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Web Analytics for Tourism Businesses: Measuring for Success with Google Analytics

Get Started with Your Measurement Planand Google Analytics Reports & Tools

HANDBOOK

TA-C506

Copyright © 2014 by TrainingAid

All rights reserved. This handbook or any portion thereof may not be

reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express

written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quota-

tions in a book review.

Digital Version for Online Distribution

First Published 2014

TrainingAidHamburg, Germany

www.trainingaid.org

Provided by TrainingAid as part of the course “Web Analytics for

Tourism Businesses: Measuring for Success with Google Analytics”

(TA-C506).

2

IntroductionMake the Most of Google Analytics

Course Description

What Will You Learn?

How to write a measurement plan based on your business objectives.

How to measure data with Google Analytics.

How to read data reports to improve your business and better understand your customers.

What Can You Expect?

Your tourism business will benefit from taking advantage of Google Analytics as a (free) tool to support your web mar-keting efforts and to enhance your digital presence. To achieve this, this course will help you to:

Understand what Google Analytics is and how it works.

Set up a Google Analytics account for your business.

Understand the importance of metrics and data for your business.

Develop a measurement plan for your business.

Learn about Google Analytics reports, and use reports to support your goals.

Skills training for tourism professionals | www.trainingaid.org

Handbook TA-C506 | Web Analytics for Tourism Businesses: Measuring for Success with Google Analytics

Google Analytics can be a powerful tool to support tourism businesses of any size. To implement this tool in a practical way, follow our lessons and examples to build a measurement plan, which specifies the scope of what you measure and the metrics you use, and learn how to use Google Analytics to support your marketing and sales efforts.

With this course we want to help you understand how to implement Google Analytics to support your marketing, communications, and sales efforts, and to ensure that your analytics strategy is in line with your business objectives. Specifically, you will learn:

How to Approach Google Analytics Strategically

Strategic Approach: Start by establishing a solid measurement plan based on your business objectives and the specific needs of your business. The measurement plan should serve as a tool to help inform all decisions around what to measure, how to track data, and what to do with the insights you gain from Google Analytics.

Marketing Performance: Select and focus on reports that help you analyze your marketing performance - for example, use Traffic reports to track and compare the performance of different traffic sources, and use Audi-ence and Behavior reports to analyze onsite interactions. For tracking links you share through emails and social media, you can use Custom Campaigns.

Sales Performance: Select and focus on reports that help you analyze your sales performance - for example, to track and analyze online bookings, use Ecommerce reports combined with Goal Conversions for your macro conversion goals (online purchases), Event tracking for monitoring specific online activities, and Custom Vari-ables for tracking coupon codes.

Tailored Approach: For selective and efficient use of Google Analytics, customize your report settings accord-ing to your specific needs. You can also use Custom Dashboards to easily produce and share relevant summary data based on the different needs of your management, marketing, and sales teams.

Keep In Mind...


Handbook TA-C506 | Web Analytics for Tourism Businesses: Measuring for Success with Google Analytics 3

Web Analytics ToolsWhile Google Analytics is not the only web analytics service available for businesses, it is by far the most widely used service. While there are also other related services (such as Google Universal Analytics and Ad Tracking), in this course, we will focus on Google Analytics functions that are available for free, and specifically, on Google Analytics reports that are important for supporting key business objectives.

Here are a few key points to keep in mind as you explore analytics and reporting options and work on building your own measurement plan and approaches.

Worldwide AdventuresTo help illustrate key lessons and how-to’s in the course, we are using examples from a fictional company called Worldwide Adventures - an international company that sells active and adventure tour packages around the world. Follow their journey to learn how implementing a measurement plan and using Google Analytics will look like for a tourism business. Note, however, that this is an example of one particular type of tourism business that may or may not resemble yours. Depending on your budget size, available resources, and scope of marketing activities, the levels of expectation in terms of what you can get in return for your efforts must be adjusted accordingly. It’s important that you take what you learn from this course, and find ways to apply the lessons, tips, and tricks to the specific needs of your business.

Measurement PlanA company’s overall measurement plan may cover various aspects of its marketing and sales efforts, including online and offline activities. In our case, however, as this course focuses on Google Analytics, we are looking at goals that can be measured digitally using the data Google Analytics can provide. Understanding your technical environment is a critical part of the process of building your measurement plan. To make sure that the goals you set in your measurement plan are indeed measurable, you need input and guidance from your technical department, or perhaps the IT service you have hired to set up your website.

4

Index of Key TermsCovered in This Course

Key Terms & Concepts


Handbook TA-C506 | Measuring for Success with Google Analytics

Bounce Rate

Custom Dashboard

Custom Campaign

The percentage of visitors who come to your website and land on a page, but leave again without visiting any other page. It’s a helpful indicator to assess the quality of your website traffic. See Module 5, Unit 3

An URL customized and set up for tracking, including parameters such as Source and Medium. By using custom campaigns, you can monitor the links you share, e.g. through your newsletter or social media posts, in order to find out which links or traffic sources perform well. See Module 4, Unit 2

Custom dashboards allow you to combine different reports using widgets to display select data on a single page. This makes it easier for you to keep track of important data from your reports with one single view. You can also share your custom dashboard settings with other people. See Module 5, Unit 8

Conversion

Here are some important terms and concepts that are explained in this course, with a brief description of what each term means. Use this list as a reference, and to look up where in the course you can find more detailed information about these terms.

Custom SegmentsCustom Segments allow you to specify what types of data you want to gather by customizing report criteria such as Demographics, Technology, and Traffic Sources. Custom segments give you a more accurate picture of your website performance than what you can get from Google Analytics standard reporting data. You can apply the custom segments you create to any of the Google Analytics reports. See Module 4, Unit 3

When a visitor to your website takes an action that relates to the outcomes that you want - for example, filling out an online form, signing up for an email newsletter, or making a purchase. Micro (soft) conversions are those that indirectly support sales, whereas macro conversions are directly tied to revenue. See Module 3, Unit 2

Custom VariablesCustom Variables are used to insert custom data into standard reports for tracking different aspects of customer behavior, such as coupon codes and payment methods; and for customizing the grouping of your website data, e.g. grouping all your tours by the year they were added to your catalogue. Custom variables can also be used in custom reports and advanced segments. See Module 6, Unit 3



Direct (traffic source)Traffic sources indicated as “direct” mean that either someone typed in the URL directly, had the link bookmarked, or came to that page in other ways that Google Analytics does not track under other Channel Groupings, e.g. clicking on a link to your website in your email signature. See Module 5, Unit 2

Event Tracking“Events” are used to gather information about how your site visitors are interacting with your content. By setting up Event tracking, you can collect data about customer actions that may otherwise be difficult to track, such as downloads, form submissions, and video plays. For each event you want to track, you need a custom code specific to your reporting needs. See Module 6, Unit 2

Exit RateThe percentage of people who left your site from a particular page. Exits, not to be confused with bounces, are all the instances of visitors leaving your site after their sessions. An exit page, therefore, is the last page a visitor was on before existing the site. Bounce rates, on the other hand, only takes into account those that exit the site after a single-page session. See Module 5, Unit 3

Organic (traffic source)Traffic sources that are “organic” mean that someone came to your page through organic (as opposed to paid) search on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. See Module 5, Unit 2

PropertyOn Google Analytics, properties (websites, mobile apps) are where you send data and set up reporting views. Each property has a distinct tracking code including the specific property ID. If you manage two separate websites, you should create two properties on your Google Analytics account so that your data appear correctly for each website. See Module 2, Unit 5

RecencyDisplayed as "days since last visit” under the Frequency and Recency report page (Audience > Behavior > Frequency & Recency), Recency data shows how many days go by since the last visit until a return visit is made. See Module 5, Unit 6

Referral (traffic source)Referral channels are the websites and pages that are referring traffic to your site, for example when someone re-posts your blog on their website, or when your website is listed on a directory site. See Module 5, Unit 2

ViewA reporting view is the level in a Google Analytics account where you can access reports and analysis tools. You can set up multiple views on a single property, and you can use filters to customize views and see only a subset of data in your reports. When you create a new view, your data will be recorded from that moment on. You won’t see past data under the new view. Module 2, Unit 3

6

Measurement PlanImplement Analytics for Your Marketing Success

Why a Measurement Plan?

Before You Start: Know Your Business

Steps to Building Your Measurement Plan



Can you articulate your core business objectives? Based on your company’s mission and vision, your business objectives should serve as the statement of specific outcomes that you seek to achieve, both in financial and non-monetary terms. For instance, your business objectives related to the goal of achieving profitable growth may include tangible values such as sales levels and growth rates. In addition to these, you also need a clear direction that guides what you do based on why your business exists. These objectives may be expressed in such a way as: “to become an internationally recognized leader” in your industry field, or “to consistently achieve excellent reputation as an innovative company”.

Are you clear about the strategy and tactics you need in order to achieve the objectives? Your business objectives (WHAT you seek to achieve) should be supported by specific strategy and tactics that spell out HOW you plan to achieve those objectives. For example, if you’ve established growth objectives for your business, which specific steps do you take in order to achieve them?

Key Questions To Ask About Your Business

Based on the goals and objectives set in the business plan, your measurement plan should help you specify the scope and method of data collection and analysis, and help streamline your web promotion and content marketing efforts.

In short, a measurement plan covers the scope and the method of your approach to data collection and analysis: • Scope: What do you measure and why? • Method: Which metrics do you use to track data?

The Foundation of Your Web Analytics Efforts

Establishing your business objectives is critical to your measurement plan, as this step forms the foundation for your plan, and informs decision-making needed in all of the following steps.

1. Establish Your Business OBJECTIVES.

What are some of the key outcomes you seek to achieve in terms of your sales performance?

What are some of the most important intangible outcomes you seek to achieve based on why you do what you do (your mission and values)?

NOTE



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Building on your business objectives, think about how you will go about achieving those objectives. What specific approaches will you take to support your business objectives?

2. Identify STRATEGY to Achieve Your Business Objectives.

What sales, marketing, customer relations approaches will you employ?

How will you enhance your reputation and build your brand over time?

Focus on the tactics you will use to implement your strategy: what are the specific tools, platforms and activities that will help put your strategy into action?

3. Develop Specific TACTICS That You Will Use to Support Your Strategy.

Which tools will you use to strengthen your sales performance?

Which traffic sources and channels will you focus on in order to drive more quality website traffic and boost your online presence?

To measure the performance of the tactics you identify, you will need KPIs, which are indicators you use to evaluate the success of particular activities you’re engaged in, and define specific goals for each of your KPIs.

4. Set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and GOALS.

What are your specific goals for sales, customer acquisition, subscriptions, etc. in a given time period?

Make sure that your KPI goals are realistic, properly reflecting the scope of your business and the size of your markets.

As the last step of building your measurement plan, you need to define which segments of data you need in order to monitor and evaluate your performance.

5. Select Appropriate DATA SEGMENTS.

Select data segments that are relevant to your KPIs, and those that are in line with your overall web analytics approaches.

Data segment examples: demographics, geography, marketing channels, customer buying behavior, technology.

Measurement Plan Overview Template



9

Reports & ToolsGetting Started with Google Analytics

Google Analytics Reports

Examples: What Can You Do With Reports?



DO: DON’T:Spend time setting up and using all the reports available on Google Analytics just because they are available.

Be selective and strategic: decide which reports are essential to your business and focus on those.

Using the various reporting functions of Google Analytics available under the Audience, Acquisition, Behavior, and Conversions sections, you can gather, organize and analyze data to support your goals. Remember: You should only gather data that you can use in a way that benefits your business and compliments your business objectives.

A Reminder About Using Reports

Identify Traffic Sources

Channels (Acquisition > Channels): View data on incoming traffic through Direct, Organic, Referral, Social, etc. sources. Click on each Channel Grouping to see more details.



Compare Traffic from Different Periods

Comparison Reports: Click on the drop down box next to the top-right field showing the period of the report you’re viewing. Check the “Compare to” option, and select another period - you can pick on the default options (previous period or previous year), or set a custom period you choose by entering the beginning and ending dates.

Compare Performance of Different Traffic Sources

Custom Segments: Use custom segments to compare different traffic sources with each other. Add custom segments to your Audience or other reports to display how traffic from different sources (e.g. social media sites, referral traffic from partners’ websites) perform over time. For detailed information on how to create custom segments, see Module 4, Unit 3.



Evaluate the Quality of Website Traffic

Bounce Rate: Display bounce rates on different reports to compare traffic sources and analyze page performance based on the quality of each visit. Use the “Comparison” button (top right) to show data on bounce rates compared to site average.

Engagement Report (Audience > Behavior > Engagement): Use this report to show how long visitors stay on your site and how many pages they view while on your site. Most of the sessions that are "0-10 seconds" are likely to be from bounces. As a general rule, you want to get your visitors to stay for an average of 100+ seconds on your site.

Analyze Traffic from Different Locations Based on Your Goals

Country Report with Comparison View: Use the Comparison view, and select, for example, % New Sessions, Bounce Rate, Goal Conversion Rate, etc. for additional insights about where visitors come from.

Custom Campaigns

Set custom URLs to track and monitor the links you share, for example through newsletters and social media sites. Build custom URLs by specifying the following:• utm_source: Where the traffic to your website comes from, for example: google, citysearch, or [your company].• utm_medium: The advertising or marketing medium, for example: cpc, banner, email newsletter.• utm_campaign: The individual campaign name for the link you’re tracking, for example, “summernewsletter”,

“coupon5"• utm_term: (optional) If you're manually tagging paid keyword campaigns, you should also use utm_term to specify

the keyword.• utm_content: (optional) This can be used to differentiate similar content, or links within the same ad. For example,

you can track two links within the same email message, by setting a different utm_content value for each, so you can tell which link is more effective.

You can use the URL Builder Excel template provided in Module 4, Unit 2 to create and keep track of your custom campaign links. This will also help you make sure that you’re using consistent variables for your custom campaigns so you can effectively group, organize and monitor important links.

Track Links You Share



URL Builder Excel Template: Download this template from Module 4, Unit 2 (or see the “Welcome” page for all the download links for tools covered in the course).

13

Wrap Up & Next StepsWhat Now?

Your Notes & Course Handbook

Keep Learning

Time to Celebrate (and Share)



Review Your Notes: Revisit some of the key learning points and questions you've written down during the course, and take your notes with you as you implement your measurement plan and explore Google Analytics.

Use the Course Handbook: Download and keep your copy of this Course Handbook, so that you can easily revisit what you've learned from this course and come back to it in the future.

Revisit the Course: You have lifetime access to all of the course materials, which means that in the future, whenever you want to, you can come back to the course pages.

Follow Us: Look out for marketing related blog posts (http://www.trainingaid.org/tags/marketing). Want to share your example on our blog? Talk to us ([email protected])!

Join the Conversation: Continue the discussions related to the topics and questions from this course by staying in touch with fellow professionals through the Discussion forum.

Find Other Courses: Keep an eye out for upcoming courses (http://www.trainingaid.org/courses) in Business Strategies and other categories that will address related topics that may also be of interest to you.

Write a Review: If you would like to help others considering this course by writing and publishing a review, please see the "Review" link under "My Courses" > "completed".

Share with Friends: Help your colleagues who may benefit from this course by giving them a discount! Simply pass on the code AnalyticsCourse and they'll get a 10% off when purchasing this course.

Send Your Feedback: Please send any questions and requests related to this course, as well as suggestions for improvement, to the TrainingAid team at [email protected].

*Don’t forget: You can download your Certificate of Completion for the course "Measuring for Success with Google Analytics" (TA-C506) from "My Courses" > "Completed".

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