If you don’t already use Google Analytics, we highly recommend you incorporate it into your marketing and data strategy. However, if you do already use Google Analytics, we hope these features will help hone in on seriously valuable information.
It’s no secret that Google Analytics is a powerful tool for associations. If you’re looking to enhance your analytics and drive up your marketing success, Google Analytics is the tool for you. It’s a free service that can offer a wide variety of tools, not just for marketing strategists, but professionals all across the board. In fact, Google Analytics is currently used by over 30 million different websites. This means over 30 million websites understand and use the power of Google Analytics to strengthen their marketing techniques.
It’s safe to say Google Analytics is a great tool that many organizations have seen success with. But without a proper run-down, Google Analytics can seem confusing. There’s a wide array of tools that can collect very specific data. If you aren’t sure about them, you could be missing out on valuable numbers. Let’s take a look at some of the most helpful tools that Google Analytics can provide for your association.
The analytics tracking features on Google Analytics is a great way to extract data from your marketing efforts. And with the website tracking tool, your association can get even more specific results.
Setting up analytics tracking for your website doesn’t have to be a hassle. Google makes it easy for any professional to set up tracking for their company website-or any other website they’d like to track. You can track your association website, a website for your events, or any other relevant domain that requires tracking.
To start, you want to create a property in Google Analytics. If you’re tracking one website, you only want to have one property. However, if you’d like to track multiple websites, you need to create a property for each website you want tracked. Once you create a property, you should be able to find your tracking id.
Google makes it simple to find your tracking id. Your tracking id will serve as a plug in for the overall tracking code snippet, giving you precise analytic results. Within your tracking code snippet, you want to replace the tracking id placeholder code with your unique tracking id. Take a look at how Google’s support page explains this in the image below:
For more information on how to set up website tracking, you can visit Google analytics support page linked above. Using website tracking will get you the best analytics results possible, helping your association grow and function efficiently.
Organizing your analytics into categories will make your life a lot easier, saving you time when it comes to analyzing your results.
This is why Google Analytics’ URL Builder tool is perfect for associations. It makes creating UTM parameters a breeze for anyone, even people with little to zero knowledge on campaign tracking. The online tool allows you to add UTM parameters onto any website link. It even creates the link for you. All it takes is a copy and paste, and you’re on your way to better tracking.
It also gives you options on how to track your link. You can track from a campaign source, which deals more with platforms that you host your link on. Or, you can track using a Campaign medium- what format you’re using to host your link (like a banner or even a well thought out email).So, how do you choose your method of tracking? You have to take into consideration what will work best with your association.
If your association does a ton of email campaign work, it might be best to set UTM parameter tracking based on a campaign medium. This is because you’re focusing more on the medium of promotion, rather than the source.However, if you promote a lot of your links on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or other social media channels, using campaign source tracking would be best for you.Here’s an image of what the Google Analytics Campaign URL Builder looks like:
If you’re looking to organize your data and create specific categories for analytics, the Google Analytics Campaign URL Builder could be the tool for you.
Ever wanted to see exactly who’s on your website right as they’re on it? With real-time reports on Google Analytics, now you can.The real-time reports option allows an inside look at your association’s audience. It gives you a live count of active users currently on the website you’re tracking, as well as helpful demographic information about these users.
So, let’s take a closer look at how this works. When you click on the “real-time” tab on the Google Analytics page, it will take you to your live audience viewer. This page offers a ton of insight for associations looking to analyze their audience.
You can view your top active pages on your website, showing what your audience is currently interested in seeing from your association. You can also view exactly where your viewers are from throughout the world. This is great for associations looking to know more about where there traffic comes from. Take a look here:
The real-time page tracks users by the minute and by seconds, showing your short-term analytics. You can also track what’s attracting audiences, such as top keywords, top social traffic, and top referrals. The real-time reports tab on Google Analytics will help any association see exactly how their long-term analytics come in every second of the day.
Did you know you can go mobile with Google Analytics? With 80% of internet users owning a smartphone, it’s important that Google provides a mobile option for those looking to work on the go. Google Analytics for Mobile allows users to measure and optimize their collected data without the hassle of having to be tied to a desktop.
There are two ways to utilize Google Analytics on a mobile device.
First, you can use their mobile interface on any device browser. This is perfect for someone looking to check their analytics from any location. The mobile interface is easy to use, user-friendly, and has a fast download time. Looking for something even more mobile-friendly? Check out the Google Analytics app for mobile. The Google Analytics mobile app is a great way to keep your mobile analytic tracking in one easy place. The interface works well with any mobile device, making it simple to check any aspect of your data analytics. Here’s a look at how the Google Analytics mobile app looks on an iOS mobile device:
If you’re looking to have an optimal way to check your association’s data analytics, the mobile features Google Analytics offers could make your job a whole lot easier.
Data analytics can be both simple and detailed. Using Google Analytics, your association can get serious insight on where to put its efforts in order to drive up future success.
If you don’t already use Google Analytics, we highly recommend you incorporate it into your marketing and data strategy. However, if you do already use Google Analytics, we hope these features will help hone in on seriously valuable information.
