Set Up of Goal Tracking with Google Analytics-$750 a Fair Price????

[Kingalan1]

Greetings Moz Community!

My firm operates commercial real estate website that contains 3-4 forms.  Each form represents a goals. Google Analytics has been set up for years, but it does not track these form completions/goals properly.

My SEO firm has offered to configure Goals on Google Analytics for $750. Is this a fair price? If the set up takes one hour, I am really over paying. But if this is a complex project that may take 7-9 hours the pricing seems OK.

Also, the SEO firm will require an additional $750 in the future to set up event tracking. Is this excessive?

I might add that my developer will need to add code to my web site.

My SEO company has proven reliable and accurate. I can go to sleep at night knowing they are doing a good job. Where as my Argentinian developers really try their best, but perhaps because of the language barrier, they can make mistakes from time to time. I am willing to pay a premium to ensure that the job is done correctly domestically, however I don't appreciate over paying.

Is the $750 payment for setting up Google Analytics reasonable assuming the job is done well???

Thanks,
Alan

[Kingalan1]

Hi Keri:

No the forms are not going through a third-party processor on a different domain or different subdomain.

Originally they wanted $1,500 to set up tracking of goals and event tracking. Now they are willing to charge me $750 for only goal tracking with the ability to add event tracking for another $750 in the future.  They would do the following for the original $1,500 (see below):

I am very curious how long it would take a knowledgeable person to set this up. While I beleive them to be very professional I don't want to pay $750 for one hour of someone's tiem.

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Analytics Technical Review

• Data Set Used:

  • –  Default Data range: July 15, 2013 – Mar 7, 2014 (unless otherwise noted)

  • –  Note redesign on July 10, 2013 and moved from Drupal to WordPress.

  • –  Web Property: www.NYC-OfficeSpace-Leader.com (UA-976308-1)

  • –  View (formerly called Profiles): www.NYC-OfficeSpace-Leader.com (default)

  • –  Date ranges chosen to: Account for change in data format (urls) with new website launch July 2013.

• Multiple views (formerly called profiles) including unfiltered “RAW” and analysis views. Always ensure that there is an unfiltered set of data: Data collection is not retro-active in GA. Create an “analysis” view with filters to:

  • –  Remove internal traffic and create more advanced data sets.

  • –  Clean up URI and query parameters (capitalization) for better page report data.

• Verify proper set up of all goals for forms (contact broker, contact us, request more info, schedule a showing, ask me a question).

• Use call tracking to track visitor behavior associated with phone calls (Top vendors: Call Rail, IfbyPhone, LogMyCalls, Mongoose Metrics).

• Set up content grouping in order to provide easier analysis of listing pages as a whole. (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2853423?hl=en)

• Use event tracking to track interaction with on page elements such as navigation menu items and click contact a broker button. (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033068?hl=en)

  • –  Use events instead of goals (events can be goals too).

  • –  There are more analysis tools to understand events in context with one another (instead of using goals to track on-page events).

• Set up enhanced link attribution. Distinguish different links that lead to the same page for in-page analytics: (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2558867?hl=en&utm_id=ad)

• Set up social reports for better social traffic analysis (admin >> (choose web property) >> social settings).

• Upgrade to Universal Analytics for better tracking capability, and because you’ll eventually be forced to upgrade by Google. (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450662?hl=en)

[KeriMorgret]

Are the forms going through a third-party processor on a different domain or different subdomain? Dealing with goal completion when it's not on the same domain and you don't have full access to the other domain can be a bit tricky. I had a developer grow a few more gray hairs when she set up ecommerce tracking on my site that uses an external payment processor.

[David-Kley]

Without having a look at exactly what is being done, it is hard to tell.

BUT, looking at it on the surface, yes, it is too expensive.

"I understand that $750 for an agency may not be worthwhile, however I will also be paying them $6,600 to re-write and keyword optimize 58 URLs, so there is more involved than only $750. Furthermore I will probably engage them for a content marketing campaign to the tune of $2,500 per month."

Setting up goals in Google analytics should not be a $750 cost all by itself. This can be acheived in about 30-60 minutes. I think you are being charged for analyzing the data, (which usually doesn't take a real long time) rather than the actual setup. This is normally absorbed into the cost of doing the SEO. Again, I'm not familiar with everything they are doing for you, but for the same job, (seo, analytics, content marketing) we would charge much less. I would like to see their proposal, to see if you are getting taken advantage of.

Spencer said it best when he stated "They easily could be trying to overcharge you if they think you can afford it." I have been involved in the industry for 12 years, worked at a few agencies before I owned my own, and this happens a lot more than you think. Seeing people get taken advantage of was one of the driving factors for me to set up my own company, and hire my own team. Just couldn't watch it anymore.

[Kingalan1]

Thanks Spencer!!

I understand that $750 for an agency may not be worthwhile, however I will also be paying them $6,600 to re-write and keyword optimize 58 URLs, so there is more involved than only $750. Furthermore I will probably engage them for a content marketing campaign to the tune of $2,500 per month.

But I would very much like to understand how long the set up for Google Analytics will take, as to that is the key for understanding if I am being over charged.

Thanks,
Alan

[spencerhjustice]

It's really hard to tell without seeing the site and knowing what types of conversion goals and events need to be setup and how difficult it will be to actually get it done. If they're only setting it up for 3-4 forms then that definitely sounds a bit expensive for the required amount of time but like I said it really depends on what needs to be done. They easily could be trying to overcharge you if they think you can afford it.

One thing you also need to consider is that once you get much below $750, agencies may not think that it's worth their time to do the project, which could be why they're charging more.

Hopefully someone with a bit more experience with pricing can chime in on this because I'm more of a doer and work in-house.