Google Analytics is an online-only tracking tool.

True or False?

The answer is…

False.  

Well, mostly false.

Google Analytics can track any visit to your website, even if it comes from offline promotions and advertising. As long as your offline advertising triggers someone to visit a website, Google Analytics can track it!

You can use Google Analytics offline tracking to measure print, radio or television advertising. You can even track phone calls.

Let’s talk about how offline tacking works and how we can set it up.

Analytics Course Student question

One of our Analytics Course students, Belladonna, asked the following question about offline tracking:

I’m really interested in tracking offline, direct mail and phone calls. Is it possible to get more information on those specifically?

Belladonna wants to know how to track her offline direct response advertising.  And she wants to learn about call tracking in Google Analytics.

Let’s look at how to setup offline tracking using a simple 5 step process.

How to setup Google Analytics Offline tracking

Step #1 – Create a vanity URL

Vanity URLs are custom URLs that are commonly used in marketing material.  Vanity URLs are often created for television and radio ads. They are intended to be easy to remember and share.

Here’s a vanity URL I created for this tutorial.  This URL will direct people that want to follow our 90 day challenge videos to a page where they can opt-in to our email list.

Step #2 – Create your final destination page

Your final destination page is where you want your visitors to land when they type in your vanity URL. This page is typically designed around the call to action in your offline promotion. Depending on your ad you might want users to submit a form, opt-in to an email list, or buy your product.

In our example, my final destination is the opt-in page for our 90 day challenge email list.

Step # 3 – Add UTM parameters to your destination URL

UTM parameters are tags you ad to your URL so you can track your URL in Google Analytics.

You can add UTMs to your URLs using Google’s campaign URL builder.

In the example below, I’ve built a campaign URL based on a fictional offline ad. Let’s say I want to advertise in the newspaper, right next to the Garfield comics! I don’t know if Garfield comics are still in print. But, he’s the perfect spokescat for our 90 day challenge videos.

The web address of your destination page goes in the website URL field of URL builder. The rest of the fields help you identify your campaign so you can find it in your analytics reports.

Once you’ve set up your URL parameters, copy your full URL to your clipboard for the next step.

Step #4 – Setup a redirect from your vanity URL to your final URL

You can use a 301 redirect to send traffic from your vanity URL to your final landing page. If you’re not a developer, and you use WordPress, there are a number of plugins that are designed to create redirects.

As you can see in my example below I’m directing traffic from the URL Jeffalytics.com/youtubers to my final URL.

Step #5 – Verify that your tracking works using the Google Analytics Real Time Reports

Using your Real Time reports, you can verify any hits to your vanity URL and make sure your tracking is working. When testing your tracking, make sure to use an unfiltered view of your Real Time reports. Or test your URL from an IP address you haven’t filtered out of your Google Analytics reports.

Let’s recap our Google Analytics offline tracking process:

1 – Create an easy to remember/type vanity URL for your offline promotions.
2 – Setup a final destination page that people will be directed to when they type in your vanity URL.
3 – Add UTM tracking parameters to your final destination URL, so Google Analytics can track your traffic.
4 – Create a redirect that sends people using your vanity URL to your final destination page.
5 – Check your tracking in your Google Analytics Real Time reports.

That’s our five-step process. It’s that easy to setup your Google Analytics offline tracking!!

You can track any offline advertising you create a URL for – flyers, mailers, coupons, radio ads, pretty much anything.

The second part of our Analytics Course student question was about phone call tracking. Let’s take a quick look at how you can setup Google Analytics call tracking.

How to setup Google Analytics phone call tracking

Setting up your call tracking is also pretty easy.

Start by going to the Google Analytics Partners Gallery.

Select “Find a Solution.”   Then, from the “Solutions Categories” menu choose the option for phone call tracking.

This selection will take you to a list of call tracking apps that integrate with Google Analytics. There are approximately 29 different phone tracking apps to choose from.

Select the phone tracking app that fits your needs. Then, follow that app’s instructions for connecting your call tracking to Google Analytics.

Will you use Google Analytics offline tracking?

What do you think of these offline tracking strategies? Will you use them to track your offline promos? Do you use call tracking? If you do, please share your favorite call tracking app in the comments.

This post and video was episode 39 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

Who gave you permission to use Google Analytics? This is a serious question.

Permissions control what you can do in Google Analytics.

Understanding permissions and how access levels affect permissions is essential Google Analytics knowledge, no matter your skill level.

So, today we are going to review every level of Google Analytics permission. We’ll look how account, property, and view level access affect permissions.

And we’ll talk about how to ask for more permission… In Google Analytics of course. (Not in your personal relationships. That’s well beyond the scope of advice you can expect from a web analytics blog).

Google Analytics permissions

We recently received this question from Analytics Course student Anya:

I would like to learn about the limits of each permission level ie. what you can and what you cannot do.

As an analyst can you create custom segments? What permission level do you need to have in order to create a goal?

How do you go about asking your clients to give you access as a consultant – do you ask them for at least read only, then tell them what they need to do and offer to do it for them if they increase permissions?

This is a big question, but it’s also an important one! Let’s break down every permission level, and every access level in Google Analytics. Then, we’ll discuss how to ask clients or other account mangers to increase your permission level in Google Analytics.

There are four levels of Google Analytics permissions

Read and Analyze permission

Read and Analyze is the lowest level of permission in Google Analytics. This level of access allows you to see the data, but it doesn’t allow you to make any changes to the account.

Read and Analyze is the beginner or “only on a need to know basis” level of access. Users with this level of access can look at the data all they want. But they can’t affect the account, and they can’t communicate with other users in Google Analytics.

Here’s what users with Read and Analyze permission can do:

• View reports
• Use table filters
• Add secondary dimensions
• Create custom segments
• Build custom reports
• Create and share dashboards
• View shared reports

As you can see, there’s a lot you can do at this permission level. You can do most of the things you need to do to analyze the available data.

If you want to test the Read and Analyze permission level, then check out the Google Analytics demo account. The demo account gives you Read and Analyze access to the Google Merchandise Store.

Collaborate permission

Collaborate permission is one level above Read an Analyze. Users at this level can communicate in Google Analytics. They can annotate reports. They can also edit shared assets. Shared assets include features like annotations, custom reports, and dashboards.

Users at this level of permission usually have some analytics skills. But, they lack the technical capability to configure or manage a Google Analytics account.

This level of permission is great for teamwork. Team members can work in an account together without being dangerous to any of the settings. I call this the “Nerf” level of access. You can use all the tools, without doing much damage.

Here’s what you can do at the Collaborate permission level:

• Everything you could do at the Read and Analyze permission level
• Edit and make changes to shared assets

The Collaborate permission level is a small improvement over Read and Analyze. But it’s an important upgrade if you’re part of the team. This level of access let’s you move beyond just looking at the data, and allows to work on the data that’s accessible.

Edit permission

Edit permission is the full access level of Google Analytics. This permission used to be referred to as Admin access. The only thing you can’t do with Edit access is change other users’ permissions.

Here’s what you can do at the Edit level, in addition to everything at the lower permissions levels.

• Add, edit, or delete accounts, properties, and views
• Add, edit or delete filters
• Create or edit goals
• Setup ecommerce
• Create calculated metrics
• Link your account to Google AdWords
• Link to Google AdSense
• Import data
• Adjust property settings (session settings, user ID, referral exclusions etc.)

Edit permission is best reserved for advanced users. Users at this permission level need to know what they are doing in Google Analytics. Account members with Edit permissions should be Google Analytics certified.

Manage Users in Google Analytics

Manage Users is the highest level of authority in Google Analytics. You can do everything you can do at the Edit level. But you can also add/delete users from an account, and change users permissions.

This level of access should be used sparingly. Users at this level can lock other people out of an account. So make sure you really trust the users who you authorize at this level.

There are three places permissions can be applied. Where you apply permissions has a big impact on how permissions work.

Access levels for Google Analytics permissions

View level access

The most basic level of Google Analytics access is granted at the view level.

Let’s say you want to give someone access to your Google Analytics reports. But you don’t want that person to be able to change anything. The best level of access for that user would be Read and Analyze permission at a view level.

Property level access

Granting permission at a property level restricts users to only that property. Typically, a property is associated with one domain or website. So when you issue access at the property level, those users can only track the domain in that property.

Account level access

User access at the account level means you can see everything. You have access to every property and view in that Google Analytics account.

You want to be careful how you choose to authorize account level access.

I almost never grant anyone account level access with a Mange Users permission. That level of access is like giving someone the deed to your Google Analytics account. It’s much safer and easier to authorize access at a property level.

You can see who has permissions

Google allows full transparency of users’ permissions. This is a recent policy change that I’ve been pretty outspoken about.

Google Analytics experts are often contracted to audit the work of other account managers. It’s important for auditors to be able to do their work without disrupting the current analytics team. But now, everyone can see when a new user enters the account. Account users can also see the access level of other users.

This new policy prevents account auditors from working on accounts in anonymity. Essentially, this policy puts an end to James Bond 007 analytics undercover work!

You can read more about my thoughts on the policy change an how it affects analytics consulting here – Why the new Google Analytics User Management Policy is a Terrible Idea

What level of access do you need?

Maybe a better question is what level of access do you deserve?

Gaining permissions is like earning trust. You need to prove to the account owner that you are trustworthy and that you’re not going to mess up their account.

How do you prove you deserve a high level of access?

Remember, Anya asked about working as an analyst and setting up goals for an account she’s working on. Without gaining Edit level access, she can’t create goals for her client’s account.

She needs at least Edit permission at a property level to get her job done. This scenario is not uncommon.

If you’re trying to make a living as an analyst, or as a digital marketer, you want the most access you can obtain. More access equals more information.

Beyond being trustworthy, there a few things that factor into gaining higher level permissions in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics certification

First of all, the account admin needs to know you have the right skill set. The easiest way to prove you have the skills to work on Google Analytics accounts is to get certified.

Helping people get Google certified is the reason I created Analytics Course. A Google certification for an analyst is like a badge for a police officer. If you want to get access, you need to show your credentials!

Use Analytics Course to help you get Google certified and gain Edit level access

So, if you need Edit level access, take Analytics Course.  Analytics Course is built to take you from zero to Google Analytics certified.

Analytics Course will also hold your hand while you’re working in Google Analytics. Following the course will save you from messing up anyone’s account.

And if you get stuck? You can ask questions in our private Facebook group and course forums. You’ll get your Google Analytics questions answered by me, or one of our savvy students. Then you can take our advice pass it off as your own work.

So let’s assume you’re one of my students, or another smart Google certified analyst. Let’s talk about how you get the access you deserve.

Here’s my process for getting the Google Analytics permissions I need to do my job as an analyst:

1- Explain exactly what you are going to do, why, and how you will do it.

Be transparent about the work you plan to do. Would you give someone access to your Google Analytics account without knowing why they need access? Probably not. So be straightforward with the account owner or administrator. Tell them what you’re going to work on. Why you’re doing that work, and how you’re going to do your job.

2 – Explain the risk of the change, and how you are mitigating the risk.

Account managers don’t want risk. Show them you understand the risks at the access level you need, and let them know how you can mitigate any risk.

3 – Show your experience and examples of your work to inspire confidence in your capabilities.

Show the account owner or admin you know what you’re doing! Show off your shiny Google Analytics certification. And if you can, speak to examples of similar work you’ve done for other accounts.

Present client or peer testimonials to help show off your work. Let the account manager know that they’re not handing over account access to a complete novice.

4- Develop a timeline for the work you’re going to complete

Present a timeline for your work. Tell the account owner when you’ll accomplish the objectives you’re going to work on. And let the powers that be know when they can expect to see the outcome of your work.

It’s likely that the analytics problems the account owner faces are holding up other work. If they know when you can help them get their business to the next step, they are probably going to give you access.

If you can map out these steps, then, in my opinion, you deserve access.

So let’s wrap this up back where we started.

What level of permission do you have, and do you have the right Google Analytics permissions to do your work?

If you’ve followed the steps we’ve mapped out, and you can’t get the access you need, leave a comment. We’ll take a look at the challenges you’re facing, and try to help you get permission.

Also, if you need to level up your Google Analytics skills so you can get permission, check out our Free Analytics Mini-Course!

This post and video was episode 25 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 days of videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

Google Analytics Sessions: No, this is not a collection of Google Analytics’s greatest guitar-shredding jams!

Sessions are how Google Analytics tracks each time your website visitors come to your site. Understanding sessions can be a bit confusing and figuring out how Google calculates sessions can get even more confusing.

Don’t despair. We have created this blog post and the video to clear up any session confusion.

We will explain how Google Analytics sessions are calculated. Then we’ll break down how sessions are tracked, and how they impact your analytics.

We’ll also show you an advanced strategy you can use to make sure your sessions are tracking correctly.

To round out this session jam, we’ll answer a question form our Analytics Course forum. Noel sent us an excellent question about sessions, hits, and pageviews. Answering Noel’s question will help you see how these measurements work together in Google Analytics.

How are Google Analytics sessions calculated?

When a webpage loads in a user’s browser window, that triggers the start of a session. Once the web page finishes loading, the analytics tracking code sends data to Google.

Think of it like your website sending out a bat-signal over Gotham city. In this case, your website is commissioner Gordon, Google Analytics is Batman, and your tracking code is Gotham city.

Ok, that analogy might have made you more confused. Fine, we’ll go back to the boring explanation.

The tracking code data you send to Google is recorded by Google Analytics for your account ID, and this marks the beginning of a session.

A session is the starting point for Google’s measurement of a web user’s experience.

A session can involve many pageviews and events that take place while a visitor is on your site. For example, multiple pageviews, a video view, and a purchase. Think of a session as the wrapper for everything that happens during one continuous website visit.

Image via: http://cutroni.com/blog/2014/02/05/understanding-digital-analytics-data/ 

Google Analytics sessions end after 30-minutes of inactivity

A session ends when a user leaves a website or goes inactive for 30-minutes. Inactivity, or “timing-out,” refers to a period of time when a user does not record a hit in Google Analytics.

When a user performs a new activity on a site following 30-minutes of inactivity, a new session begins.

What is a hit in Google Analytics?

A hit is any activity on a webpage that triggers a record in Google Analytics. The most common type of hit is a pageview. Hit activity can also include events, ecommerce transactions, and social interactions.

Any time a hit occurs, it extends a session. A new 30-minute window starts following each hit.

Changing the default Google Analytics sessions settings

You can change the way that Google handles the time limit for your sessions. You can lower your sessions timeout interval all the way down to one minute, and you can increase it to four hours.

Changing your default session settings is not necessary in most cases.

There are some use cases for increasing sessions limits. Sites like Netflix, where users spend hours watching videos, may want to increase their session timeout limit. Using longer session intervals could help these sites improve the accuracy of their analytics data.

If you do change your sessions settings, keep in mind that the change will only affect future data. This type of change can make historical comparisons of your sessions very difficult.

It’s not something to be taken lightly.

Hit activity and Google Analytics sessions

Analytics Course customer Noel has the following questions about sessions, hits, and pageviews:

Noel wants to know how his sessions are tracked if he creates an epic blog post that takes over 30-minutes to read.

If Noel’s visitor spends 35-minutes on his page and then leaves, Google records one session.

Bounced visits

If Noel’s website visitor leaves after only one pageview they will also be recorded as a bounced visit. A bounced visit is any session that only includes one user interaction with a website.  In most cases this is a single pageveiw.

Does scrolling extend sessions in Google Analytics?

Noel specifically wants to know how scrolling down his blog post affects sessions.

To answer Noel’s question, by default, page scrolling is not recorded as a hit.  The default Google settings do not track page scrolling.  So, page scrolling will not extend sessions.

How event tracking affects sessions

There is a way for Noel to track scrolling on his page as an event. Using Google Tag Manager, or custom code, Noel can tell Google Analytics to record scroll depth on his page.

If Noel enables scroll depth as an event on his page, Google Analytics will record page scrolling as hit activity. That hit will then extend his visitor’s session.

What is a pageview?

Noel is a smart and inquisitive Analytics Course student (shameless plug). So, he also wants to know how pageviews are triggered in Google Analytics. And what a “view” means in Google Analytics.

A pageview occurs anytime a user’s browser executes Javascript (JS) for a webpage.

JS is the programing language that runs on the browser side (client side) of the web experience.

When JS is triggered for a webpage, Google Analytics records a page view.

Bots do not typically execute JS, which prevents them from recording page views.

Using Real-Time reports to see pageviews in Google Analytics

You can use your Google Analytics Real-Time reports to help you see what Google is tracking on your site.

You can find your Real-Time reports in the main area of your Google Analytics interface. Real-Time reports will show you users who are recording live pageviews on your site.

You can also see which actions are extending your visitors’ sessions.

Looking at hits and pageviews in your analytics code

A more advanced way to see a record of your Google Analytics tracking is by looking at the code that fires on your site.  You can view your tracking code on your site using the Chrome extension Google Analytics Debugger.

After you’ve installed Analytics Debugger, open your web page. Then right-click and choose to inspect the page.

In your developer tools window select console and activate the Analytics Debugger extension.

Looking at pageview hits

The loading of your webpage should have triggered a hit for a pageview in Google Analytics.

Your pageview hit will look like this in your developer console:

Your console will also display any other hits that analytics records while you’re on your page.

To summarize everything:

Sessions are a group of interactions one visitor has with a website. They include pageviews and other events.  One session will last for up to 30-minutes, without any additional activity.

A hit is any activity or event that Google analytics records as user interaction on a web page.

An event is a type of hit that you instruct Google Analytics to record. You can set-up event tracking using Google Tag Manager, or custom code.

A pageview occurs when a user’s browser executes a webpage’s Javascript.

A bounced visit occurs when a user only has one interaction with a website in a 30-minute period.

Sessions are a very straightforward aspect of analytics. But they can be difficult to understand. People often assume Google Analytics records more than it does.

Google Analytics has vast capabilities. But, if you don’t set your analytics up to record user interaction, you only get the base levels of measurement.

Do you have questions about Google Analytics?

Post your question below.

We’ll answer as many of your questions as we can during our weekly videos and blog posts.

This post and video was episode 11 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for 90 day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.

So you want to be a web analytics consultant? Who wouldn’t? Web analytics consultants are the party animals of data analysis!

Plus, web analytics skills are in high demand. Consulting can be a great way to turn your skills into income.

But you have to have the right plan in place to make your consulting business work.

One of our Analytics Course students recently sent us a question about how to start marketing her analytics skills.

Becoming is a question I get a lot. So, In the post and video below, I’ll provide a detailed answer.

I will use my 12 years of experience as a web analytics consultant to share how to make a living in this business.

Chere, from our Analytics Course, wants to know how to get started as a web analytics consultant.

Here are five things you need to do to get started as a web analytics consultant

1) Set your targets

How can you hit your target income?

As a web analyst, targets should be a familiar topic. Your income target is the yearly amount of income your business needs to generate for you to make a living.

To figure out how you are going to hit your target income you have to calculate the hourly value of your work.

We can use an income model from our Agency Jumpstart Course to help you find your hourly rate.

Target hourly income calculation

In this model, we estimate that you can work 2,000 hours in a year. 2,000 hours equates to 50 standard 40-hour work weeks.

Most consultants are billable about 75% of the time they are working.

With those numbers in place, here’s how to calculate your hourly target rate:

• Add your business overhead to yearly income target.
• Then multiply the number of hours you can work (2,000) by 75% to calculate your billable hours.
• Divide the sum of your income target plus your overhead by your billable hours
• The result is your target hourly rate

2) Choose a business model

You need to choose a business model. Your business model will determine how you get paid.

One of the most common consulting business models is the monthly retainer.

A monthly retainer has many advantages over project or hourly based revenue models.

To see how the monthly retainer model works, we can use another tool from Agency Jumpstart Course (AJC).

The AJC spreadsheet helps you calculate:

• How many clients you need to land to hit your target income.
• How much overhead you can have in your business.
• And how much cash you’ll be able to generate each year.

You can download this spreadsheet here. [ddownload id=”14969″]

3) Develop relationships

Being a consultant is a relationship business. The more connections you have, the better your chances of sealing deals and reaching your income targets.

To develop business relationships, you need to put yourself out there. You have to let your network know about your business.

Here are some things you can do to help create more business relationships:

Start a blog.

Publishing blog posts can be a great way to become a thought leader in your niche.

You can also blog about how web analytics can help solve everyday problems. Remember, most people don’t even know what a web analytics consultant does. Relating your service to everyday problems will help your audience understand your value.

Create an email newsletter.

Even if you only have a small email list, a newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with your audience. You can use your email list to share your blog posts. Or you can use your email list to ask your audience questions. Learning about your email subscribers will help you build a stronger relationship with your audience.

There are many ways to let people know what you’re doing. As a consultant, you’re in charge of your business development.

Make sure to put yourself out there and let people know how you can help them.

4) Choose a niche

Once the business starts coming in, you’ll notice a wide range of need for your services.

Some clients will need you to install javascript on their websites. Others clients might want you to audit a Google Tag Manager installation.

You’re going to receive all types requests, which have you doing many different kinds of work. Working in so many different areas will prove to be very inefficient.

As an independent consultant inefficiency can stop you from achieving your revenue goals.

To make yourself more efficient, I recommend you choose two types of niches.

Client Niche

The first type of niche is client based niche. Think about the profile of your ideal client. What industry are they in? What properties do they have in common? And, what kind of business model do they use?

Then think about if you can scale working with that type of client. Are there lots of these kinds clients or just a few?

Knowing what type of client you want to work with factors into our second niche.

Service Niche

The second niche is service related. What is the ideal service you’d like to offer? You service niche needs to meet your entrepreneurial goals. But, it also needs to satisfy your business model.

Think about your service niche related to the types of clients you want to work with. Are you going to work with big companies or small companies?

Maybe you want to be a full stack web analyst, doing all the analytics work for a handful of clients.

Or maybe you want to focus on doing Google Analytics audits.

If you’re going to work on small-scale projects, you’ll need many clients. But, if you’re going to work with large companies on long-term projects, you may only need a handful of clients.

Make sure your service niche aligns with your income goals and your client niche.

5) Deliver the goods

Once you’ve identified how you’re going to make your business work, you need to able to deliver.

This comes down to making good on the services you say you can offer.

We all have to start somewhere and take on new projects. But, be clear about the services you plan to offer, and how and when you’ll fulfill your commitments.

I’ve been in web analytics consulting for a long time. And I’ve heard countless stories about consultants who didn’t deliver on their contracts.

The best way to be a successful web analytics consultant is to have lots of happy customers. Customers who recommend you to their friends and business associates.

Want to learn more about growing a freelance or consulting business?

Sign up for our Agency Jumpstart email list. Every Friday you’ll receive an email about growing a digital marketing business.

See what we did there? Email newsletter, relationship building. 😉

For more information, visit Agency Course

This post and video was episode 5 in our 90 Day Challenge digital marketing series.

To get access to all 90 days of videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel. YouTube will send our subscribers weekly emails about all the videos we published over the past week.

Want to know about each video and post as soon as it comes out? Sign up for the 90-day challenge email newsletter. The newsletter will be the best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the content.