Comparing Pages Per Session Across Variations in Optimizely

The tools that Optimizely gives you out of the box are excellent for lead gen or e-commerce sites. And while conversion metrics can and should be used for media sites, more often than not you’ll also want to be able to track the effect of any given experiment on pages per session.

The problem is that Optimizely, in most cases, will only let you track differences in whether or not a single event happened — a conversion. Optimizely also has built-in support for tracking the difference in revenue per visitor, but not for the difference in the average of any other metric that you might be interested in.

For the purposes of this post, I’ll be writing about how to get around that specifically for pages per session, but this can be used for any metric that can be tracked in Google Analytics.

Tracking Pages Per Session in Google Analytics

To get started, we’ll need to start tracking pages per session as a dimension in GA. Google Analytics will already track Pages Per Session as a metric, but since we’ll need the distribution in order to perform the analysis of the data we’ll need to track it as a dimension.

First, we need to create the dimension in GA.

Open up your Google Analytics account and click on the admin section.

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Next, go the “Property” panel and click on “Custom Definitions” then “Custom Dimensions.”

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By |2016-04-19T09:52:03-07:00April 19th, 2016|Analytics|0 Comments

Analytics Superpowers with Segment.io and Google Tag Manager

Analytics plays a critical role in improving conversions in several ways including exploratory analysis and ongoing reporting.  One of the main factors that can constrain your ability to optimize your site for conversions is the quality of the data you have available and your ability to act upon that information. There are an amazing array of web analytics solutions available to the marketer these days, but too often they’re underutilized in the face of other business priorities or technical and setup complications. That’s a gap in the analytics architecture, which  is just as important as the product architecture for online business.

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By |2014-05-07T00:04:47-07:00May 7th, 2014|Analytics|21 Comments

The Trouble with Attribution Models: Multi-device Realities and Conversion

One of the hottest topics in our industry and at a recent panel at SMX West is the reality of multi-device or multi-channel attribution and its impact on conversion optimization. If a user enters your funnel on one device and then picks up the process on another device, what does that do to your CRO efforts? It raises questions around managing the customer experiences, determining when and where cross-platform optimization is appropriate, and what if any impact this evolving reality has on our ability to measure and maximize conversions. Here’s a closer look at multi-device attribution and some preliminary thoughts on how you can work with this in your own efforts to increase conversions in your business.

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By |2014-04-29T19:48:25-07:00April 30th, 2014|Analytics|0 Comments

How to Close Your Data Gap with Outsourced Analytics

One recent study asked businesses to highlight which skill was most in demand in the online marketing world. The biggest gap that nearly 40% of companies noted was analytics capabilities. As the most desirable skill, this is an important message to job seekers. But it’s also critical for entrepreneurs and business owners to ask: are you using the analytical capabilities necessary to position your business for success? Do you have access to these insights from a current member of your team, and if not what are you doing about it? One solution that many companies find helpful is working with an outsourced data consultant. Here’s a closer look at what you need to know and how to ensure a successful collaboration.

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By |2014-04-21T14:53:04-07:00February 21st, 2014|Analytics|4 Comments

5 Steps to Restore Analytics Sanity and Make Better Decisions

Imagine being able to make the right decisions for your business without relying on your intuition.

This can be your reality.

If you know how to pay attention to the right metrics, you can use a numbers-based approach to guide your actions, increase your revenue, and make a mark in your niche.

Is More Data Better?

Most businesses are at least familiar with the importance of using metrics to become more successful online.

So they fire up Google Analytics or another analytics platform. They take a look at the mountain of data that’s available to them, throw their hands in the air, and promise themselves they’ll sort it out later.

With all the different data points to review—even on basic analytics platforms—it’s understandable for people to feel overwhelmed. They don’t have the time to become a technical genius just to understand their analytics report; they have to focus on running and growing their business.

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By |2014-04-21T14:58:39-07:00December 13th, 2013|Analytics|0 Comments

8 Questions Analytics Data Can Answer About Your Customers

You’re never going to grow your online business and improve conversions unless you use analytics. Back in the old days, the owner of a mom-and-pop store knew who was coming through the door, who’d sent them, what products were shifting and when to reorder. That’s what analytics tells you – and more – for an online ecommerce business or website. It can help increase conversions and website sales. While there are plenty of analytics tools, Google Analytics is one of the most widely used. More than likely you already have it installed on your site. The Google Analytics dashboard is divided into four sections: audience, traffic sources,content and conversions – let’s look at the information you get from each of these and how that can help you.

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By |2014-04-21T15:02:16-07:00September 30th, 2013|Analytics|0 Comments
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