Google Analytics

Paul Webster (Twitter : @watfordgap)

7th May 2013

How are you currently marketing what you do now?

Attracting people to your online space is an essential part of your comms strategy. Visitors inspired → more likely to be followers.

Message is clear and unambiguous, your web site is your shop window, often it will be the first public face supporters and donors see.

Mobile is now a very significant way that people will reach your website.

Tell stories as an authentic picture of what you are doing.

Engage in frequent updates & blogs to keep donors informed and involved in what you are doing.

Conversations with supporters, build relationships and give them space to say why they care … and Thank them.

Include website and social networks on all communications.

It's Social media, not Selling media!

Make the Call To Action as plain to see and unambiguous on a social network as you would in printed copy.

So, how to take some steps - have a plan

• Know your objectives and what you want to say• Come and volunteer with us!

• Research where your audience are – do you know?• Survey and find out, work in spaces where your target audience are

• Plan how to use the tools – have a strategy• An opening event?, e-bulletin update? Do ‘as well as’ what you do

• Choose tool to match audience and implement• Look at what other organisations have done, what works elsewhere?

• Sustain the conversation and say thank you• Encourage people to return, keep it new, links from websites

• Engage with people on line, be receptive, respond, react

Stop and think. Before you measure or analyse ...

What objectives is your organisation trying to achieve?

How does it fit with the communications plan

Have you got a website that you can update yourself?

Can be simple as Google Sites, Weebly, Flavors or Wordpress

Who is your target audience? Are you speaking their language?

What is your call to action? What do you want visitors do next?

Consider how you describe and convey your messages

Have you got the time? (To do, To monitor, To thank)

Are you ready and prepared for change & to release some control?

THEN Look at Google Analytics, SocialBro, Facebook Insights etc.

Give your website a spring clean

Replace 'Thin' content – less than 15 page views, low content interest, could indicate to Google Search a poor quality site

Keep adverts 'below the fold' – people visit for content not adverts

Tidy up – remove dead or blank pages, check for broken links(Use http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html)

Simple – Create quality content! Better the quality the more people will link to the site, the more page views the site will get, the more visibility on a Google Search

Purchased links and advert heavy websites not 'liked' by Google

Can visitors understand your homepage in 8 seconds?

Pulling it all together• Consistency across all websites & social networks

• Social media sites are only part of the picture

–Make sure your core website is current

–Don't forget the offline

• Add organisation to Google Places or Foursquare

• Share links ...

–With all your social networking sites

–With 'Like' buttons and 'Share This' links

–With everyone!

Consistency across all websites & social networks

Show all the channels on your main home page

'Add This' (e.g. NAVCA) for sharing and tracking links with others on line ...

Include one-click direct 'Follow' and 'Tweet' buttons on your website, but also the link to your Twitter page for visitors not already on Twitter.Visitors can share and tweet about individual stories as they read them.

http://www.thewishcentre.org.uk

New way to interact – a Quick Response from visitors – QR Codes

Letting people know how to get involved

Works well for ...- Direct to difficult web address- Print media & flyers- FREE to create and use- Current 'buzz'

Create with - http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ : Read with - http://redlaser.com/ (app)Bear in mind …- No major benefit on a web page- Check location has connection- Needs smart phone- Check link hasn't changed

http://www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/files/Get%20involved%20-%20volunteer.doc

14.5% of Smartphone users have scanned one. What for? Magazine/Paper (51%), Product

(38%), Poster/Flyer (28%), Business Card (12%)(Comscore - EU5 Jan-Mar 2012)

..even just to be noticed by a wider audience - get your organisation listed with 'Google Place' page

e.g. Voluntary Action RotherhamDerwentsideCVS & VB here

- Verified- Add Photos- List Offers- Streetview Maps- Show Ratings- Comments

Step 2 – Pick one goal to pursue

1 Social network use similar to use of phone or newsletters

2 Digital space is now the place where people communicate, seek, read, share, purchase & network. Can't ignore any more

3 Have Purpose – WHAT, Audience – WHO, Aims – WHERE

4 Have Champion/s who can steer, update & reply, allocate time

5 Get full organisation buy-in to social media usage guidelines

6 Be clear, honest and credible. Build Trust. What you say is traceable & on internet for ever, so if you'd not want it in the local paper (or your mother to hear!) don't put it on the web

7 Social media tools are part of your overall resources but with added dimension they enable of social actions & conversations

8 Main website is your hub with many linked social media spokes

9 Your social media presence is active the moment it goes live. Be prepared!

Summary - Your social networking strategy

Not Just Document Sharing (Google Drive)- Browser (Chrome)- Calendar (Embeddable collaborative calendar)- Mail (Very popular and versatile on-line e-mail system)- Reader (Keep up to date with RSS newsfeeds you subscribe to)- Maps and Streetview (Find an organisation and see the building)- Places (Enhanced search result listing & map integration)- Alerts (Instant e-mail notifications when search term mentioned)- Custom Search (Embeddable search for your site or selected range)- Wallet (Secure money transactions)- Adwords (Advertising and keyword promotion)- Sites (Build simple webpages)- Play (Google App store for Andriod phones)- Plus (Social network, share content in 'Circles' & video 'Hangouts') Even- Hardware (Chromebook)- Augmented Reality (Glass)

Google Analytics – Part of a large family

Google Analytics – Get set up● Sign up for free Google Analytics account

● What it enables you to do● Track activity to & within your website

from the date you add the Tracking Code● Easy to follow Tables & Graphs● Create Custom Reports● Show Audience, Traffic Sources, Content● Helps you Improve website structure, Marketing information

● Add New Account (from Admin → New Account)● Get the Tracking Code to insert into each page of your website

● Can be added to any website you have control of the CMS / HTML

● Set Goals● Monitor Metrics● Visualize and analyse traffic – in a Real Time view

● It does A Lot!

Google Analytics – Fundamentals

Unique Visitors vs Visits● John visits your website 12 times from his laptop

● Shows as 1 Visitor and 12 Visits● It's good to see returning Visits

Pageviews vs Unique Pageviews● Janet visits the news page on your website, clicks a link to visit an external

events website and then clicks back to your news page● Shows as 2 Pageviews and 1 Unique Pageview

● Unique Pageviews gives best indication of reach

Bounce rate - % of visitors who viewed just entry page & didn't explore● A high bounce rate on a blog or website front page is OK, but should be low

on web pages as visitors will be captivated by content and browse

Check how long people stay on your site browsing● You want people to dwell, but not too long as you want them to find

information quickly (Good web usability sheet)

Google Analytics – Tour

Dashboard – can have Multiple DashboardsAdd, Edit, Delete Reports & ChartsCustomise look and format & add widgetsAdd in Custom reportsInclude Real Time Widgets too for a dynamic dashboard

Adjust Date Range (even to Hourly) in any report or chart to suit / compare resultsRemains set until changed again

Real Time – see visitors and popular content live & last 30 minsTrack their progress round the website in real time … can be addictive!

Audience – visitors - who, where from, what device/browser, frequency etc.Compare multiple statistics from visitors by superimposing a 'vs' metric

– e.g. 'Visits' vs 'Avg. Visit Duration' – spot the trends or exceptionsLook at increasing number of visitors from Mobile & TabletsVisitor Flow shows where people go next on your website

– Monitor where people 'drop off' - is it where you'd like them to exit?

Google Analytics – Tour

ContentExperiment with pagesList of pages in your website showing most visited'In-Page Analytics' shows links clicked & which pages popular & bouncesSet up 'Secondary dimensions' for specific pages – e.g. keyword or source

Location – detailed maps & list of exactly where visitors are coming from

Social – Based on the Goals you have set this shows which social media websites draw visitors to the website

Goals and ConversionsGetting people to your site & doing something on itSet up as targets for content or routes to donations or sign-ups

Intelligence Events – Custom Alerts Instant email notifications when conditions triggers (low / high etc.)

Google Analytics – Tour

Traffic Sources – websites, keywords (paid & organic), referral links to pageWho are your friendly supporters? What keywords are people putting into search engines to reach youDirect traffic is from Bookmarks (good) or by visitors typing the URLIs your Home Page the only Landing Pages – where do you direct to?Custom Campaign Parameters (e.g. utm_campaign=june set in Mailchimp)

Dynamic - Reports and Views Create Custom reports & views with own metricsAdd standard reports/views to DashboardReports can be emailed or exportedFilter reports (from Admin settings) to exclude data that might skew results

(e.g. own IP address)

Google Analytics – Tour

Set up reports from Dashboard● Choose Type for Report Widget (Pie, Bar etc.)● Dimension – categories to filter or refine (e.g. By Browser)● Metric – measured & counted relative to categories (e.g. visitors, %)● Filter – to further refine the report

● When happy with the data that builds the report save to Dashboard or Email● 'Site Content' reports can be shown as Line Charts or Motion Charts● Dashboards & reports can be shared by email & PDF● Reports can be sent out by immediate email alert● Report data can be downloaded as Google Spreadsheet, CSV or XLS

Google Analytics – Notes

● It's not possible to use on wordpress.com, whichalready has comprehensive statistics built in.

● Download the Android or iphone apps to instantly

check up on statistics at any time on a Tablet or Smartphone

● Additional Administrators or Users can be set up for an account being tracked so that others can see, but not edit the analytic data.

● (not set) for device or (not provided) for sources means private browsing

● Add Annotations to Graphs – these short notes can be used to explain to a colleagues or just remind yourself of reasons for traffic spikes

● What you get from Google Analytics will vary widely across pages and even on the same page at different times. Numbers only tell part of the story, so read reports in the context of other organisational factors.

Measuring Marketing Success- Check how many times links are clicked if using Bit.ly- Listen what's said about your organisation using Topsy- Monitor Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Wordpress visits- Measure Tweetreach, SocialBro, Twentyfeet, Sparkwi.se- Visualize Infographics on Visual.y, Infogr.am, My Social Strand

BUT …. real success is not just about the numbers- Tell stories of real people and real changes- Find out how people heard about you- Build relationships & success by joining in conversations- Social media presence an reflection of your organisation- Engage press, funders, authorities with pictures and video

Say Thank You!

Links

Google Analytics Guides and Websites

1, http://www.houseofkaizen.com/assets/pdf/google-analytics-guide.pdf

2, http://www.grovo.com/google-analytics

3, http://www.growyourcharityonline.com/uk/analytics

4, http://www.youtube.com/googleanalytics

5, https://support.google.com/analytics/?hl=en

6, http://www.analyticstraining.co.uk/2010/01/google-analytics-training-cheat-sheet/

7, http://blog.kissmetrics.com/50-resources-for-getting-the-most-out-of-google-analytics/

8, http://www.epower.com/basics-google-analytics-white-paper.pdf

Thank You – My Email & Twitter contacts Paul Webster

paul @ watfordgapservices.org.uk @watfordgap