10 ways to segment website visitors using Google Analytics

When I work on E-commerce projects to identify methods to increase conversion, I always start with a structured analysis of the current effectiveness of customer journeys for different segments, using Google Analytics to help identify potential improvements to site page templates to test.

Segments are powerful since they help you isolate and compare different traffic sources, so in the screengrab below we have selected organic traffic to just find out how these visitors behave, for example, which landing pages do they arrive on?

Note that to encourage usage of Advanced Segments, Google renamed them a couple of years ago to 'Segments' in order to make them less scary and encourage adoption amongst GA users who don't see themselves as advanced. A key part of this approach is to go beyond the…

Chart of the Day: Use Machine Learning AI to understand the propensity of your site visitors to convert

I'm reviewing a different type of Chart today since while reviewing Google's Demo Account while working on some new learning materials for our members I noticed the intriguing new Conversion Probability feature Beta. Here's what it shows for the one hundred thousand odd sessions in the Demo account:  You can see that it breaks down these sessions into likelihood to convert, so if we can learn more about what turns the high-converting visitors onto our products, we have more chance of finding and converting more visits in future. As we explain in our AI and machine learning guide, for us, the most exciting marketing application of artificial intelligence is using machine learning to learn from historic interactions with our audiences see what influences their propensity to convert.…

Tips on using Google Analytics to improve traffic building and conversion

Google Analytics provides a wealth of insight, so much more than the basic visits, page views and bounce rates which are are the limit of what some marketers consider. So we believe that Google Analytics deserves more focus to use the insight to drive improvement. We like this infographic from Quicksprout since it goes further than stating the obvious metrics. Instead, it shares practical steps to take to use Google Analytics to increase your traffic particularly through keyword analysis when you link Google Analytics with Googles' Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools), conversion rates and 'how tos' (such as where to place your keywords, how to analyse top referring sites and more..). So use this  infographic as a prompt to get started with practical steps to optimise your website using the insight available in Google Analytics. …

Google rolls out a major update to Advanced Segments

Value: [rating=4]

Timing: Originally announced July 16th 2013, rolled out end August 2013

Recommended link: Google Analytics announcement on new Advanced segmentation feature

I've updated this post as a reminder that this feature is now live in Google Analytics accounts. I haven't seen an official announcement on the GA Blog, but I am now seeing this feature in my analytics at the top of relevant reports:

A couple of points I've noticed now it's live are:

1. It's not actually labelled "Advanced Segments" with a button unlike the original. Instead you see a slightly intriguing circle next to a drop down - not sure that's the best usability decision.

2. By default you get to see all your standard and custom advanced segments together, for example, we have two based on a custom dimension in Universal Analytics…

Using Google Analytics to review changes in mobile site usage by prospects and customers

As mobile device usage rapidly increases amongst buyers and influencers accessing content related to your products or services, it may be the perfect reason to start thinking about developing a mobile app or making your website mobile friendly as part of your sales and marketing toolbox. A client of ours saw mobile traffic to their website increase by 284% in 2011 compared to 2010. Our client manufacturer of stainless steel reinforcement rods (not the most glamorous of products) saw the rate at which the site is accessed from a mobile device increase dramatically. [caption id="attachment_11974" align="aligncenter" width="570" caption="Mobile visitor growth for B2B product manufacturer"][/caption] After conducting many audits on websites, the biggest growth I have reported every single time for every single client is the growth in mobile traffic. It’s time B2B…

The concept of segmentation, is of course, well-known to marketers but it is a term increasingly applied within web analytics. While analytics specialists may be up-to-speed on online segmentation options, most marketers won't have time to get-to-grips with the options. So, I'm pleased to be present this interview with analytics specialist Hugh Gage to enlighten us about the online segmentation options. For example segmentation is now a prominent tool within the latest versions of Google Analytics and Visual Sciences and it has always been easy to create granular segmentations in ClickTracks. In this interview, I talk to web analytics consultant Hugh Gage of Engage Digital who was previously a senior analyst at Logan Tod & Co and before that Head of Online Planning and Buying at Manning Gottlieb OMD.…