Problems with analytics, conversation data and assisted conversions
-
Hi guys. Having issues with analytics.
Firstly, it doesn't record all our sales accurately. My boss downloaded a sales report directly from our site, and it doesn't match up to the analytics, our actual sales were significantly higher than Google analytics was reporting (by about a 1/3). Any idea why Google is missing so many of the conversions?
Also, I'm trying to work our how many assisted conversion we are getting from our ad words campaigns. I've been looking through our top conversion path data to try find conversions that started with a paid click.
However, I seem to have some inconsistencies. We have only one ad words group that is on the display network (Re-marketing V1 Ad group 1) , and according to analytics we have a conversion from it (See Screen shot 1). However, there is no record of this in our ad words data. (See screen shot 2).
This is over the same time period.
I don't know what to take from this. Can anyone help?
Isaac.
-
Jasmine is correct in that GA is not a proper data source for 100% accurate information.
Unfortunately there are many reasons for this.
The free version of GA often basing data on a sampling of visits. If you go to the Conversions/ECommerce/Overview/ report, in the upper right corner you can see whether it's a sampling and if so, what the percentage sampled is.
Another issue is that if the Google Analytics code didn't fire properly during a session or part of a session, that information will not be tracked properly in its entirety or partially. Sometimes that's because site visitors have browser types or browser plugins that block scripts, and other times its because of a breakdown in data transmitted between the visitors browser, your site and Google's analytics servers.
She's also spot on with recommending that you dig into the multi-funnel channel report.
bottom line - it's important to understand that only your actual internal site server system can provide you with accurate sales data, though that might lack certain deeper insights regarding origination and demographics. Any other analytics program can help provide insights, however should only be seen for trend analysis purposes.
-
Hi Issac,
From my experience with GA, it is never 100% accurate to real sales data. Every company I've worked with has had similar issues. Google Analytics is no replacement for BI or CRM data. Also, depending on how much data you have running through the free version of GA, you may only be seeing a sampling of your total traffic.
I would suggest looking at the multi-channel funnels report instead of the assisted conversions report. It will summarize where your conversions are coming from based on where the click was in the total conversion referral path.
AdWords is a first click attribution platform, whereas GA is a last click attribution platform. It is likely that you will have referred that user by a search ad then they came back via retargeting within a 30 day window. Maybe you can look into the conversion path for this one goal and see where most of your clicks are originating?
Let me know if that was helpful!
Jasmine
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
-
Email traffic tracking in Google Analytics
Hello! I have a question about how to assure email traffic is properly tracked in GA > Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels. **First, some background... ** Our company (Wisconsin's largest group dental practice) is about to revamp the way we try to re-capture patients who don't have a future appointment set with us. Part of that process will include emails. Those emails will point back to our website to request an appointment. Now to the question... Is there anything special we should do to assure that links coming to the website and the resulting appointment request goal conversions track appropriately and appear under "Email" in the Default Channel Group of Analytics > Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels area of GA? For example, should we use Campaign URL Builder to establish UTM links? Thanks in advance for any feedback. Erik
Reporting & Analytics | | SmileMoreSEO0 -
No Search Data in Google Search Console (Search Analytics)
Wondering if anyone has experienced 0 data in their Google Search Console (Search Analytics) and found possible solutions to retrieve data? We have a few clients who, prior to the update to Google Search Console, were getting data regularly in terms of the Search Queries report, but ever since the update to Google Search Console, they are no longer receiving data. As an FYI, both the www and non-www versions of the website are verified in Search Console and the XML Sitemaps and Robots.txt files are clean, tested and working fine. Any insights or experience of sites showing 0 data in Search Analytics? Any possible solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | SEO5Team0 -
Most of the goal conversion in Google analytics showing under referral
Hi All, I have already asked this question twice here but issue is not resolved yet. http://moz.com/community/q/all-goal-conversion-in-google-analytics-showing-under-referral http://moz.com/community/q/some-goal-conversion-in-google-analytics-showing-under-referral In Google analytics most of the goal conversion in Google analytics showing under referral from payment gateway sites (Paypal.com & epdq.co.uk). I have applied all the possible solution that suggested by Moz community experts & Google Adwords support team but it is not resolved yet and it is really weird answer to give client that I have applied all possible solution and issue is still not solved. Lastly I am sharing Cross domain tracking code here that I have used on my site. Please check once and let me know if code is correct and If not correct please help me out to correct the code or suggest any other way to fix the issue Cross domain tracking code ======================= <script type="text/javascript">(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
Reporting & Analytics | | Alick300
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['paypal.com', 'payments.epdq.co.uk'], false, true);
ga('create', 'UA-xxxxxx', 'auto', { 'allowLinker': true});
ga('require', 'displayfeatures');
ga('send', 'pageview');</script > I have hide the UID in above code. Thanks0 -
Google Analytics - Adding a sub-domain
Hi I have a google analytics query.
Reporting & Analytics | | Niki_1
I have a main site with a google analytics tag and I have 2 forms that sit on a subdomain with a different GA code. As I would like to measure end to end tracking, I would like the same GA code on the subdomain. What is the best way for me to implement this? Would I need to make some changes to the GA code that sits on the main site or can I add the the GA code from the main site onto the subdomain? Thanks0 -
Is there a problem with using same gmail account for multiple site analytics and GWMT?
Hi, Is there a problem or a general recommendation about using the same gmail account for two different sites (both in Google Analytics and Webmaster tools)? Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | BeytzNet0 -
Un-link Google Analytics
I have set the wrong account/password details for one of my campaigns. How do I 'step back' and choose the correct settings please? Thanks Ian
Reporting & Analytics | | driansmith0 -
Cover my tracks / two websites on the same Analytics
Hi, I've got 2 websites and I like one of them to make some links to the other one. These two sites are on the same Google Analytics account. They have been set up 3 month ago and they have some articles on them. I've heard that Google can see that those websites are related in my Analytics and use this information to give less power to the link I could make between them. What do think about it and what do you recommend me ? Shoud I closed the Analytics account ? Or down one of the website and rebuilt it whith a different domain / host / analytics ? The thing is if I delete one of the website i'll be force to republish the articles, because there are links on it, and they're part of a deal I've already made. Thank you
Reporting & Analytics | | Spleen0 -
Why isn´t my google analytics registering goals?
Hi everyone! I know this is is not the standard SEO question, but I hope you can help me with your knowledge. I set some goals in GA for the thankyou page that appears when a client requests more information on a property for sale. Problem is I have been testing them and the goals don´t get registered. I don´t know what am I doing wrong and I would really appreciate if you could help me through some light on this. I have attached an image of the option for the goal in GA. Can anybody help me? Paroa.png
Reporting & Analytics | | inmonova0