Goal tracking in Google Analytics
-
Hi folks
I read from various sources that if you setup goals in Google Analytics each of these goals can only be fulfilled once per visit. Also some sources suggesting that only one goal from each goal group can be fulfilled per visit.
On our site we have a goal for external links since this provides value to partners. Some users do open an external link in a new tab, then come back to the main site. Any further goal completions would then not get tracked. Since we apply a result based payment model for our work this means we are literally loosing money.
Anyone has official info from Google on this? Can it be configured? How long is a visit?
Thanks a million and have a great day.
Fredrik
-
We are actually using events as the basis for the goals. But we use the calcuations for conversions and conversion value as basis for many reports so its important that this value is correct. True, we can count the events, that is actually what we do now, manually in excel.
-
For something that repeats like that, I would instead use events, anyway. You'll be guaranteed that it's tracked.
Have you considered events? Would that work for you?
-
Hi Fredrik,
It seems I misinterpreted your original question, to be asking about completing multiple different goals per session. Now I understand your really interested about completing the same goal (External Link) multiple times per session.
Unfortunately i don't know of any articles/sources about this being possible.
-
Have you by any chance seen any articles or outher sources with info about it being possible?
There are quite a few articles stating the opposite. Like this one:
- Each conversion goal can only be triggered once per user session. It makes sense, since you don’t want one person to skew your conversion data by reaching a single goal multiple times in a visit. If you need to know the exact count, then use event tracking.
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/a-beginners-guide-to-conversion-goals-in-google-analytics/42558/
Thanks for the great input and giving us a chance of hope
Fredrik
-
Users only being able to fulfill one goal per visit is incorrect. Not only would it be unintuitive if Google set Goal Tracking up this way, it wouldn't be a very helpful feature if it did work this way.
A goal is triggered every time a goal URL is reached. A common case we see on our site would be a user fulfilling the "Signup" goal, and then proceeding to fulfill the "Contact Us", "Purchase", or "Review" goals. We track these goal URL's via the Google Analytics JavaScript API.
If this is a behavior you are seeing on your site, it could indicate that you have set something up improperly.
**Edit: Fredrik is asking about completing the same goal multiple times per session. This answer was assuming he was asking about completing different goals multiple times per session.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google analytics - Users by time of day for speicific country?
Is there any way in analytics where we can check Users by time of day for speicific country?
Reporting & Analytics | | BPLLC0 -
Does Google encryption of keyword data impact SEO revenue reporting in Google analytics?
Hi there, I know Google has been encrypting SEO keyword data which they rolled out in September 2013. My question is - will this impact SEO revenue figures reported in Google analytics? I have been monitoring SEO revenue figures for a client and they are significantly down even though rankings have not lowered. Is this because of Google's encryption? Could there be another reason? Many thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | CayenneRed890 -
Are RSS fees tracked by Google Analytics?
In both the new GA and former version, how are RSS feeds handled by Google Analytics. If not, is there an easy means by which to account for this traffic, in order to have a better picture of traffic. Thanks. Alan
Reporting & Analytics | | ahw0 -
Mobile Site on Google Analytics
Hi mozzers, We just launched a mobile site and I was wondering what are the main steps to follow for gettting your mobile site tracked via GA (m.example.com)? We have a profile for www.example.com GATC: javascript or PHP to install? Should the profile be on a subdomain? What else to consider when implementing a mobile site on GA? Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
"It appears there's a problem with our connection to your Google Analytics ...
account. Please go to your Settings page to update your connection." I set up a GA account for our website (www.edao.biz) prior to creating the SEO campaign. When I set up the campaign it told me there was a problem. I tried to fix the connection using the Settings page and it created a second account - however, it still cannot connect to it. In the GA account, it shows that I have granted access to pro.seomoz.org. I did not setup a 2-step verification with GA; don't think that's the issue. Should I blow both GA accounts away and try again? I don't think it's working correctly, and I would really like to be able to see the analytics for our site. I did see that in the GA account I had checked [v] Share my Google Analytics data... [v ] with other Google products only. - What should be the proper setting? (BTW I'm a bit lost with the new GA, I still go to the old interface (though ugly, it shows more links and info)) Thank you, Ingrid
Reporting & Analytics | | IngridWood0 -
SEOMoz crawls skewing Avg Visit Duration in Google Analytics
Hello, We are a UK based company. Our Google Analytics account is showing a rise in Avg Visit Duration for 'Direct traffic' since we started using SEOMoz. Are any other users experiencing this issue? We tracked it down to City Seattle, and when doing an Advanced filter by removing Seattle, the results are normal again. What does SEOMoz or other users recommend we do besides continuously using advanced filters? We have enquired about excluding Roger's IP address, but have been told that Roger uses the Amazon cloud, so the IP is not static. See attachment for screenshot of our Google Analytics account of Avg Visit Duration since we began with SEOMoz. Rich Talbot 718g3.gif
Reporting & Analytics | | STL1 -
Google Analytic Tracking Issue (&utm_nooverride=1)
Hello, We have a problem that means we are unable to track our AdWords and organic work at all. Looking at "/All Traffic Sources" and clicking on "Ecommerce Tab" in Analytics we can see that (made up ratio :)):
Reporting & Analytics | | jannkuzel
£2 is attributed to Google/ CPC
£1 is attributed to Google / Organic
But £100 to Payment Provider/ referral and also various referrals from banking transaction pages. All of the revenue/conversions are being credited to the payment provider or the bank security checks the payment goes through. After having done some research we have found that the problem may be that Google Analytics attributes the purchase to the most recent click (on the payment provider button) rather than the initial click on the cpc campaign/organic or direct etc. Some people have suggested using the "&utm_nooverride=1"
tag which we wanted to run past you guys and confirm whether adding
this tag to the payment provider 'buy now' button on our website will
presumably fix this referral problem? Alternatively does the tag need
to be entered into our CPC campaigns as well? Or can you please guide
us in another way? We have also heard that "cross-domain" tracking could be the solution. So we are really confused what to do and where hoping someone had maybe been through something similar and could advice before we fully launch into a solution. In addition, it should be noted that our 'Goals Funnel Visualisation'
of 'checkout' breaks up at the penultimate stage of the checkout. All
customers exit through the /checkout_process (penultimate) but are recognised returning to the successful checkout page but there is a missing link in between these
two stages as 0% pass through is shown even though they do return? Thank you so much in advance for all your help.0 -
Google Analytics should track users from iPhone App
Hi Mozzers, you say there are no dumb questions, here is one. We've build an iPhone App for our Website working-dog.eu. So users can read there new messages with ease when they are out of the office, read about breeds, ... do all the nice stuff they want. I don't think so, but is it possible to track these users with Google Analytics? When the come via App, the Analytics code will not run for them. But maybe it could start an AJAX request or something like this? But how should the code run, without a browser which can interprete JavaScript? So, in short: Is it possible to track users from iPhone App with Google Analytics? Kind regards Patrick
Reporting & Analytics | | mdoegel0