Analytics

Using Google Analytics Add-On To Automate Your Reporting

Analytics Digital Marketing SEO Tech Tools

Google Analytics Add-on

Today we will talk about automating your reports using Google Sheet’s Google Analytics add-on. This nifty tool was formerly known as Google Magic Sheets. The add-on is very simple to implement and will definitely save you time on reporting metrics from Google Analytics.

Getting The Google Analytics Add-On

Google Analytics Add-on

  1. Start a brand new Google Sheet
  2. Select the Add-ons option
  3. Search for the Google Analytics Add-On
  4. Install it to your Google Sheets

Now your Google Sheets have access to your Google Analytics API and can begin pulling data in an organized way for your reporting purposes. Lets try it out.

Using the Google Analytics Add-On

Under your Add-ons, the Google Analytics add-on should be an option now, after you installed it. It should come with 3 dropdown options

  • Create new report
  • Run report
  • Schedule report

Create Report

Click “create report” to get started with using the add-on. You should see options pop up on the right-hand side. This is where you will begin to create your reporting configuration sheet, this sheet will be your hub for telling Google Sheets what exactly you want it to pull from Google Analytics.

Create a new report

To get started you will be told to select the appropriate

  • Account
  • Property
  • View
  • A Metric from a Dimension you want to pull

Click the “Create Report” blue button on the bottom to start having your reporting configuration sheet.

Configuration sheet

Now you have set up Google Analytics automatic reporting on your Google Sheet. On the Report Configuration sheet, you can customize what each sheet will show you based on metrics and dimensions you want. Remember, this sheet can only show you what is possible to show you in Google Analytics, meaning, do not try to see two secondary dimensions on one report, you will have to create a new report using the next column over.

Helpful Points of References for Creating Reports

  • Query Explorer – This is extremely useful because you can test out the configurations here first, and there will be recommendations on what exactly you will need to input in your configurations.
  • Core Reporting API Guide – This will tell you specific functions you can put in to drill down the data to exactly what you need. For example, you can find how to include and exclude just like filters in GA.

Run Report

It is also helpful to note that the add-on will tell you if you inputting the configuration incorrectly. So, after you have put in the data you want Google Sheets to fetch, go back to the add-ons option, go to Google Analytics option, now click the second option “Run Report.”

Report Status

If you have configured your settings incorrectly you will see a reporting error. Fortunately, the report will also tell you exactly which metric was inputted incorrectly. Ex: “unknown metric:” “unknown dimension”

Schedule Report

Schedule Reports

The coolest thing about this feature is that you can schedule your reports to run at a certain time. This means you can have your data the instant you need it, maybe at the beginning of the month you need the data for the last 30 days. You can set the add-on to run all the reports the night before the 1st of the month, every month. So, when you come in the morning, everything will be ready for you.

Advice: Creating a Master Reporting Sheet For Consolidation

You should create a master sheet for viewing purposes, or else you will end up going from sheet to sheet to see what you need. So, create a master view sheet and fill in the cells using formulas. For example, if you created a table that will tell you the organic traffic for the month from a specific campaign or the organic traffic for a specific month, just make that cell equal the sheet that is specifically pulling that data for you. The sheets are great because they compile what you needed on the same cell every time you run a new report, so the consolidated master data will always show you what you need from any specific reporting configuration sheet.

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How to Grant Admin Level Access to Google Analytics & Adwords

Analytics PPC

Grant Admin Access to Google Analytics

  1. Sign In to your Google Analytics account
  2. Hover over to the top Navigation and Select ADMIN Admin Section of Google Analytics
  3. Under ACCOUNT, select USER MANAGEMENTUser Management Access - Google Analytics
  4. Under ADD PERMISSIONS, enter the email address you want to grant access to
  5. Select all checkboxes(manage users, edit, collaborate, and read & analyze) for granting admin access Granting Admin Access on Google Analytics
  6. Click on ADD and you’re done!

Grant Admin Access to Google Adwords

  1. Sign in yo Adwords account
  2. Click the gear icon on the top right of your screen and select ACCOUNT SETTINGS Account Settings - Google Adwords
  3. Select ACCOUNT ACCESS from the left navigation Account Access - Google Adwords
  4. Click INVITE OTHER USERS
  5. Enter the email address of the person you want to share account with.
  6. Enter Nickname for your new user.
  7. From the CHOOSE AN ACCESS LEVEL drop down menu, select the ADMINISTRATION ACCESSAdministration Level Access - Google Adwords
  8. Click SEND INVITATION.
  9. Find the account of the person you invited in the PENDING INVITATION section, then click GRANT ACCESS.

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Conversion Tracking is a Pretty Big Deal [Part I]

Analytics Digital Marketing

In the world of online marketing conversion tracking is a pretty big deal.

Analysis of information on the dashboard. Monitoring and statistics

It allows you to calculate the return of investment [ROI] on your advertising or marketing campaigns. I don’t know about you but if I spend advertising or marketing dollars, I would like to have a method to understand if the campaign made money, lost money or broke even. With proper conversion tracking setup for your advertising and marketing campaigns, you will have quantitative metrics that define whether or not your campaign has a positive ROI [made money].

This is a two part post. In this post, we’ll set the stage for why conversion tracking is needed and in my next post, we’ll get into the details of how to track phone conversions as well as web form conversions on your site and / or landing page(s).

Generating leads for your sales team using a CPL conversion model

  • Let’s use a CPL metric to calculate ROI. CPL stands for Cost Per Lead since it’s the amount of money you spend to acquire a lead(s).
  • Creating leads will give you a pool of potential customers to sell your product or services to.
  • Calculating the number of leads the campaign generates is conversion tracking.
  • We’ll get to conversion tracking, but first let’s look at an example of an advertising campaign. We’ll estimate ROI using both the cost of the campaign and the number of leads we think we can generate. If you ask me, this is one of the best aspects of digital advertising. Dream up a campaign and before you begin, figure out if it will make you money.

Create an Advertising Campaign and calculate ROI

 

  • For the purposes of this post, you’re going to advertise the campaign on Google AdWords & Facebook – these are just two potential media outlets. There are countless opportunities in the online advertising space.
  • Now that you have a campaign, you need to figure out the what the campaign is going to cost. You determine it’s going to cost $3,000 for the campaign creative and $7,000 for the media buy to run your campaign on Google AdWords and Facebook. This is a total cost of $10,000.
  • We’ve done our analysis on the percentage of leads that turn into customers. We have a 50% close rate of converting leads into customers. Our goal for the campaign is to generate 100 new leads since this will generate 50 new customers.
  • Why do we want to generate 50 new customers? Well, we also know that the average order value for a new customer is $1,000 so we know those 50 customers will drive $50,000 in sales. We don’t want to spend the money on this campaign unless we think we can generate a favorable ROI. Of course, we don’t know for sure but it’s always best to start campaigns with ROI projections since it will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the campaign.
  • With these ROI numbers we’ll definitely have a positive ROI. The campaign will generate $50,000 of revenue and when we subtract our $10,000 cost to create and run the campaign, we’ll net $40,000. The ROI for this campaign has a 4:1 return. This is a great ROI. In fact, if we can spend more money on media and run the campaign once we’ve spent the initial $7,000, we’ll continue reap a 4:1 return on our spend. That’s kinda like printing money isn’t it?
  • We would not be able to measure ROI without conversion tracking. It’s essential since you need to know how many leads the campaign generated. In my next post, we’ll take a deeper dive into how to setup conversion tracking for your advertising campaign.

Branding Campaign

One very important point. Not all campaigns are created equal – some campaigns are branding campaigns. Branding campaigns main purpose is to create brand awareness through impressions. They aren’t concerned with making money. In a given market segment, the stronger your brand, the more likely you are to convert users into customers . Running a branding campaign alongside a conversion oriented campaign is always a good idea. We still can measure the success of a branding campaign, but we’re looking at brand impressions and not revenue or leads. It’s much easier to calculate impressions since the media company will do all the work for you by providing the number of impressions over the life of the campaign.

Coming up

In my next post, we’ll get into the details of how to set up conversion tracking for phone calls and web orders.

Until then, let me ask you something.

Do you know the close rate for your sales team? What is the rate that leads convert into customers?

If not, that’s a good place to start. If you have the close rate percentage, you’ll be able to set up conversion tracking and begin calculating ROI for all of your lead generation campaigns.

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How to Create and Track Vanity URLs Using Google Analytics

Analytics Digital Marketing SEO

All-About-Vanity-URLs-How-to-create-and-track-Vanity-URLs

Have you ever wondered how brands track their offline advertising (TV, radio, newspaper) on their website? One way is to create a vanity URL. I’ll explain what is it, how to create it, and how to track it using Google Analytics.

What is a Vanity URL?

A Vanity URL is a custom web address that redirects your visitor to a specific domain. They are usually short and descriptive, and can easily be recognized as part of your business’ branding. They are used for the sole purpose of tracking offline campaigns (TV, radio, print and display ads).  The reason the custom URL is essential is because it allows the marketer to differentiate when someone finds your business online by typing your website directly versus someone who finds it through a TV ad by typing the vanity URL that was in the ad. Vanity URLs also allow you to measure performance of the offline campaigns which is very important for marketers.

All About Vanity URLs - How to create and track Vanity URLs

How to Create and Track Vanity URLs

Thanks to Google Analytics, you will be able to get a specific report on your offline campaigns that uses the selected vanity URL. But first, let’s create a URL and make it trackable.

1. Buy Vanity URL

Just as you would buy a domain name for your website, you’ll buy one for your vanity use. Go to GoDaddy or 1&1 or Hover and make sure the domain you want is available and buy it.

2. Create a URL that is Trackable

After buying the vanity URL, you’ll need to make sure that it will trackable, here’s how:

Go to Google’s URL Builder tool and make sure to setup your UTM correctly by:

  • Making sure you fill out these required fields: Website URL, Campaign Source,Campaign Medium. The Campaign Name and Campaign Content fields are optional.
  • Click on Generate URL and you are good to go, you’ve just created your new Destination URL!

For more information on campaign tracking, enjoy the reading here!

3. Redirect or Forward the Trackable URL to the URL to which you are trying to send Visitors

Go to the site where you purchased the vanity URL and log in. In the account settings for that URL, either select the “redirect” or “forward to” option. Paste the campaign tracking URL you created with Google’s URL Builder.

4. Create an Offline Campaign Google Analytics Report 

It is important to get a report with data from your offline marketing campaign. With Google Analytics it is easy to do so, here’s how:

  • Go to Google Analytics
  • Select the website account for which you’re setting up a vanity URL
  • On the left hand column, go to “Dashboards” and Click on “New Dashboard”
  • Select “Starter Dashboard” and name it it something specific, like “Denver TV Ads.” Click “Create Dashboard.”
  • In the “New Users” widget, click the edit pencil to open its settings.
  • To see only new visits from the vanity URL  click “Add a Filter” under “Filter this Data.”
  • Leave “Only Show” as-is. Click the drop-down menu to its right, type in or type “Full Referrer” and click it. Leave “Containing” as-is, and then type “TV” in the empty field beside it. Then click “Save.”
  • Do the same for all your other widgets like “Visits by Location,” goal completions, time on page, bounce rate, and other important metrics you would like to keep track of.

5. Final step before launching the campaign: Test It!

Before you launch your offline campaign make sure to type in your vanity URL, and then check your dashboard’s real-time analytics to make sure everything’s working.

Now, get ready to rock that campaign!

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5 easy ways to optimize your Yelp Business profile

Analytics PPC SEO Social Media

PeopleHateUsOnYelp

Think of the top websites in the world and your answers will vary between Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, but did you know that Yelp is the 9th most visited site in the world with over 75 million visitors a month? Yelp, which is solely focused on evaluating businesses can have an enormous affect on how your business is viewed to new customers. A recent study showed that an increase in 1 star on Yelp resulted in a 9% increase in revenue. In that particular example of a small grocery store, that 9% was worth $20,000.

Top 10 Sites for TrafficIn the Internet Age, consumers have become smarter and more informed than ever before. No longer is an ad considered an honest appraisal of the business, but we value the reputation and personal experience far more than any other influence. What we lack in our experience, we seek out in others who have come before you. We are no longer satisfied with owning our experience in trial and error, but we value the moment of truth that someone else had.

This experience that others have is especially powerful when it comes to services that are high cost and less frequent, because we want to find someone who is trusted among our peers before making such a large commitment of our own time and money. Services such as remodeling, professional cleaning, plumbing and electrical work are prime examples of costly services that your regular consumer is not typically familiar with.

Most searches for a trusted service provider begin with a simple internet search and then begins the barrage of sponsored ads, flashing display banners and a thousand websites claiming they are the best in the business. To sift through the noise, a consumer will seek out sites that review those providers with as much clarity as we can hope to come by. Having a positive appearance on Yelp will not only improve your online reputation, but it can vastly effect your organic search ranking, by linking your website to your verified Yelp profile.

1. Claim your Yelp business and ensure all the information is filled out.

It goes without saying that owning your reputation begins with putting your best foot forward. Sign up as a business owner for free at Yelp. Take the time to write intelligent copy that highlights your best company traits. More importantly, you can use Yelp to boost your SEO by using the phone number that you list on your website. Search Engines use the phone number as a way to connect sites. Search Engines also scan your “About Us” section for keyword rich content, the “juice” that gets you to the top of Google Search rankings. Be sure to repeat and mention the types of services or products you are known for, whether that is “brunch”, “carpet cleaning” or “handmade hamster tuxedo costume”, use this space to attract those who might be searching on Google for the very service you offer.

 2. Encourage customers to write Yelp reviews

One of the rules of Yelp is that you may not offer reimbursement or discounts for writing positive Yelp reviews. Yelp is intended to be a site of honest reviews, but sometimes it can be the platform that an unhappy customer uses to vent their frustration about an experience that fell short of their expectations. Too often, Yelp can become the home of the person seeking a way to publicly vent, so it is important to encourage those who have had a good experience to share their opinion as well. Upon completion of a job, there is no shame in quickly saying “We love to hear from our customers and if you have a minute, a review on Yelp will help my boss appreciate my work today” or “Our new business is mostly found through word of mouth and social reviews, if you have a minute, a review would greatly help us continue to focus on providing great, affordable service.” Not getting enough reviews? We actually use ReviewBuzz as a reputation management tool that helps simplify the process of collecting reviews with friendly email reminders and incentives for employees to ask for the review.

3. Responding to negative Yelp reviews shows you care

It goes without saying that a manager should make every customer feel welcome and leave satisfied. You should use each negative review as an opportunity to improve the customer experience and rectify poorly handled situations. Apologize to your clients for the negative experience, provide more information, and offer a solution that will correct the issue. By doing so, you can show potential clients how great your customer service is and maybe get a few leads from those who would have gone elsewhere otherwise. It’s also good karma to thank those who leave positive reviews and welcome them back anytime.

4. Optimize your business photos for Yelp

A picture tells a thousand words. Use your Yelp photo library as a way to highlight some of the ways your business stands out. When reviewing a business site, the photos are featured more prominently than the reviews and can greatly improve your first impression. Yelp’s photo displays switch from square to rectangle pretty quickly and it is important to edit your photos prior to uploading. Keep your photos within these guidelines and you’ll be looking like a pro.

  • 650 x 410 pixels
  • Under 150 KB
  • Keep the action in the center square, this is what shows in the preview mode.
  • Add a built in image caption for greater effect
Utilize the entire space Yelp allows with 650x410 screenshots.

Utilize the entire space Yelp allows with 650×410 screenshots.

Yelp-Photo-Optimization-with-Photo

Center the action so that it appears in thumbnails.

 

 

 

 

 

Optimized Photo Display

The finished appearance is clear for big and small pictures.

5. Tracking your Yelp statistics through the business profile

Once you start using these tips for Yelp SEO, it’s important to measure and track your results to see if your efforts are actually paying off. You can add to your campaigns by including deals, call to action buttons, and paid advertising, but you should know that the best parts of Yelp are free! Use Yelp for Business Owners to see how much traffic you’re getting on your Yelp page and watch for any irregularities.

I hope this has been a helpful introduction to making the most of your Yelp account. IMA Interactive can handle Yelp account management and successfully integrate it to your website SEO and PPC campaigns.

Yelp Activity Screen

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