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Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

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Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#11

Post by jcampbell1 »

cissou wrote: post #5
gesman wrote: post #4

What you pay is what you get!

Well, Google Analytics is very generous. It's just that what you save by getting it for free, you have to invest in educating yourself.

I agree. It is hard to use, but if you keep up with it, it is better than Mixpanel in many ways. For instance, it doesn't load your users with massive cookies that slow the site down, particurarly on mobile browsers. The latest GA session cookie is very clean.

I have seen many sites that would be strong and useful in the SERPS, but are trashed because they think they need to collect analytics from 6 different services. I have brought most of my A/B testing server side, because the site loads so fast, the A/B flicker affects the A/B test results.

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#12

Post by fellowniusmonk »

You can segment funnels if you use the API. In fact that's all a funnel is, a series of segments applied the the list of URLs you choose in the interface + their weird backfill mechanic.

Then you can create funnels based on dimensions and not just URLs.

Creating ad-hoc funnels that don't have the UI limitations and don't backfill are easy once you transition to the API.

But actually, don't transition to the API. Just start using their Big Query implementation, then you can write SQL against what is effectively marketing aware log analysis.

Or if you can afford it, just use Mix Panel...

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#13

Post by gk1 »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #11
cissou wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Google Analytics is very generous. It's just that what you save by getting it for free, you have to invest in educating yourself.

I agree. It is hard to use, but if you keep up with it, it is better than Mixpanel in many ways. For instance, it doesn't load your users with massive cookies that slow the site down, particurarly on mobile browsers. The latest GA session cookie is very clean. I have seen many sites that would be strong and useful in the SERPS, but are trashed because they think they need to collect analytics from 6 different service…

> It is hard to use, but if you keep up with it, it is better than Mixpanel in many ways.

This basically sums up this entire discussion. GA is powerful, and for that you pay the price of a slight learning curve (or paying someone like me to set it up quickly). Oh, and it's free.

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#15

Post by gk1 »

hvass wrote: post #7

I know that a lot of people use PadiTrack to better understand their GA funnels and it provides segments as far as I know? Plus, it's free. http://paditrack.com What do you guys use for funnel analysis? I think as a paid solution KISSMetrics covers some of the issues outlined in this post.

Well, they are a web analytics company, so I'd wager they use themselves. :)

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#16

Post by cissou »

gk1 wrote: post #9

I help companies set up their GA tracking[0], so let me offer some tips and responses. > 1. No events in your funnels. The simple solution is to use virtual page-views, as mentioned in the article. If you're using Google Tag Manager (and you should), you do not have to re-code your website tracking. That's the point of GTM: You can make changes to tracking without touching your code. It's unlikely that this virtual p…

FUD would have been to disregard Goal flows entirely. The fact that GA gives you the choice is part of the problem: there are two funnel visualizations, and it confuses most people.

If you believe that web-analytics should be understood and used by just a few, then it's OK, GA is great. But if the discipline wants to reach a broader audience, product choices should be made, but GA will not commit to such changes apparently.

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#17

Post by hvass »

gk1 wrote: post #15
hvass wrote: post #7

I know that a lot of people use PadiTrack to better understand their GA funnels and it provides segments as far as I know? Plus, it's free. http://paditrack.com What do you guys use for funnel analysis? I think as a paid solution KISSMetrics covers some of the issues outlined in this post.

Well, they are a web analytics company, so I'd wager they use themselves. :)

I mean what other tools besides KISSMetrics people use for funnel analysis.

Thanks for your post by the way, helped clarify few points.

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#18

Post by cissou »

hvass wrote: post #17
gk1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they are a web analytics company, so I'd wager they use themselves. :)

I mean what other tools besides KISSMetrics people use for funnel analysis. Thanks for your post by the way, helped clarify few points.

mixpanel, paditrack, localitycs, click tale, adobe analytics, webtrends, there are many softwares available in this space

Re: Secrets about Google Analytics funnels

#19

Post by gk1 »

cissou wrote: post #16
gk1 wrote: post #9

I help companies set up their GA tracking[0], so let me offer some tips and responses. > 1. No events in your funnels. The simple solution is to use virtual page-views, as mentioned in the article. If you're using Google Tag Manager (and you should), you do not have to re-code your website tracking. That's the point of GTM: You can make changes to tracking without touching your code. It's unlikely that this virtual p…

FUD would have been to disregard Goal flows entirely. The fact that GA gives you the choice is part of the problem: there are two funnel visualizations, and it confuses most people. If you believe that web-analytics should be understood and used by just a few, then it's OK, GA is great. But if the discipline wants to reach a broader audience, product choices should be made, but GA will not commit to such changes appa…

Isn't this an inherent problem of any sophisticated tool? AutoCAD is a nightmare to learn for most people, but that's OK. The ones who just want a simple modeling program can use Google Sketchup. Similarly, anyone who just wants basic metrics (visits, sources) can use GA out of the box or use one of the simpler solutions (many of which have been named in this thread).

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of room for improvement in GA, and even I continue to learn new things about it all the time. I just don't want to see it watered down to the lowest common denominator.

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