Google Analytics for PR ProfessionalsBrannan Atkinson, APR

About Me• Started PR career in 1992

• City of Richmond, Va.

• Atkinson Public Relations

• Raven Internet Marketing Tools

• Amy Atkinson Communications

@AmyAComm

amyacommunications.com/ google-analytics

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Where to start?

Google Analytics is mile wide and a mile deep.

GA in a Nutshell• How visitors came to your website

• What they did on your website

• Whether visitors did anything that helps your business

Data Analysis

Aggregate data can tell if something is happening.

Avinash Kaushik!Google Analytics Fellow Author of multiple books

“All data in aggregate is crap.”

Avinash Kaushik!Google Analytics Fellow Author of multiple books

Segmented data can tell you what is happening.

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Observation #1:!Adverse change in AdWords campaigns

Google AdWords Email Everything else

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Observation #1:!Adverse change in AdWords campaigns

Google AdWords Email Everything else

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Observation #2:!Positive impact of email

Google AdWords Email Everything else

Language of GA

Mediums tell you how visitors arrived at your

site

Important Mediums• Organic — any search engine, e.g. Google or Bing

• Referral — any website with a link to yours

• Social media — links in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

• Direct — use your website address or a bookmark — good indicator of brand strength

• Email — all campaigns

• RSS — blog subscription feed

• CPC — cost-per-click advertising, e.g. AdWords

Sources tell you where visitors clicked a link to your site.

Sources• Anywhere there is a link to your website

• Search engines

• Other websites, e.g. Chamber of Commerce

• Email campaigns

• Text and display ads

• None = direct traffic

Mediums and Sources

#AA 1843 Amtrak Bus

#WN 249 Long Island Rail Road Uber

Mediums

Sour

ces

A landing page is where a user entered

your website.

Goals are activities important to your or your

client’s business.

Three types of goals• Time on site

• Number of pages visited

• Visits to a specific page!

• Completing a contact form

• Downloading a report

• Registering for an event

Goal value• Always add a goal value, e.g $100

• Even it it is arbitrary

Navigating!GA

Acquisition!How visitors arrived

* Show where to find

Behavior!What visitors did

Conversions!Important activities, e.g Goals

* Show where to find

Date ranges

* Show where to find

Changes Date Range

Add Comparison

GA for PR

Three scenarios• Media relations

• Social media campaigns

• Awards

Truth in Segmentation• Medium

• Source

• Landing pages

• Goals

GA for Media Relations

GA for Media Relations

News Release

Your WebsiteMedia

Did the news release generate traffic to the

website?

Set the date range

Acquisition -> Channels

Acquisition -> Channels -> Referral

Acquisition -> Channels -> Referral -> Sources

GA for Social Media

GA for Social Media

Content

Your Website

ContentContent Content

Facebook Twitter

Which social media is sending the most traffic

to the website?

Set the date range

Acquisition -> Channels -> Social

Acquisition -> Channels -> Social

Enhance insights with landing pages

Enhance insights with landing pages

Dark!Social

Dark Social is social media traffic

that GA thinks is direct traffic.

Example of Dark Social

Did they really type http://www.amyacommunications.com/!

brannan-atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/?

Landing Page = http://www.amyacommunications.com/ brannan-atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/

Campaign Variables• Use them every time you share a link for your

company or a client

• Lets you set:

• Medium=Social

• Source=[social network]

• Campaign=[campaign name]

Campaign Variableshttp://www.amyacommunications.com/brannan-atkinson-apr-joins-firm-as-partner/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social& utm_campaign=announcement

Google URL Builder

www.gaconfig.com

GA for Awards

GA for Awards

Content

Your Website

ContentContent Content

Social Media!Relations Email

GA for Awards• Use goals to track conversions - add a goal value

• Add annotations

• Monitor channels regularly

• Monitor landing pages for your PR campaign

• Use campaign variables on all social media links

• Use date comparison to show change

• Create custom reports for landing pages

Channels with Landing Pages

Campaigns

Goal -> Goal Value

amyacommunications.com/google-analytics

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email: brannan@amyacommunications.com Twitter: @AmyAComm LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brannanatkinson