Goal tracking in Google Analytics
-
Hi folks
I read from various sources that if you setup goals in Google Analytics each of these goals can only be fulfilled once per visit. Also some sources suggesting that only one goal from each goal group can be fulfilled per visit.
On our site we have a goal for external links since this provides value to partners. Some users do open an external link in a new tab, then come back to the main site. Any further goal completions would then not get tracked. Since we apply a result based payment model for our work this means we are literally loosing money.
Anyone has official info from Google on this? Can it be configured? How long is a visit?
Thanks a million and have a great day.
Fredrik
-
We are actually using events as the basis for the goals. But we use the calcuations for conversions and conversion value as basis for many reports so its important that this value is correct. True, we can count the events, that is actually what we do now, manually in excel.
-
For something that repeats like that, I would instead use events, anyway. You'll be guaranteed that it's tracked.
Have you considered events? Would that work for you?
-
Hi Fredrik,
It seems I misinterpreted your original question, to be asking about completing multiple different goals per session. Now I understand your really interested about completing the same goal (External Link) multiple times per session.
Unfortunately i don't know of any articles/sources about this being possible.
-
Have you by any chance seen any articles or outher sources with info about it being possible?
There are quite a few articles stating the opposite. Like this one:
- Each conversion goal can only be triggered once per user session. It makes sense, since you don’t want one person to skew your conversion data by reaching a single goal multiple times in a visit. If you need to know the exact count, then use event tracking.
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/a-beginners-guide-to-conversion-goals-in-google-analytics/42558/
Thanks for the great input and giving us a chance of hope
Fredrik
-
Users only being able to fulfill one goal per visit is incorrect. Not only would it be unintuitive if Google set Goal Tracking up this way, it wouldn't be a very helpful feature if it did work this way.
A goal is triggered every time a goal URL is reached. A common case we see on our site would be a user fulfilling the "Signup" goal, and then proceeding to fulfill the "Contact Us", "Purchase", or "Review" goals. We track these goal URL's via the Google Analytics JavaScript API.
If this is a behavior you are seeing on your site, it could indicate that you have set something up improperly.
**Edit: Fredrik is asking about completing the same goal multiple times per session. This answer was assuming he was asking about completing different goals multiple times per session.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Drop in Bounce Rate in Google Analytics
Hi guys, I have recently seen a large drop in bounce rate (from GA) which seems unnatural for one of our clients website. Since the start of 2018, the bounce rate was consistently between 40-60%, and then saw a random spike, and now for the past two weeks, the bounce rate is below 10%. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas if this is a problem with GA, or the site itself. Site: https://www.zoomocarcredit.com/ Any comments/feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Jack. SnP0Hc4
Reporting & Analytics | | ChemistryMarketing0 -
Is it possible to use Google Tag Manager to pass a user’s text input into a form field to Google analytics?
Hey Everyone, I finally figured out how to use auto event tracking with Google Tag Manager, but didn't get the data I wanted. I want to see what users are typing into the search field on my site (the URL structure of my site isn't set up properly to use GA's built-in site search tracking). So, I set up the form submit event tracking in Google Tag Manager and used the following as my event tracking parameters: Category: Search Action: Search Value When I test and look in Google Analytics I just see: "search" and "search value." I wanted to see the text that I searched on my site. Not just the Action and Category of the event.... Is what I'm trying to do even possible? Do I need to set up a different event tracking parameter? Thanks everyone!
Reporting & Analytics | | DaveGuyMan0 -
Google Analytics
Is there any way around being able to set up 20 goals in Analytics? What if one of my clients want to set up 10 pages with separate actions to track on each page. Will then each actions count as a separate goal? If this is the case, how could I work around creating more than 20 goals? Would I have to look into hiring/buying a third party or separate software? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Reporting & Analytics | | flcity150 -
How do I manually add transactions to Google Analytics
We are seeing Google Analytic's drop transaction on our site so therefore all the figures are skewed. Is there a way I can manually add transactions to GA to cover the missing one?
Reporting & Analytics | | Towelsrus0 -
Tracking on Analytics .ca domain When Redirect From GoDaddy Control Panel?
I bought all .ca, .net, .org, .info and http://www.pilatesboisfranc.com at GoDaddy. I'm using .com and all others are redirect to the .com from the GoDaddy control panel. Is it easy to track any of thems on Analytics? I just installed the tracking code and I selected in the ''What are you tracking'' option from the ''Advance'' tab, '' Multiple top-level domains
Reporting & Analytics | | BigBlaze205
Examples: www.pilatesboisfranc.uk
www.pilatesboisfranc.cn
www.pilatesboisfranc.fr If someone enter http://www.pilatesboisfranc.ca will it be track? I don't know anything about coding, I hope you can help because I would like to use the .ca doamine to track advertising on my car... Thank you, BigBlaze0 -
AW Stats vs Google Analytics
Hey Moz Community, I am looking to get opinions on the best practice for analytics/traffic analysis. From experience I know that AW Stats reads high and Google Analytics reads low for traffic for reason in this article http://www.smartz.com/blog/2009/01/23/analytic-confusion-%E2%80%93-awstats-vs-google-analytics/ It drives me a little nuts how far off both are for some pages. I have one article that shows 100 views (GA) and AW stats shows 5 times that number of views. Any suggestions or systems you recommend? Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | johnshearer0 -
Tracking Required Form Fields in Google Analytics
I tried searching for this elsewhere but am having a hard time finding a good answer. Is it possible to track the effect of required form fields on conversions in Google Analytics? In other words, how do I track whether or not more/less people fill out a form if I make "Last Name" a required field? Thanks 🙂
Reporting & Analytics | | kylesuss0