[Build Backlinks Online] Google Analytics Checklist for New Projects

Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Google Analytics Checklist for
New Projects'

Posted by GeoffKenyon
When on-boarding a new client, there is a lot that needs to get done. Usually
the list includes a tech audit, reviewing content, and combing through back
links to name a few tasks. A review of the analytics implementation is often
overlooked though.


If you don't review how the analytics account is set up, you could set
yourself up to waste a lot of time down the road, even finding yourself
investigating an organic traffic drop that doesn't exist.


Below is my Google Analytics checklist that I review when starting a new
account. Many of these items joined the checklist as the result of previous
"learning experiences." My hope is that this list will help you avoid those same
experiences.

The basics
Exclude internal IP addresses
If we don't exclude internal and partner IP addresses, we will over-report
traffic and reduce our conversion rate.
To implement, go to Admin > Filters (in the appropriate view) > New
Filter.
Documentation can be found here.



Pro Tip:
Create a copy of the profile, and apply the filter to that copy. If your
filter creates a problem, you wonât be able to get back any lost data, so
itâs nice to have a backup.

Google Analytics code on all pages
If GA code is missing from pages, we will get incorrect site engagement metrics
and misappropriated conversion data. A quick way to check this is to look at
your referrals report. Do you have any self referrals?
It is not uncommon for pages in the checkout process to not include GA code. If
this is the case, you will see almost all conversions are from "referral" or
"direct."
To check this more thoroughly, fire up Screaming Frog and update the custom
field to check for the proper UA ID


UA account is only listed one time
Running two GA codes simultaneously is ok. Two instances of the same code is
not.
The two separate instances of Track Pageviews will mess up metrics such as
pageviews, time on site, bounce rate, and pages per visit.
The best way to find this one is to pull up the source code and search for
"ua-".



Linking related accounts

Link Google Analytics and AdWords
This will allow you to share data across Google Analytics and AdWords
Documentation can be found here
Link Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools
This will allow you to share Webmaster Tools data with Google Analytics
Documentation can be found here.

Ensure proper campaign tracking implementation

Auto tagging is enabled for Google Analytics
If you don't have auto tagging enabled, odds are your paid search traffic is
showing up in Google Analytics as organic traffic
To check the status of auto tagging, log into your AdWords account, go to
Account Settings, and then to Preferences.
Documentation can be found here.
Non-Google paid search campaign URLs contain UTM tags
If you're not including UTM parameters in your non-Google paid campaigns, the
traffic is most likely being counted as organic search visits.
Google Analytics interprets utm_medium=cpc and utm_medium=ppc as paid search
traffic, so one of these should be used for the medium.
Documentation can be found here.
Vanity domains redirect using UTM parameters
This will allow you to easily attribute visits and conversions from the vanity
domain to the campaign associated with the vanity domain
Email campaign links use UTM parameters
This will allow you to properly attribute visits and conversions to the right
email marketing effort

Conversions and interactions

Set up goals
This should be a wide range of activities such as purchases, contact form
completions, creating an account, time on site, signing up for a newsletter,
etc.
Associate monetary value with these goals if possible.
Documentation can be found here.
Set up e-commerce tracking
Ecommerce tracking will allow you to understand not only how much revenue you're
making but what channels are responsible for driving revenue
Documentation can be found here.
Set up event tracking
Event tracking is a simple way to track how users are interacting with your
site.
You can track just about anything such as videos played, submitted forms, if
people scroll through your content, or downloads.
Here's an overview of event tracking from the SEER blog.
Further documentation can be found here.

Content grouping

Create content groupings
These can be groups of pages like blog posts, ecommerce category, landing pages,
or any other group of related pages.
Here's a useful RegEx Guide from LunaMetrics.
Documentation can be found here.

What else do you always check in your Google Analytics implementations? Let me
know in the comments.
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