Analytics confusion
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Hi all
I am trying to see how many people visit the 'report a repair' pages of our website. It is on a separate domain to our main site. I have looked in our Google account for stats on it and now got confused.
In our Google Analytics account, there is a property set up that says it is for spectrum-online (the domain I am after). However, it isn't collecting any data.
It's admin info is:
Tracking ID
UA-7828548-8
Property name
https://www.spectrum-online.co.ukThere is another one there set up under the name 'Western Challenge' that does have data and mentions it is for spectrum-online:
When I go into the Western Challenge property, the info is:
Tracking ID
UA-7828548-3
Property name
http://www.westernchallenge.co.ukWestern Challenge shouldn't exist now though. It was one of our old brand names and the site should be 301'd to the main www.spectrumhousing.co.uk site.
I looked in this property at the top pages where people appeared to be landing. There are 9 of them, all with stats against them.Usually you can click the icon next to the URL and be taken to the live page. I however get taken to the Spectrum home page each time. All very odd. UA-7828548-3 is not the GA code used on our main site.
I then tried clicking on a live spectrum-online page http://www.spectrum-online.co.uk/keyfax32/main.asp?co=KFRDROL_WCHA to see which Google UA number tracking code is being used but I can't see any GA code and it is a frame.
Queries are:
Why is the Western Challenge property collecting any info?
Why is the spectrum-online property not collecting any info?
Is there any Analytics code on the Spectrum-online site and if so where?Apologies if I'm missing something obvious but your help would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Hi Matt and Bridget,
Thanks for your help.
I have re-looked at the problem and spoken to one of our IT guys. Think we have collectively got to the bottom of it!
Spectrum-online seems to have two sorts of page - those with keyfax32 and those without. The ones I had checked for code had been the Keyfax pages and I hadn't known about the other type. The other type is the one with the UA-7828548-3 code e.g https://www.spectrum-online.co.uk/services/tenants/register.aspx. Our IT guy is going to see if it is possible to add the code to the other Keyfax32 pages.
The reason they appeared under the GA property with the domain set as Western Challenge was because historically, the Western Challenge domain would have had had that code on it and the Spectrum Online code (set up before I started). When Western Challenge was redirected, the Spectrum Online part was left.
I think the reason I kept getting redirected when trying to see the top pages under the UA-7828548-3 Western Challenge property is because the Western Challenge domain has a redirect on it and the domain hasn't been changed in the analytics property. I can't change it to spectrum-online.co.uk because no site is set up. As we are changing to a new system in a few months though I think I won't fiddle for now and will make sure the UA-7828548-3 code is transferred to the new system.
Hope that makes sense and thanks again.
See you at SearchLove....
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The good news is because your home page is collecting data the number of clicks to the "Request a repair" page [http://www.spectrum-online.co.uk/keyfax32/main.asp?co=KFRDROL_WCHA] should be present in Google Analytics becuase you have tags on your home page.
I would recommend adding GA tags to the submit a repair request page as well as establishing a goal conversion on this page to determine the effectiveness of this page.
You may improve user experience by launching the repair request form in a modal window or by adopting the uniform look and feel from your site and apply it to the form page so that the form page can live on its own. Perhaps adding some additional contact information to this page would also improve the user experience as the user may not know what to expect when filling out this form.
I have attached a mock up a what a potential modal would look like. Let me know if I can provide additional support.
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Hi Houses,
Sorry that you haven't had a followup to your question, did it get resolved? If not I'm happy to try and help.
Bridget
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Hi Matt,
Thanks for your response. I have looked at the traffic sources for Western Challenge and it is all coming from (direct) / (none) apart from 1 which came from Google/organic.
There is a bit of confusion on the second part of your answer. I probably wasn't clear enough. The Spectrum-online domain just deals with reporting a repair etc. It is accessible through links from our main website www.spectrumhousing.co.uk but it is separate to it. The GA code on www.spectrumhousing.co.uk is as you said and is collecting data as it should.
The bit I can't see GA code on is the Spectrum-online bit such as this page: http://www.spectrum-online.co.uk/keyfax32/main.asp?co=KFRDROL_WCHA, accessible from the 'report a repair' tab on www.spectrumhousing.co.uk where there is no GA code and a frame.
Under the Western Challenge analytics property, I can see 9 pages receiving traffic. One of which is www.westernchallenge.co.uk//services/tenants/reportarepair.aspx but this redirects to www.spectrumhousing.co.uk, as do the other 8 which is partly why I am confused.
Hope that makes sense and thanks for taking the time so far.
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Hello House In Analytics,
Why is the Western Challenge property collecting any info?
Your Western Challenge property could still be collecting analytics if you are only redirecting the home page to Spectrum Online as other deeper (sub-directories) pages within your site could still receive traffic if they have not been redirected. Also, any subdomains that are existing on the Western Challenge property could also receive traffic and depending on the UA account you used if could be referencing traffic from subdomains as well. I would evaluate the source of the traffic to the Western Challenge website to help determine how it is receiving traffic. For example is the traffic internal, email, organic, etc.
Depending on the size of the Western Challenge property and how long you plan on keeping that server or property alive the proper way to do this is by using a CName change (IP/DNS redirect). The CName change will forward all traffic to your Spectrum Online site if you choose to no longer host or support the Western Challenge property.
Why is the spectrum-online property not collecting any info? Is there any Analytics code on the Spectrum-online site and if so where?
This property has two Google Analytics tags on it but neither of them are the ones that you mentioned above so this is why the property isn't collecting data. The two tags present are Google Analytics UA-7828548-16 and Google Analytics UA-7828548-1. You can verify this by viewing the source of your code and searching for "UA-" as shown below:
| |
I would also suggest paste the GA code immediately before the closing tag rather than placing it at the end of the page.
Hope this helps you in establishing your analytics.
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