Earlier this week I was invited to lead a discussion for #NPTalkIRL (non-profit talk in real life) about the topic of Google Analytics. Since it was a very open ended topic area, I chose to talk about how to more effectively use Google Analytics and to gain insights into your website (in this case non-profit website). The format of the presentation was very informal – no powerpoint or computer allowed. Just an intimate group of non-profits interested in getting better at web measurement. And a great group it was!
Normally I post slides to my presentations on the blog for people to see, but since there were no slides allowed, I normally wouldn’t have anything to post.
Fortunately one of the attendees of the event, @coien, was “live tweeting” my tips for everyone to enjoy. I rounded up all of his tweets and included below. Thank you, @coien, for making me sound much better than I likely did IRL.
* Blessing and curse of Google Analytics: it’s free and easy. So easy that you get into the habit of not doing anything w/ it.
* Add custom tag to the end of your URL so you know if ppl visit site site from Twitter, etc. Otherwise may turn up as direct visit
* People who visit your site from social media behave completely differently from people who come in from search or typing in URL.
* See a Google Analytics report that you like? Click Add to Dashboard to access it easily.
* Ask yourself early and often: what is the goal of this website?
* Your top 10 searches are probably all for your specific brand name. Getting beyond that is how to build search traffic.
* Book recommendation: Web Analytics: An Hour a Day, by Avinash Kaushik. Another rec: taking the Analytics IQ test.
* If someone hits a “Thank You” page, that’s usually a goal. Create a funnel to see how many make it past each step to get there.
* Twitterfeed can integrate with Google Analytics URL Builder to get you custom data. Sweet!
* Don’t aim to arbitrarily increase traffic if that extra traffic doesn’t meet your website’s goals.
* Got a blog? Look at PostRank Analytics for some next level analysis beyond Google Analytics
* Another next step: site surveys like 4Q that can ask visitors if they accomplished their goals, and to rank their experience
I also enjoyed interacting with @jjmillard, @shayspeed, @nomadic_mind, @nonoah and @aokolue, and wanted to thank @jlbraaten for making the introduction and @SocialNicole for doing great things with #nptalk.
If you are interested in learning more about Non Profit Talk, learn more here.
Three Deep really enjoyed supporting the Non-Profit community and we love talking about Google Analytics!
