Google Analytics
-
Hi Folks
I'm currently measuring multiple goals with Google analytics. At the end of the month I compare the Analytics numbers with my actual, from a diffident data base, and there is often a variance. My questions are;
1- Is there an accepted Delta % in goals eg: + or - 10%
2- Is there a resource that anybody found incredibly useful on this topic
3- does anybody have any tips on trouble shooting here?
Thank you in advance
-
Hi Ali,
While the contributors above make great points, it may be helpful to look into some resource info for more details. This won't provide you with a quick answer, but I found this book quite helpful in discussing issues on the discrepancies. Brian Clifton goes into quite a bit of detail in, "Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics". He addresses the points from the contributors above and quite a bit more.
best of luck.
-
but does this explain why the Google Analytics figures are always higher than actual?
-
David's answer is spot on. One thing he didn't mention is that it takes time for the goal javascripts to load. Many times, people who complete a transcation close the "Order Finished" page before the javascripts have a chance to load completely. Consequently, you are getting their conversion but it's not counting in the GA total.
-
Google Analytics
Goal 1 .... 237
Goal 2 .... 59
Goal 3 .... 3339According to our numbers
Goal 1 .... 222
Goal 2 .... 53
Goal 3 .... 2928 -
Just how different are the numbers? There are a number of possible reasons, including:
Google Analytics requires JavaScript, cookies and images to be enabled in the visitors browser in order to record visitor activity. It should be noted that there is an opt out plug-in for Google Analytics that will exclude visitors with the plugin installed from reporting their activity on your website.
Also, Google Analytics does not have a noscript section, so Google Analytics cannot track conversions for visitors with JavaScript disabled.
See also: http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1009616
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
-
Do things like using labels on an element that is not a form input affect how google sees us in regards to accessibility?
Do things like using labels on an element that is not a form input affect how google sees us? It's an accessibility error that our devs have made - using a label element because it looks good, not because it's an actual label on a form field. Just wondering how that affects accessibility in Google's eyes.
Web Design | | GregLB0 -
With Google's new Speed Update, what does that mean for AMP pages?
Hey everyone! I wanted to get the other Mozzers opinions on this. With Google announcing a new Speed Update that will affect mobile rankings, I wanted to ask: How will AMP pages play into this? Let me know what you think!
Web Design | | TaylorRHawkins
Thanks!2 -
Does Google count the domain name in its 115-character "ideal" URL length?
I've been following various threads having to do with URL length and Google's happiness therewith and have yet to find an answer to the question posed in the title. Some answers and discussions have come close, but none I've found have addressed this with any specificity. Here are four hypothetical URLs of varying lengths and configurations: EXAMPLE ONE:
Web Design | | RScime25
my-big-widgets-are-the-best-widgets-in-the-world-and-come-in-many-vibrant-and-unique-colors-and-configurations.html (115 characters) EXAMPLE TWO: sample.com/my-big-widgets-are-the-best-widgets-in-the-world-and-come-in-many-vibrant-and-unique-colors-and-configurations.html (126 characters) EXAMPLE THREE: www.sample.com/my-big-widgets-are-the-best-widgets-in-the-world-and-come-in-many-vibrant-and-unique-colors-and-configurations.html (130 characters) EXAMPLE FOUR: http://www.sample.com/my-big-widgets-are-the-best-widgets-in-the-world-and-come-in-many-vibrant-and-unique-colors-and-configurations.html (137 characters) Assuming the examples contain appropriate keywords and are linked to appropriate anchor text (etc.,) how would Google look upon each? All I've been able to garner thus far is that URLs should be as short as possible while still containing and contextualizing keywords. I have 500+ URLs to review for the company I work for and could use some guidance; yes, I know I should test, but testing is problematical to the extreme; I look to the collective/accumulated wisdom of the MOZVerse for help. Thanks.1 -
How to create Google Section or Jump To Links
Hello all! i need create a jump to links on my site and when seach a keyword on google it will display jump to links http://techwyse.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/google-jump-to-links.jpg i same with that images please help me how to do it, and have any plugin on wordpress can do that google-jump-to-links.jpg
Web Design | | ITVSEO.COM0 -
Responsive design and Google analytics mobile tracking codes?
Hi all, We are currently rebuilding a site using responsive design, however i have just had a thought. On another site where we have a mobile site under a sub-directory we utilise mobile tracking codes as we found that this was far more accurate for recording visits. On a responsive design site evidently all pages, desktop and mobile, will be under the same URL, yet the content will adjust to the screen size of the device. Should we also change the tracking code to be mobile code on the lower resolutions or would the same code be sufficient?
Web Design | | Sarbs0 -
From Google Sites to Wordpress - Anyone Ventured this SEO terrain?
We have a few sites in Google Sites - and they are ugly! We have a majority (40+) of websites in Wordpress. But we have a few websites just stuck on Google Sites, and since Google won't let you fully edit the HTML, add scripts, or implement any technology since 2000, we want to move. The sad problem - the Google sites are ranking well. We rank well in Manhattan, Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia. The problem is - the sites do not give much room for growth - and the bounce rate is high because they are so ugly. Has Anyone moved from Google sites to Wordpress? Should we just stay with Google and bite the ugly bullet? My fear is that these sites will not allow for growth. It is hard to update them and even harder to make them look nice. To get a sample - beware: www.counselingphiladelphia.com Even another reason to leave: The slider is non-semantic and terrible SEO. Google won't allow a slider script with tags and a hrefs, so the only way to implement a slider is through a Google Docs Presentation that keeps sliding. I know - terrible SEO (#donthate) but we needed something. Any advice and thoughts would help! Thanks Mozzers!
Web Design | | _Thriveworks0 -
Does Google take email server IP blacklists into account?
This is just a hypothetical, but would Google use information from email server blacklists to determine the quality of a website? The reason is that we're planning to code in an e-mail queuing system for our next CMS, and we would put SPF and DKIM in place. We wouldn't be sending any bulk e-mails (we use Constant Contact for this), but we might be sending personalised follow up e-mails, unpaid order emails and that sort of thing. There's no reason to think we'll be blacklisted, but from experience I know that these email blacklist directories quite often give false positives when an e-mail server is incorrectly configured. So the risk is that we might get blacklisted by mistake when we start using this new feature. Would Google take this into account as part of the algorithm? And if so, would the damage be permanent? (I.e. does getting removed from the blacklist mean Google will stop thinking we're a low quality / spammy site)
Web Design | | OptiBacUK0 -
Do Pages That Rearrange Set Off Any Red Flags for Google?
We have a broad content site that includes crowdsourced lists of items. A lot of the pages allow voting, which causes the content on the pages (sometimes the content is up to 10 pages deep) to completely rearrange, and therefore spread out and switch pages often among the (up to 10) pages of content. Now, could this be causing any kind of duplicate content or any other kind of red flags for Google? I know that the more the page changes the better, but if it's all the same content that is being moved up and down constantly, could Google think we're pulling some kind of "making it look like we have new content" scheme and ding us for these pages? If so, what would anyone recommend we do? Let's take an example of a list of companies with bad customer service. We let the internet vote them up and down all the time, the order changes depending on the votes in real time. Is that page doomed, or does Google see it and love it?
Web Design | | BG19850