IRWD Recap and Some Inexpensive Website Tools
In my desperate search for the perfect web analysis and optimization toolbox, I can't help but be drawn to new tools and gadgets whenever I get a chance. Of course some disappoint, and some are amazing - but it always comes down to the question of value.
Back on Valentine's day, I had the wonderful opportunity to present some of the results of my curiosity to a great crowd at the 2011 Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference in Orlando, and I'd like to be able to share some of the tools I discussed with you, too.
Hopefully you'll be able to find at least one tool that can help you gain a little insight into what your users are thinking when they visit your site and give you some great ideas for analysis and optimization.
Here is the summary of all tools, tips, and resources we covered in our presentation, which was called Measure and Optimize your Web Site Without Going Broke.
Due to time limitations, I've had to leave many great tools out. For example, Crossbrowsertesting.com is a fantastic tool for developers and designers - you may be surprised to see how your site looks in different browsers (including mobile ones)!
If you have used another great free or inexpensive tool and would like to share it with everyone, please leave a comment!
Finally If you want to read more about the presentation, here are two articles (the first one's worth it just for the horrible photo of me):
Low-cost web tools can unearth a treasure trove of data
Free analytics tools offer big help to retailers with small budgets
IRWD Recap and Some Inexpensive Website Tools
In my desperate search for the perfect web analysis and optimization toolbox, I can't help but be drawn to new tools and gadgets whenever I get a chance. Of course some disappoint, and some are amazing - but it always comes down to the question of value.
Back on Valentine's day, I had the wonderful opportunity to present some of the results of my curiosity to a great crowd at the 2011 Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference in Orlando, and I'd like to be able to share some of the tools I discussed with you, too.
Hopefully you'll be able to find at least one tool that can help you gain a little insight into what your users are thinking when they visit your site and give you some great ideas for analysis and optimization.
Here is the summary of all tools, tips, and resources we covered in our presentation, which was called Measure and Optimize your Web Site Without Going Broke.
Due to time limitations, I've had to leave many great tools out. For example, Crossbrowsertesting.com is a fantastic tool for developers and designers - you may be surprised to see how your site looks in different browsers (including mobile ones)!
If you have used another great free or inexpensive tool and would like to share it with everyone, please leave a comment!
Finally If you want to read more about the presentation, here are two articles (the first one's worth it just for the horrible photo of me):
Low-cost web tools can unearth a treasure trove of data
Free analytics tools offer big help to retailers with small budgets
Google Checkout and Google Analytics – Asynch Edition
Since October of 2006, Google Checkout users have been able to track transactions within Google Analytics.
The problem is that since 2006, the basic Google Analytics code has changed THREE times, from urchin.js to ga.js to the asynchronous version of ga.js.
Unfortunately, the Google Checkout integration is one whole version behind. Seriously, the extensive documentation found here doesn't even mention the asynchronous code (as of 11/1/2010).
Well, hopefully we here at ROI Revolution can help with this problem until a more integrated solution comes out. The best part is this solution is pretty simple.
As with any Google Analytics / Google Checkout integration, there are basically two steps.
Check after the jump for the complete instructions!
Step 1: Add a hidden field to your Google Checkout buttons.
This step hasn't changed from previous integrations, so if you've done this before, you should be all set.
Basically, each Google Checkout button on the page needs to have a hidden field added with the name "analyticsdata", like this:
<input type="hidden" name="analyticsdata" value="">
If you're feeling fancy, you can even add this code dynamically using JavaScript.
Previous versions of the code also require you to add an onsubmit event. With the asynchronous Google Analytics code, this is no longer necessary. In fact, if you have the onsubmit event that calls the function setUrchinInputCode, you must remove it.
Step 2: Add some code after the asynchronous Google Analytics code on the site.
Your asynchronous Google Analytics code should look something like this:
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXX-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>
Simply add this code below the Google Analytics script - and AFTER any forms on the page that use Google Checkout:
<script src="http://checkout.google.com/files/digital/ga_post.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script>
_gaq.push(function () {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTrackerByName();
setUrchinInputCode(pageTracker);
});
</script>
An important thing to note here if your site uses a secure protocol (https://), then you'll need to update the src of ga_post.js to this:
https://checkout.google.com/files/digital/ga_post.js
Again, if you have an older version of the Google Analytics code, you can find the instructions for integrating Google Analytics and Google Checkout here.
Funnels on the Fly in Google Analytics
So there you are - you're all ready to put more oil in your car, or maybe you're trying to fill your sugar jar. Maybe you're all set to do some ironing, but you need to put some water in the iron. Whatever the reason, it immediately hits you that you'll be needing a funnel - but... OH SNAP!
You don't have one. Or you can't find it. What do you do? You improvise of course!
Quickly and with a MacGyver-like moment of inspiration, you grab a 2-liter bottle from your recycling bin and cut the top off. Phew - that was a close one! Now you won't have oil on your driveway, or water all over your bedroom carpet, and you can go about your day feeling like a secret genius.
Now, a funnel would have still been the best tool for the job, but sometimes it's just not available. What the heck does this have to do with Google Analytics?
Well, Google Analytics has a great built-in Funnel Visualization report, but the problem is that it only works if you have the foresight to build it ahead of time. Funnels are never retroactive - they will only start working the moment you create them. What if you have multiple landing pages? Moreover, what if you only want to look at AdWords traffic? Well, you would need a separate profile in addition to a properly set up funnel, and all of this has to be set up ahead of time.
The problem is that often you won't know what kind of funnel you need until it's too late. Having 20 goals in Google Analytics is great, but you could have a million and it wouldn't make a difference.
The good news is there's hope. That hope is called Advanced Segments. Here's how you do it:
Step 1: Define the funnel.
This part is pretty straightforward. Lay out the path you are trying to get information on, along with any other parameters (AdWords only, US only, etc.), like this:
Step1: /consumer/special/index.html (Landing Page)
Step 2: /order.html
Step 3: /cart.asp
Step 4: /checkout.asp
Step 5: /bonus.asp
Step 6: /order-receipt.asp
Step 2: Create a new Advanced Segment.
First, make sure you change the calendar so that you're looking at the date range you want to analyze. Then click on the 'Advanced Segment' link in the left navigation:
Then click on 'Create custom segment' in the top-right:
Now you're ready!
Step 3: Results!
Let's start with just the landing page. I recommend doing a few things to the segment. First, use 'Page instead of 'Landing Page' and 'Contains' as the match type. Give your segment a name, and then click the 'Test Segment' button:
Make a note of that number - I usually do this in a spreadsheet (see below), although I have plans to use the Google Analytics Data Export API for this.
Next, by adding a second page, we can then see how many people looked at both in the same visit. You can do this one page at a time. Let's use the /checkout.asp page as an example:
Once you've done this for all of your pages, you'll have your improvised funnel report:
Finally, if you want to further segment the funnel, you can repeat the process with an additional condition. Here's the same segment we did before, but just for AdWords traffic:
By doing this analysis, you will get a real feel for how your actual funnels are performing and be able to take better benchmarks before running tests. Plus, you can feel like a secret genius.
