A couple weeks ago I was in Australia for the Loves Data Analytics Conference and had a chance to chat with Jeff Sauer, better known as @Jeffalytics, about some of my favorite Google Analytics 360 reports. You may be familiar with Jeff’s Periodic Table of Google Analytics. I’m excited to say that I’ve added a…
Digital Analytics
Reflecting on 4 Years at Google
Reflection is part of growth. Looking back and examining what has gone by, what has been accomplished, where I’ve fallen short, and where I still need to improve is an important exercise to move forward. This morning, I read back through my blog post reflecting on my first year at Google, and I was surprised…
Using GA Attribution Reports to Optimize Ad Spend
Over the past couple of months, I have spoken several times to a variety of audiences about Attribution, specifically about using the Attribution reports in Google Analytics. It’s a topic that doesn’t get a lot of spotlight even though the insights and findings can help you to significantly influence Return on Ad Spend (ROAS hereafter)…
A/B Testing Dried Mangoes for Fun and Learning
Recently, a coworker brought back a bag of dried mangoes from the Philippines as a gift for me, telling me that they are the best dried mangoes in Southeast Asia (hereafter, SEA). This coworker happened to be from the Philippines and was for sure a bit biased in her opinion here… Another coworker sitting next…
Mixing Google Analytics Dimensions and Metrics
Following Krista’s excellent post on using secondary dimensions in Google Analytics, this post will explain the GA represents your data using its internal data model and why it’s important to understand this. You’ll see that certain combinations of metrics and dimensions don’t mean what you might think, and that some are actually completely invalid. We’ll…
Testing with a Rapid Optimization Plan
If you’ve ever set out to A/B test a whole site redesign, you must have come across the question of ‘What do we do if the new site, that we’ve spent so much time and money on, doesn’t win?’ That’s a fair question. A very fair one. In fact, if you are not asking yourself…
Segments – An Analyst’s Best Friend! Part 2: Secondary Dimensions
In part 1, I wrote about the details of Advanced Segments. They are incredibly powerful and will help you take your analysis to the next level. But as I mentioned in that article, when I think about segmentation, it comes in two forms in Google Analytics: 1. Advanced segments a. Out of the…
Segments – An Analyst’s Best Friend! Part 1
Advanced Segments are quite possibly the most powerful slice-and-dice tool available in Google Analytics. Recently, however, it came to my attention that even some of our biggest and most advanced users are not using/under-utilizing advanced segments! When I think about segmentation, it comes in two forms in Google Analytics: 1. Advanced segments Out of the…
Data Driven Design
Designing a new website is a big task. You must take many things into consideration: ease of use & functionality, mobile responsiveness, content, flow, graphics, etc. On top of that, you need to ensure that all of the analytics tracking is properly setup and collecting the necessary data for you to report on success. With…