Check that you have Accurate Data with a Google Analytics Audit
Since Google Analytics was launched in 2005, it has become the undisputed leader in website analytics. The data this tool provides has helped marketers and business leaders see and learn meaningful data insights about their website users and customers.
Over the years, however, Google has released new features and removed others and most organizations have not adjusted their accounts since their initial setup causing data to become inaccurate.
Conducting a Google Analytics audit of your data and measurement plan is a great first step to make sure you are gathering accurate and reliable data.
What is a Google Analytics Audit?
A comprehensive Google Analytics audit will examine your current implementation and configuration of your Google Analytics setup to make sure it is providing accurate and reliable information.
An audit is a critical first step for your organization as it will provide background and insights into what information is valuable and it will be vital to shaping our strategy.
What does a Google Analytics Audit Include?
For each audit, our team will test and investigate several parts of your Google Analytics account. Here are a few of the areas that you can expect our team to check during our audit process:
Campaign Tracking Code & Configuration
Having a properly installed tracking code, either on the website or in Google Tag Manager, is one of the first items we will check. We have seen outdated code, missing code and sometimes the code is placed in the wrong area of the website. Following Google’s recommendations for tracking code placement is optimal.
Inaccurate Bounce Rates
A sign that the Google Analytics account may be set up incorrectly is an extremely low or high bounce rate. The most common cause is that the analytics tracking code is placed on the web page multiple times. Identifying and removing duplicate tracking code will give us clean tracking.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Collecting personal information of your website visitors is against Google’s terms of service and if your account is in violation, Google can delete entire data sets from your analytics account. We will audit your account for any cases of accidental collection of personal identifiable information.
Data Quality
We will look through all of your view settings and make sure the data is clean and not being impacted by bots or other spam. Our team will also look at your filters to make sure your office IP is being blocked from influencing your data. Larger websites utilize cross-domain tracking to track traffic across multiple domains. We’ll verify that this is set up correctly and tracking accurately.
Conversion Tracking
With conversion tracking, you can get an accurate view of how truly valuable your marketing and advertising is working for your company. Our audit will examine whether there are any gaps or inaccurate conversions to help you get the full picture of the success of your website.
Site Search
Setting up internal site search in your Google Analytics is a valuable resource that most businesses are not utilizing. In this report, you can see what search terms your website users are actually searching for.
Measurement
If you have had several current and past employees with access to your Google Analytics account, you can expect to see issues with uniformity. We’ll look at your query parameters and UTM tracking codes to make sure your traffic is attributed to the correct marketing channel. Another issue we see is that your landing pages or social media ads come through as direct traffic or “none”. We’ll make sure all of your marketing channels are accurately sourced in Google Analytics.
AMP Analytics
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is a great tool offered by Google, but many developers are unfamiliar with how to set-up and integrate analytics cleanly. Our team will validate that AMP is setup correctly so that you receive clean, accurate Google Analytics data.
Mobile Apps
If you have a mobile app, you can tie in your analytics account to your mobile app and gather lots of great data about how that is being used. Our team will verify and check to make sure no data is being dropped.
Ecommerce Analysis
You need to make sure you have accurate data if you are selling products on your website. Having a clear picture of your ecommerce analytics will make sure you are identifying any issues in the buyer’s funnel in your shopping process.
Get Data-Driven Results from a Certified Google Marketing Platform Partner
FoundSM is a data-driven digital marketing agency that is certified as a Google Marketing Platform Partner. We are certified by Google in Analytics, Tag Manager, and Data Studio. Our team of data and analytics consultants will help your marketing team to get the most out of the data you are collecting.
Benefits of a Google Analytics Audit
Do you trust your data? Performing an analytics audit will give you confidence that your information is correct and can be used to form accurate, relevant business decisions. The outcome is a comprehensive report listing the areas checked and the results of our testing.
Once your audit is complete, you will be able to:
- Track your marketing activity more effectively
- Gain confidence that your data is accurate
- Get quicker access to critical data for decision-making
How do you know if you need a Google Analytics Audit?
Every company that has a website should go through a Google Analytics audit and ideally, an audit should happen every year. Problems within your analytics account can go unnoticed and undetected for a long time, which can have a serious and financial impact on your business. Also, new technology is released all the time and Google is consistently releasing new features as well.
To stay ahead of the updates and your competition, we recommend our team of analysts at FoundSM conduct an audit on your Google Analytics account yearly. Reach out to our team today to learn more about what we can help you discover in your Google Analytics account.
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