Google Analytics Implementation Guide for Beginners

We discussed on a previous post the different Google Analytic Code configurations you can do in order to set the correct tracking on your web site.

Today I am to show how to plan your Google Analytics Implementation setup by providing a guide with detailed task lists, linking at the best sources/blogs I have seen on the internet. Those sources, hopefully, will take you through the process whether you plan to use Universal or an Enterprise (Google 360) Solution.

Please bear in mind that this was useful to me a couple of years ago when I worked on an acquisition focused web site and it is NOT a good guide for e-commerce web sites.

I have also created an excel sheet you can download and use for your own implementation.

The links I include in the excel sheet are from the following sources/authors:

Simo Ahava – Simo probably knows more about GTM and Google Implementation than Google itself. If you want to go beyond standard GA tracking this is the blog to read. (Ideal for Advanced)
Justin Cutroni – Veteran on Web Analytics. (Ideal for Beginners)
OptimizeSmart – Great Google Analytics resources and author of Math & Stats for Web Analytics & Conversion Optimisation. (Ideal for Beginners)
LunaMetrics – Big respect to these guys and the content they provide. If you are starting now, this is the place to be. (Ideal for Beginners)
Digital Insights World – Shameless self promotion (Ideal for Beginners)

How to set up a google analytics account for your website

If you want to go with the GTM option then you can read a previous post in How to Install Google Analytics Universal with Google Tag Manager. If you want to do this manually then this is absolutely fine. Make sure you customise your google analytics tracking code in a way that server your web site set up.

Google Analytics Implementation Guide – Excel Download & Google Docs URL

You can get access to these document be either sharing via social media (I will appreciate that a lot!) or by directly clicking on the Google Docs URL

I have categorised the implementation tasks to Critical, High Priority, Medium Priority, Low Priority and Optional and you are advised to follow that order.

Let’s start!

How to setup google analytics

Critical Google Analytics Implementation Tasks

Below are the most Critical tasks and a bare minimum to do before using your GA data for analysis. This includes implementing the right code on your site based on your functionality and structure (Dynamic pages, iFrames, etc), auto linking your webmaster and adwords account, create the appropriate filters for your reports and ofcourse making sure all your campaigns (email, social, affiliate links) are tracked correctly with the right parameters.

• Universal Analytics implementation – Track visitors, visits and pageviews across subdomains and cross domains using Universal Analytics.
• Dynamic pages – There are certain dynamic pages the visitor proceeds through where the URL does not change such as a form submission or an internal search option.
• iFrames – If you still use iFrames on your web site
• URL based campaign tagging – Provide best practices for tagging different traffic sources.
• AdWords autotagging – General auto tagging instructions
• Webmaster tools Linking – GA with Webmaster Tools (WMT)
• Filters – Ensure standard recommended filters are implemented e.g. Exclude IP, Include Hostname (for roll up tracker), etc.

High Priority Google Analytics Implementation Tasks

• Enhanced Ecommerce – If you are a retailer this should be your top priority. If you are a publisher you should consider using it for content tracking.
• Error page tracking – Identify referrals to error pages (404s)
• Full customer journey across devices – Implement User ID for cross-device reporting
• Affiliate Tracking – Pass through affiliate code to GA
• Site Search – Capture onsite searches
• Members Segment reports by registered members
• Channel By traffic source
• Product (and then by channel) E.g. Clothes, Shoes, etc.
• Device E.g. desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.
• Google BigQuery (for Google Premium users only) – Connect data together to see single view of customer

Medium Priority Google Analytics Implementation Tasks

• Display / Demographic Information – Doubleclick, AdWords and GDN integrations
• Registrations – How many are made? How many users drop off? Why do they drop off? What device were they using?
• Sign up form – Track number of interactions and whether they were successful or unsuccessful
• Social buttons – Use social tracking where applicable to track interactions with onsite social buttons
• Form fields – Number of abandoned bets slips and Number of incomplete form entries What form field errors occur? Where do users drop of from a form?
• Member by type E.g. VIP
• By sub-product – Within sports (product) someone who only bets on tennis
• Cross selling – What products are most lucrative to cross sell to customers? What additional products do customers use?
• Cross product usage – What other products do users use whilst already using one?
• Attribution modeling (with Custom Channel Groupings) ”
  • Display advertising
  •  Retargeting
  • Campaign Tracking for Emails, Affiliate Partners

Low Priority Google Analytics Implementation Tasks

• Time lag to conversion – Time between first visit and registration
• Onsite interactions – Track important onsite interactions e.g. Join Now buttons, game launch buttons and live chat usage
• First product viewed “People who first come in looking for a product e.g. sports – Would like to see which channel e.g. paid search had an impact i.e. are they more valuable than non-paid visitors?
• Visitor-level custom dimension – Cohort analysis

Please do let me know if i missed something and I will upload the doc. This is by no means an exhaustive list.