Google Analytics for Beginners Flashcards
Why Digital analytics?
- Digital Analytics allows the tracking of the Purchase Funnel.
- Use data to make informed decisions on reaching new and existing customers.
- Can identify and remove errors in sites by tracking online customer purchases.
- Can build loyal customers.
- Can collect data from:
* websites
* Applications
* online point-of-sales systems
* video game consoles
* Customer relationship management system
* Other internet-connected platforms
What is Google Analytics?
A platform that collects data and compiles it into useful reports.
How to track a website?
1) Create a Google Analytics account.
2) Add a small piece of Javascript tracking code to each page on your site.
When does the tracking code activate?
Any time a user loads a page with the tracking code.
What does the tracking code do?
It will collect anonymous information about how a user interacted with the site and send the data to G.A. for analysis.
What browser information does the tracking code collect of the user?
- Language of the browser
- Type of browser (Chrome or Safari)
- Device
- Operating system
- Traffic source
Traffic source
What bought users to the site in the first place.
Page loads
When a user visits a webpage, their browser requests the HTML content from the server.
What does the tracking code embedded in a website’s pages do?
The tracking code continuously collects and sends updated information about the user’s activity to the analytics platform every time a page loads. This real-time data collection enables businesses to monitor user behaviour and make informed decisions to improve their website and marketing strategies.
Session
A period of time during which a user interacts with a site.
When does a session begin?
When a user loads a page with the tracking code.
When does a session end by default?
A session ends after 30 mins of inactivity. A new session will begin if the user returns to a page after a session ends.
What does G.A. do with the information sent by tracking code?
It processes, aggregates and organises the data into reports.
Configuration settings
Configuration settings in Google Analytics allow you to customize how data is processed.
What happens once Google Analytics processes the data?
Once Google Analytics processes the data, it’s stored in a database where it can’t be changed. This data then appears in Google Analytics as reports.
What is an “Organization” in Google Analytics and what does it allow you to do?
An “Organization” in Google Analytics is an optional grouping that allows you to manage multiple Google Analytics accounts under one umbrella.
What is created when you create a Google Analytics account?
- When creating an account, you automatically create a property and a view within that property.
- Each account can have multiple properties, and each property can have multiple views.
What does a Google Analytics account manage?
- The account determines how data is collected from websites and manages who can access that data.
- Separate accounts are typically created for distinct businesses or business units.
How do properties collect data in Google Analytics?
- Each account has at least one property.
- Properties collect data independently using unique tracking IDs.
What is the purpose of having multiple properties in Google Analytics?
- Multiple properties help organize data collection based on different aspects of the business, such as sales regions or brands.
- However, data from separate properties cannot be viewed in aggregate.
What do properties and views do?
- Each Google Analytics account can contain multiple properties, which represent individual websites, apps, or other digital assets being tracked.
- Within each property, you can create multiple views, which are customized settings for how data is collected, processed, and displayed in reports.
What feature allows you to determine what data you want to include in the reports for each view?
- Filters are a feature in Google Analytics configuration settings that allow you to specify criteria for including or excluding certain data from reports in each view.
- By applying filters, you can control which data is included in the reports for each view, helping you focus on the most relevant information for your analysis.
Property (Simple explanation)
Imagine you own multiple websites or apps. Each of these is like a property in Google Analytics. It’s where all the data about your website or app’s performance is collected and stored.
View (Simple explanation)
Now, think of a view as a customized way of looking at the data from one of your properties. It’s like putting on different glasses to see only the information you’re interested in. You can set up different views to focus on specific aspects or segments of your website or app’s traffic. For example, you might have one view that shows data only from a certain country or one that excludes internal traffic from your office. Views help you analyze your data more effectively by filtering out what’s not relevant to your current focus.
What can you set at the view level in Google Analytics?
At the view level in Google Analytics, you can set up “Goals.” Goals are used to track conversions or business objectives on your website.
New and deleted views in G.A.
New views: Data starts collecting from the date the view is created. No historical data is included.
Deleted views: Once a view is deleted, it’s usually gone for good. Only administrators may be able to recover it within a specific time frame (35 days).
How are permissions assigned in Google Analytics?
Permissions can be assigned to other users at the account, property, or view level. Each level inherits permissions from the level above it.
EXAMPLE:
1) If you’re granted access to an account, you automatically have access to all properties and views associated with it.
2) If you’re granted access to a specific property within an account, you can view and modify settings related to that property but not to other properties or the account itself.
3) If you’re granted access to a view, you can only view data and make modifications within that view. You won’t have permission to modify the property or account associated with that view.
What user roles can you set in Google Analytics and what are their permissions?
Administrator: Can add or remove user access to the account, property, or view.
Editor: Can make changes to the configuration settings.
Analyst: Can share things like dashboards or certain measurement settings.
Viewer: Can view data, analyze reports, and create dashboards, but cannot make changes to the settings or add new users.
How can you access the views available for a property in Google Analytics?
1) Click the “Admin” tab at the top of the Google Analytics dashboard.
2) Under the “View” column, select “View Settings.”
3) By default, Google Analytics sets up an unfiltered view called “All Web Site Data,” containing all the raw, unchanged data collected for the property.
4) It’s recommended to rename this view to “Raw data” for clarity. Simply type in the new name and click “Save.”
What is raw data?
The “raw data” view contains all the data collected for a property without any filters or modifications applied. It includes every pageview, event, transaction, and other user interactions recorded on your website, providing a comprehensive dataset for analysis.
What is a test view?
A test view in Google Analytics is a separate view or profile that you set up specifically for testing purposes. It allows you to experiment with different configurations, filters, or settings without affecting your main reporting data.
How do you set up a test view in Google Analytics?
1) Click the view selector pull-down menu at the top left of the Google Analytics dashboard.
2) Select “Create new view” from the menu.
3) Name the new view “Test View” and click “Create view.”
4) Now, you’re in the “Test View” for the property.
5) To filter out automated bot and spider traffic, go to “View Settings” for the Test View.
6) Scroll down and find “Bot Filtering.”
7) Select “Exclude all hits from known bots and spiders.”
8) Click “Save” to apply the settings.
What are bots and spiders?
Bots and spiders are automated programs that visit websites, and their interactions can skew your analytics data if left unfiltered.
Why is bot filtering important?
Applying this filter helps improve the accuracy of your analytics data by focusing on real user engagement and behavior. It ensures that your analysis and decision-making are based on genuine user interactions, rather than inflated numbers caused by bot traffic.
How do you create a Master View in Google Analytics?
1) Click “Admin” in the top right corner of the Google Analytics dashboard.
2) Under the “View” column, select the view you want to copy (e.g., “Test View”).
3) Click “Copy view” in the top right corner.
4) Rename the copied view to “Master View.”
5) Click “Copy view” to create the new Master View.
6) Verify the creation of the Master View by checking the View menu.
7) All settings and filters from the original view, such as excluding bot traffic, will be included in the new Master View.
Master view
View with all the reporting and analysis
Filters
Determine what data we want Analytics to display in each view.
Filter types
1) Predefined- templates for common filters.
2) Custom- design a filter.
How do you add filters in Google Analytics to determine the data displayed in each view?
1) Change View Selector: In the right-hand column under “View,” change the view selector from “Master View” to “Test View” to ensure filters are applied to the correct view.
2) Click “Filters”: Click on the “Filters” option.
3) Add Filter: Click “Add Filter” to begin setting up a new filter.
4) Name Filter: Name the filter, for example, “Exclude internal traffic.”
5) Select Filter Type: Choose the filter type. Since we want to exclude internal traffic, we’ll use the predefined filter for that purpose.
6) Select Predefined Filter: Choose “Predefined” as the filter type.
7) Select Exclusion: Select “Exclude” as the action for the filter.
8) Choose Source/Destination: Select “Traffic from the IP addresses” as the source or destination of the filter.
9) Select Expression: Choose “that are equal to” for the filter expression.
10) Enter IP Address: Type in the IP address to exclude. You can find your public IP address by searching “what is my ip?” in Google.
11) Save Filter: Click “Save” to save the filter.
12) Verify Filter: Check that the filter appears in the list of filters.
13) Test Filter: Verify that the filter is working by monitoring real-time traffic in the “Test View” and ensuring that internal traffic declines.
14) Apply Filter to Master View: Once verified, apply the filter to the “Master View” by selecting it from the list of existing filters.
15) Save Changes: Save the changes to apply the filter to the “Master View.”
Filter rank
Filters are applied in the order they appear in the filter settings, so consider the order when applying multiple filters.
Account/Property/View switcher
A feature in Google Analytics that allows users to switch between multiple accounts, properties, or views. Located in the upper-left corner, users can click on the pulldown menu with the title of their View to access this switcher.
Alert icon
Clicking the bell icon in the upper right provides alerts about issues or notifications related to your Google Analytics properties and views.
It alerts you to important information such as data collection issues or settings that need optimization.
Alert menu
This may include data that is not collecting properly or a setting that needs to be optimized.
The alert menu displays notifications about issues like improper data collection or settings that require optimization.
Customisation
The Customization section allows you to create custom reports, specific to your business.
Left-hand navigation
To navigate between reports, you’ll use the navigation on the left. Clicking on each of these sections will expose the reports that belong to each section.
Real-Time Reports
Real-Time reports let you look at live user behavior on your website including information like where your users are coming from and if they’re converting.
Audience Reports
show you characteristics about your users like age and gender, where they’re from, their interests, how engaged they were, whether they’re new or returning users, and what technology they’re using.
Acquisition Reports
Acquisition reports show you which channels (such as advertising or marketing campaigns) brought users to your site. This could include different marketing channels such as:
- “Organic” (or unpaid search)
- “CPC” (“cost per click” or paid search)
- “Referral” (traffic that comes from another website)
- “Social” (from a social network)
or “Other,” (a group of low-volume traffic sources)
Behavior Reports
Behavior reports show how people engaged on your site including which pages they viewed, and their landing and exit pages.
Key Event Reports/ conversions
allow you to measure website goals based on your business objectives.
Locate Analytics tracking code
Admin—>tracking info—>tracking code
What are the key elements of the Audience Overview Report in Google Analytics?
1) Date range: This allows you to specify the time frame for your analysis.
2) Date range selector: It’s a calendar where you can choose specific dates or predefined ranges. Changing the date range affects all reports in the view.
3) Date Range Comparison: You can compare data from two different date ranges, enabling you to observe changes over time.
4) Segment Picker: This allows you to select specific data sets for comparison, though it’s covered in more detail in advanced courses.
5) Line Graph: It shows metrics over time, with each point representing a data point in the selected date range.
6) Duration Selector: Adjusts the granularity of the data points, helpful when dealing with large datasets.
7) Metric Selector: You can change the metric displayed on the graph and compare it to another metric over the same time period.
8) Graph Annotator: Lets you add notes to the graph for context. Annotations are visible to other users with access to the view.
9) Metrics: Various metrics like sessions, users, pageviews, etc., provide insights into website performance.
10) New vs. Returning Users: This pie chart illustrates the proportion of new users compared to returning users.
11) Dimensions and Metrics: Clicking into dimensions reveals the top 10 dimensions and metrics in each category, allowing for deeper analysis.
12) Language Dimension: Default dimension showing language data, but you can also view country or city data.
Sessions (Audience Report metric)
total number of sessions for the given date range
Users (Audience Report metric)
total number of users that visited for the given date range
A user represents a unique individual who visited your website within the specified time period. Users are identified by unique cookies stored in their web browsers.
Pageviews (Audience Report metric)
total number of times pages that included your Analytics tracking code were displayed to users. This includes repeated viewings of a single page by the same user.
Pages per session (Audience Report metric)
average number of pages viewed during each session. This also includes repeated viewings of a single page.
Pages per session measure the extent to which users navigate through your website during a single visit. It reflects user engagement and the depth of interaction with your content.
Average session duration (Audience Report metric)
Average session duration measures the average amount of time users spend on your website during a single session.
Bounce rate (Audience Report metric)
Bounce rate measures the proportion of sessions that consisted of a single pageview without any further interaction.
Percent of New Sessions (Audience Report metric)
Percent of new sessions indicates the proportion of sessions initiated by users who have never visited your website before.
Importance: This metric helps assess the ability of your website to attract and retain new visitors.
What are the links under the Segment Picker of full reports?
The links control different types of data in the report which includes:
1) Summary view
2) Site usage
3) Goals
4) Ecommerce