So many PR measurement gurus talk about the benefits of Google Analytics.
Very few actually share any plain english advice.
That’s a shame as whilst an amazing tool it’s a bit of a beast to get your head around. Once you do you can measure how well you’re doing. Or not. Which of course is the name of the game here.
Let’s start with the basics:
Fire up Google Analytics for your site or client you’re working on. If you don’t have one. Ask for report access.
- Click on the “Acquisition” tab in that never ending left hand menu.
- Click on “All Traffic” and you’ll see “Referrals” at the bottom.
- You can change the time period of data you’re looking at any time. Just click on the big date in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Bingo.
You’re now looking at which 3rd party websites people have clicked on to visit this website. Hopefully some of your coverage is in this list.
Hopefully you’ve found some of your coverage in that referral report. If not you can search for it using the useful but well hidden search box on the screen. Cmon Google. You should be all over this.
Well hidden but useful search box in the bottom right…
Now if whoever set up Google analytics for your site has done their job you’ll see “Goal conversion rates” or “Revenue” against every bit of online traffic.
E.g.
If you don’t see these numbers then find out who is responsible for analytics & see what they can do about it…
Why does it say telegraph.co.uk and not the full URL of where I got coverage? E.g. telegraph.co.uk/my-blindingly-good-coverage
Yes — that is a bit annoying isn’t it. Can you believe you have to create a “custom report” to get to this? Before you head for the hills I’ve got it covered & built it for you:
Click here to login to google analytics & get the full url of online coverage template
It’s saying my coverage led to 0 leads or Revenue. What the fuck? Maybe it just didn’t. Or maybe your coverage is not getting the recognition it deserves.
Somebody sees your influential coverage. They click through. Almost sold. They decide to dwell on it a few days then come back to the website via a Google search. Guess who gets the credit in the standard reports you look at? Not you.
This is what all the fuss is about with “attribution” reporting. It’s a way to get a fairer view of what happened. The click from your coverage should get some credit right?
1. Open up the “Goal Conversions” menu & click on “Assisted Conversions”.
2. Click on “Referrals” in the list. You know what “referrals” means now right
3. Find your specific bit of coverage in the list:
Now. You’ll be faced with a wall of numbers.
What should stand out is “Last click” Conversions. In this example I’m being told my telegraph piece led to nothing. That’s crap.
But…this report is telling me this coverage led to 18 sales. It “assisted” with 18 sales. So maybe somebody clicked through…then came back another way. But the fact is your coverage had a role to play.
Useful Eh?
