the "delete" key on a daily basis
- Rather than risk emails that are regarded as SPAM, LinkedIn offered to decrease the frequency of my updates.
While not stated, I suspect that LinkedIn is hoping I will read a weekly update. They understand given very few "click-throughs" to the web content, even if I was reading the daily updates, no action was being taken. Thus, I had a low engagement level.
Interesting concept … downgrade the frequency of update emails with the hope you will actually encourage the customer to engage more.
Should other social networks like Facebook, Yammer and SocialCast take a cue?
Click to enlarge the image. It shows the email I received from LinkedIn. The red callouts are mine.