$30 off During Our Annual Pro Sale. View Details »
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Annie Cushing-Annie Cushing-Are Your Google Ana...
Search
Distilled
December 04, 2014
Technology
0
250
Annie Cushing-Annie Cushing-Are Your Google Analytics Reports Pretty Little Liars?
Distilled
December 04, 2014
Tweet
Share
More Decks by Distilled
See All by Distilled
Wil Reynolds — Paid Search Strategies SEOs will Love
distilled
0
140
Rand Fishkin — Search Ranking Factors in 2015 What Data, Opinions, and Testing Reveal
distilled
0
210
Larry Kim — The Top 10 Facebook & Twitter Advertising Hacks of All Time
distilled
0
160
Will Critchlow - Practical Tips for the Future of Search II
distilled
0
290
Tom Anthony - New Paradigms: Five Fundamental Changes in Search II
distilled
0
320
Aaron Friedman — ‘Google's Predictable Content Preference’
distilled
0
290
Aleyda Solis — ‘Unlocking Growth Opportunities with Search Analytics’
distilled
0
240
Anum Hussain — ‘Topics Over Keywords: An SEO-Driven Approach to Content Marketing’
distilled
0
300
Casie Gillette — ‘21 Must-Have PR Tools and Tactics’
distilled
0
180
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
Data Hubグループ 紹介資料
sansan33
PRO
0
2.3k
小さな判断で育つ、大きな意思決定力 / 20251204 Takahiro Kinjo
shift_evolve
PRO
1
350
ML PM Talk #1 - ML PMの分類に関する考察
lycorptech_jp
PRO
1
580
履歴テーブル、今回はこう作りました 〜 Delegated Types編 〜 / How We Built Our History Table This Time — With Delegated Types
moznion
16
9.5k
プロダクトマネジメントの分業が生む「デリバリーの渋滞」を解消するTPMの越境
recruitengineers
PRO
3
480
AI (LLM) を活用する上で必須級のMCPをAmazon Q Developerで学ぼう / 20251127 Ikuma Yamashita
shift_evolve
PRO
2
110
Playwrightのソースコードに見る、自動テストを自動で書く技術
yusukeiwaki
10
3.6k
Symfony AI in Action
el_stoffel
2
370
名刺メーカーDevグループ 紹介資料
sansan33
PRO
0
980
バグハンター視点によるサプライチェーンの脆弱性
scgajge12
2
550
Security Diaries of an Open Source IAM
ahus1
0
120
安いGPUレンタルサービスについて
aratako
2
2.4k
Featured
See All Featured
Faster Mobile Websites
deanohume
310
31k
How Fast Is Fast Enough? [PerfNow 2025]
tammyeverts
3
380
Being A Developer After 40
akosma
91
590k
The Hidden Cost of Media on the Web [PixelPalooza 2025]
tammyeverts
1
80
Evolution of real-time – Irina Nazarova, EuRuKo, 2024
irinanazarova
9
1.1k
The Illustrated Children's Guide to Kubernetes
chrisshort
51
51k
Documentation Writing (for coders)
carmenintech
76
5.2k
Practical Orchestrator
shlominoach
190
11k
Unsuck your backbone
ammeep
671
58k
Save Time (by Creating Custom Rails Generators)
garrettdimon
PRO
32
1.8k
Rails Girls Zürich Keynote
gr2m
95
14k
Why You Should Never Use an ORM
jnunemaker
PRO
60
9.6k
Transcript
Are Your Reports Pretty Little Liars? Annie Cushing @AnnieCushing
DR DATA just call me
relying on nebulous “USER” data
None
None
None
USERS NEW USERS COUNT OF SESSIONS DAYS SINCE LAST SESSION
% NEW SESSIONS USER TYPE USER DEFINED VALUES metric dimension (FKA UNIQUE VISITORS) (NEW/RET VISITOR)
=
None
google knows these are not visitors.
None
None
None
None
there are a few CAVEATS
site must have a login
visitors need to actually log in
site must upgrade to universal
site must capture customer id
you must set up a new view
WARNING: your user data will shrink
quite the BOON for sites like these ….
None
None
ignoring LOGGED IN users
None
None
TWO WAYS to accomplish this
custom variables
custom variables
custom dimensions
custom dimensions
custom dimension setup
• customer id good candidates
• customer id • logged in good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author good candidates
good candidates • customer id • logged in • author
• page category (not tags)
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender • age good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender • age • membership level good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender • age • membership level • number of help articles viewed good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender • age • membership level • number of help articles viewed • complaint good candidates
• customer id • logged in • author • page
category (not tags) • publication date • gender • age • membership level • number of help articles viewed • complaint good candidates
missing metrics that MATTER
good candidates • cost of goods sold
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score • awards
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score • awards • points
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score • awards • points • email opens
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score • awards • points • email opens • email sends
good candidates • cost of goods sold • profit •
margin • number of members • population • game score • awards • points • email opens • email sends
what MARKETERS care about
None
what BUSINESS OWNERS care about
when these COLLIDING realities intersect
examples from the WILD
email metrics in campaign reports? ALL DAY
see medium history for a registered USER
hosing your CAMPAIGN tagging
labels matter
None
None
None
reports impacted if you get MEDIUM wrong
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
what happens when you tag INTERNAL links
1.4 MILLION sessions overwritten
1.4 MILLION sessions overwritten
None
using THIRD-PARTY services
booking engines
event services
payment gateways
application sites
partner sites
None
PLAN A keep them on your site
PLAN B cross-domain tracking
how to CHECK your tracking
STEP 1: install google analytics debugger
STEP 2: open the console ctrl-shift-j command-opt-j
STEP 3: check the visitor/client id
STEP 4: make sure domain is different
STEP 5: check for a match
PRO TIP: set up auto-linking
GET ALL THE LINKS
W: ANNIELYTICS.COM/SERVICES E:
[email protected]
T: @ANNIECUSHING L: LINKEDIN.COM/IN/ANNIECUSHING