I’m sure you have all heard the old adage you get more out of something the more you put into it. Well in Google Analytics case this is exactly the case. Without the right setup and configuration, you could get horrible data or worse, absolutely no data at all. Now there are many way’s of improving your implementation of Google Analytics, but here are 5 common mistake’s that could hinder your performance results.
#1 Mixing ga.js and urchin.js code.
There are 2 varieties of Google Analytics, old code and new. The old code is “urchin.js”, leaving “ga.js” for the new code. If your not sure which code you would like to use on a new page, if it’s not automatically already in every footer, right click and choose to “view source” or “view page source” Search for the titles of the new and old code which is typically located at the bottom. You should always try and use the same throughout the entire site.
Google says that your able to interchange the code between multiple pages as long as it is not on the same page together. From personal experience, it’s always been better, and more stable to use one style, regardless of new or old code per website.
#2 Using the Wrong Google Website Optimizer Code
Google’s Website Optimizer is an amazing website testing tool, best of all, it’s free. It’s tag based, so like your Google Analytics, code will need to be placed onto the page. One less known facts about Google Website Optimizer is that it uses “urchin.js” which as I said in #1, is the old style Google Analytics code. If you are already using the new code on your site, there is a high probability that your website data is going to mess up your sites analytics results.
#3 Forgetting AdWords Conversion Tags
As far as I know, you are unable to see all 4 lines of your ads inside of Google Analytics, only the first line is shown. To get better Adwords data, set up AdWords Conversion Tracking. You will be able to see the conversions inside of the AdWords interface and will be able to see the conversion increase and not just your click through rate increase.
#4 Page Tags Missing?
All of your article’s and pages need to be tagged. You’ll be able to get a much better sense on what “exactly” is bringing in visitors from the search engines as well as popular article tags that are linked to your site.
#5 Campaign Tags Missing?
Google Analytics will automatically detect Adwords Marketing. EVERYTHING ELSE requires campaign tags at the end of your destination URL’s.
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