Discrepancy between google analytics referrals and 3rd party stats
-
I have a client who pays to be listed in a industry directory. It is now time for renewal and the directory has come to my client with their statistics, which they claim has sent over 400 visits to my clients site. Having looked in to google analytics, over the same period of time, google analytics has registered 2 visits.
Could the directory's stats be true? Or is google analytics 100% correct?
Any help or advice in this area would be useful, as my client is concerned if they don't renew they will lose some traffic and leads.
Cheers.
-
This often happens if there is a redirect inbetween the sites and so the referrer gets lost which would account for that difference. It could also happen if you have a 404 or slow page so no GA visit is recorded but that would lead to less of a difference.
I would suggest adding active tagging to the link and as above reply, ask for a free extension. By active tracking you just need to add the following 3 query parameters with meaningful values such as: ?utm_source=DirectoryZ&utm_medium=PaidLinks&utm_campaign=FooterLinks
The traffic would then be tracked accurately and you can see it in the campaigns report.
-
Analytics can be inaccurate but not by that much (unless tracking is somehow messed up).
I would tell the company that according to your analytics, you only received 2 visitors (and show them). Set up another tracker and ask for 1 month more for free to see if their stats are valid. If you get no visitors or they don't agree to a free month, they are probably bullshiting you.
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
-
Question about audience targeting in Google Ads
I am setting up a test campaign where rather than structuring my campaigns by the normal ad group>keywords with no targeting. I am making duplicates of my ad groups and targeting each duplicate to a different audience so I can target the ads better. But I also want my non targeted ad group to remain to pick up people who are not in my targeted ad groups. In the non targeted ad group, should I exclude all the audiences that I have targeted in the targeted ad groups to avoid any cross over? Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | pinder3251 -
Best way to present Google Display /Search Reports
Hi Everyone Im just looking to produce some quite detailed analysis and overview of out google search and display adverts. Can someone suggest a format or template for the best way to present this information as welll as what sort of information would be best to include
Paid Search Marketing | | aplnz20170 -
I've 'lost' my Google Referral Traffic
We recently re-launched our website on a new platform, PrestaShop. Up until that launch,our website, based on the DNN platform, received several thousand clicks per month from what Google Analytics classified as 'Google/referral', and several thousand more clicks collectively from international Google/referrals, i.e. Canada, Germany, UK and France. When the re-launched site went live, these clicks all went to zero on Google Analytics. My question is: Did we actually lose this Referral traffic through an improper setting on our new platform, or is this Referral simply being re-categorized in some other Source category like Organic Search?
Paid Search Marketing | | bmayer091 -
Googleweblight Traffic in Google Analytics
Google analytics showing Googleweblight traffic is paid traffic or organic traffic or anything else? If any post related to this query, kindly send that URL.
Paid Search Marketing | | vivekrathore0 -
Hire Products on Google Shopping
Has anyone got any experience with advertising products for hire rather than for sale on Google Shopping? Is it allowed? How does it perform?
Paid Search Marketing | | ese0 -
Why does my google analytics show a massive discrepancy from facebook's reported website clicks?
We're running a Facebook news feed ad that is pointing at our homepage. Facebook says that for yesterday there were 47 website clicks. Google analytics shows 15 total visitors from facebook with 3 of them landing on the homepage. I understand that there is likely going to be some discrepancy with users accidentally clicking and clicking back before the page loads, but this seems a little insane. I tested the ad using a page that pulls the Analytics cookie data using php and it is working properly so I don't understand what's happening. The url isn't tagged with utm parameters, which is going to be fixed. Anyone experience this or have any insight as to what could be this issue? Is this click fraud? Edit: For more clarification I was checking on my completely unfiltered google analytics profile/view.
Paid Search Marketing | | spencerhjustice0 -
Does anyone have any analytics for programmatic mobile advertising?
With reports like Business Insiders Programmatic Ad Buying On Mobile Is Rising At An Incredibly Fast Clip, Here's What You Need To Know (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-of-programmatic-ad-buying-on-mobile-2013-11), I'm starting to wonder if this is really an effective marketing vehicle. Personally, I avoid mobile ads like the plague when I'm on my smartphone and most ads look to me like poorly targeted junk, but I could be way off. If you've tried it out, I'd love to know what the post-click behavior is on programmatic mobile ads. Do your mobile visitors convert on any level? Is there any ROI data you could reference?
Paid Search Marketing | | MeghanS0 -
Google PPC - coupon balances
So, I know that you can't simply transfer a coupon credit in Google AdWords to another account. My question, if anyone knows, is there a way to do this using My Client Center? We manage multiple accounts, and have another coming on board that has a pre-existing coupon credit. We were going to set up a new account (which we would handle billing for and just invoice) for the client. But, that would leave them unable to use a coupon code. If it's managed under MCC, is there a way to work around this?
Paid Search Marketing | | DeliaAssociates0