1 / 54

Google Analytics: Beyond the Code

Google Analytics: Beyond the Code. Robert Sebek Webmaster, Virginia Tech Libraries rsebek@vt.edu. Create a GA profile Configure Site Search Settings Keep searcharg , author, title, SEARCH Exclude startLimit , SORT, endLimit , (and maybe searchscope ).

landry
Download Presentation

Google Analytics: Beyond the Code

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Google Analytics: Beyond the Code Robert Sebek Webmaster, Virginia Tech Libraries rsebek@vt.edu

  2. Create a GA profileConfigure Site Search SettingsKeep searcharg, author, title, SEARCHExclude startLimit, SORT, endLimit, (and maybe searchscope)

  3. Copy and paste tracking code to botlogo file. Also manually add to pages that don’t use botlogo (view source to check).Restart server.Verify code is visible in source and GA has started tracking.

  4. So you added the GA code you’re your OPAC. Now what?

  5. Top Content is the most commonly viewed report, so let’s use it to define the labels.

  6. I have separate Profiles for different Virginia Tech library websites; this is the one for our OPAC. Limited configuration options results in several profiles.

  7. You can Export any report and you can add them to your Dashboard. URLs are persistent.

  8. Segments are a way of viewing a slice of your data, or multiple slices.

  9. Switch from Explorer view to Navigation Summary to see common paths through the site.

  10. You can change from the default view of the last month’s data, and you can compare two date ranges.

  11. Here we’re viewing our fall semester’s usage. Note the typical wave pattern.

  12. If you compare date ranges, be sure to pick the same start day of the week (so waves match up) and note other events (like first day of the semester).

  13. Stats at a glance—but not very useful for a site like an OPAC with so many “pages.” Better to compare similar pages (static vs. dynamic)

  14. Top viewed pages (by URL). Outside of standard pages like search screens, not much useful here. Note we’re also tracking outbound links.

  15. My Millennium page (patron has logged in); one has kept the scope and one hasn’t (unscoped version probably from links outside the OPAC)

  16. Link back to library home page. Other highly ranked out bound links include university home page, Summon, library hours, and ILL

  17. Logged in patrons viewing their checked out items. This page shot up the list once we started including the URL in courtesy notices and text messages.

  18. Lots of stats. These are much more meaningful in some context or when limited to useful subsets of data.

  19. Pageviews: people who triggered the JavaScript on this page

  20. Unique Pageviews: people who triggered the javascript on this page for the first time (cookie)

  21. Avg Time of Page: Measured after leaving this page for another tracked on your site

  22. Bounce Rate: Use hits a single page on your site and then leaves. “I came, I saw, I puked.” Bounce Rate: Use hits a single page on your site and then leaves. “I came, I saw, I puked.”

  23. % Exit: This was the last page before they left your site. (High exits are good on pages linking to external resources: ebooks, ejournals, databases.)

  24. OPAC search screen: Time on page is accurate, surprisingly low bounce and exit rates (people don’t come by accident, not much there to fool search engines)

  25. My Millennium screen: Surprisingly low time on page, expected low bounce and exit rates (because you have to login to get there)

  26. Outgoing links: We use Link Tagger code: analyticsmarket.com/freetools/link-taggerParticularly tracking links to ebooks and ejournals

  27. Here’s an example of click-throughs to Knovelebooks. We can export this data to Excel and compare with usage data supplied by vendor.

  28. I used a filter to see this slice of data. /outgoing/www.knovel

  29. How often were title searches used? searchtype=t|/search/t\?

  30. How often were author searches used?searchtype=a|/search~S.\?/a

  31. How often were subject searches used?searchtype=d|/search/d|/search~S.\?/d

  32. Other built-in reports: Mobile Devices AirPac does include GA tracking code

  33. Other built-in reports: Referring Sites

  34. Other built-in reports: Keywords that direct people to your site

  35. Other built-in reports: Site Search(search terms entered in the OPAC)

  36. The real utility is in creating Custom Reports; you set Metrics (which stats are reported) and Dimensions (what data is displayed)

  37. Landing pages are the first page a user sees on your site. Get this custom report: http://goo.gl/sI1TV

  38. How are people reaching this version of the My Millennium screen? Click through the listed URL to see referring page.

  39. Referring pages include Library website pages (as predicted earlier), Summon, and Serials Solutions pages (openURL).

  40. Which library pages? Click through to see specifics: Homepage, ILL, Circ, etc.

  41. What search engine keywords drives traffic to our catalog? Click through to see. Get this custom report: http://goo.gl/ic6Y6

  42. Lots of people searching for link to catalog page (we also see many people searching for library homepage)

  43. Keywords used to find catalog pages in general. Get this custom search: http://goo.gl/ePpBj

  44. Advanced Segments lets us look at slices of data. Here I’ve created a segment that I’ll only use to view numbers of search terms:Catalog searches w/ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-10, 11+ Words Get this custom segment: http://goo.gl/e8kLd

  45. I used Test Segment to see these figures (no need to view a report). Otherwise easier to view one by one. No surprises up top: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-10, 11+ search terms steadily decrease in number View more rows to see: Bump in the 8-15 range (implies people are searching using sentences or article titles, but less now with Summon) Implications for instruction/ prompts/ help pages

  46. Blank slide for full screen images

  47. We’ve created Filters (that permanently change the data collected) for My Millennium screens (My Library Account) to remove patron number. This protects patron privacy and helps group types of MLA pages.

  48. We strip out scope number (not needed by us) and patron number.

  49. Which MLA pages are used?

  50. How do patrons find catalog page • Keywords • Referrers • How do patrons search in the catalog? • Types of searches (keyword, author, title) • Scopes, limits • Number of search terms • How do patrons use My Millennium features? • How do patrons use the records they find? • Track outbound links to e-resources • Track outbound links to library webpages GA can show user behavior

More Related