Google Analytics for Blogger now in private beta

Several weeks back at South by Southwest, Jeff Veen announced our new Google Analytics for Blogger reporting interface. Currently available only in private beta, this product is a collaboration of several teams and marks the transition of Measure Map customers to a new Google Analytics interface designed specifically for Blogger users.

Here's what Jeff had to say:

"Many of you may remember when Google acquired Measure Map, our analytics product for blogs. When we came to Google, our first job was to take the experience of providing clear, accessible reports, coupled with powerful tools for analysis, and apply it to Google's already robust Analytics product. The result of that collaboration launched last May, in the redesigned Google Analytics interface.

Since then the team has been hard at work fulfilling our original promise: to help bloggers understand the impact that their blogs are having on the world. To that end, we've rebuilt Measure Map as an integrated feature of both Google Analytics and Blogger. We hope you like what you see."

Though we usually don't widely announce private-beta programs, we are migrating all existing Measure Map users (which include many prominent bloggers) to this new interface. With all the excitement around it, we knew we couldn't keep it a secret, so we decided to let the cat out of the bag early.

However, please keep in mind that this is an early beta; as such, we expect changes and hiccups along the way. We'll be refining the new interface throughout the year before we release it to the general public as an optional reporting interface in both Blogger and Google Analytics accounts. In the meantime, you can always use Google Analytics to track your blog.

Posted by Brett Crosby, Group Manager, Google Analytics

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Which button would you click? A lesson on website optimization

Start Now, Begin, or Get Started? Orange or blue button? What color text? Does it matter?

Website optimization seemed to be the hot topic at SES New York this year. Everywhere we turned, speakers were discussing how small changes in website content can result in big differences in traffic patterns.

Before we suggest a strategy for optimizing your website, let's make sure we're all on the same page. Many people confuse website optimization with search-engine optimization, so we'll clarify the difference here:

• Search-engine optimization means adjusting the content of your site so it ranks higher in the list of search results for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.
• Website optimization means creating and testing different combinations of site content to increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction.

Trying to optimize a large website for conversion can be a daunting task if you don't have a plan. The most important pages to test are those that have the biggest impact on your site's success. By using Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer together, you can identify these high value pages and set up experiments that will eliminate the guesswork from their design.


Finding your high-value landing pages

Before you even begin testing content variations, you'll need to decide which pages to optimize. Testing whether an orange or a blue button works better on a page that gets only 1% of your total traffic is probably not the best use of your time. However, the same test on your most heavily trafficked landing page could make the difference between a great conversion rate and a search for a new marketing team.

In his talk on the Web Analytics panel at SES, Avinash Kaushik recounted his experience searching for a new faucet. The top paid ad took him to a page focused on sinks rather than faucets; he was immediately turned off and bounced from the site.

What's the lesson here? Landing pages are key pages to optimize because they are your visitors' first (and often last) impression of your website. If a visitor lands on a page that doesn't provide the information she's looking for, she'll probably leave without clicking any further. For high-traffic landing pages, this can add up to a lot of lost visitors.

That's why it's so important to find, and fix, high-traffic landing pages that lose a high percentage of visitors. Look at the "Top Landing Pages" report within the Content section of Google Analytics. Pages that have both a high Bounce Rate (the percentage of visits that resulted in the visitor immediately leaving the site) and large number of Entrances need to be redesigned.

The Google Analytics Landing Pages report (Content section) shows a list of top landing pages ordered by the number of entrances on the left. On the right, the bounce rate compared to site average is graphically displayed. Pages with a high number of Entrances and a high bounce rate (red bar) are good candidates for optimization.


Don't forget about funnel pages

Other high-value pages are those that lead visitors to your goal pages. Visitors reach a goal page once they have completed a desired action, such as a purchase, registration or download. In Google Analytics, you can specify up to ten pages in a defined funnel representing the path you expect visitors to take on their way to the goal page (conversion!). A page that is part of a goal funnel is another great place to focus website optimization efforts.

The "Funnel Visualization" report within the Goals section of Google Analytics shows you how many visitors exit the funnel at each step in the path towards the goal page. In the funnel visualization below, you can see that most visitors in this funnel are lost in the transition from the "View Shopping Cart" step to the "Login" step. Only 7% of visitors move past this step, but of those who do, many go on to make a complete an order! A limiting step in a path to a goal, like the "View Shopping Cart" step below, is another great place to begin your website optimization experiments.

The Google Analytics Funnel Visualization report (Goals section) shows the pages where visitors abandon a goal path. Pages that lose a high percentage of traffic on the path towards a website goal are good candidates for optimization.

You know which pages to test ...

Once you've identified high value pages with Google Analytics, you can begin optimization experiments using Website Optimizer. If you have some alternate content ready, you can launch tests in under five minutes. The Website Optimizer team has made some helpful video tutorials to help you get started.

A little competition can get your team excited about content experimentation. Try asking a couple of your co-workers and perhaps your boss for suggestions on alternate variations of a high value page. Label each of the suggested variations in Website Optimizer with the contributor's name. Then, ask another set of co-workers to predict which variation will emerge victorious. You can monitor the progress each day to see how everyone's suggestions and predictions are stacking up. Keep in mind that it usually takes at least one or two weeks for the definitive winner to emerge. Once Website Optimizer has determined the winning page, you'll not only have a better performing page, but if you're lucky, you'll have bragging rights in your office!

For regular tips from the Website Optimizer team, subscribe to the team's new blog.


Posted by Laura Melahn, Google Analytics Team, and Jon Stona, Website Optimizer Team

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Live Demo/Webinar of Urchin Software

Hot on the heels of last week's full launch of Urchin Software, Actual Metrics, an Urchin Software Authorized Consultant, is offering a free webinar this week to introduce potential users - or anyone interested - to the software.

This is a great way to see a live demo of Urchin Software (aka Urchin 6), find out what's new with the latest version (see the new Visitor Clickpaths reports), learn how it differs from Google Analytics, and find out how Actual Metrics can help.

The webinar will be offered three times this week. To sign up and see an agenda, click a time below:

• Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
• Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
• Friday, April 25th, 2008 - 9:00 AM Pacific Time

Actual Metrics, formerly Xooni, is an Urchin Software and Google Analytics Authorized Consultant based in Arizona and Los Angeles and led by Mike Chipman, a former Urchin and Google employee. Mike is a subject matter expert and has an engaging and fun presentation style which will make this an interesting and informative half hour.

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

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Graduation Day for Website Optimizer and Urchin Software!

Today at the ad:tech conference in San Francisco, we very happily announced two launches. If we could have shouted them from the rooftops, we would have. Enjoy!

Website Optimizer now available as a standalone product!

Google Website Optimizer is all grown up. Formerly a feature within Google AdWords only, this free website-testing tool is now accessible to anyone worldwide through its own website. You can now use your Google Analytics login to access Website Optimizer and test which designs, headlines, and graphics lead to the highest conversion rates on your site. Also, we've officially dropped the Beta label. They grow up so quickly these days. :-) Take it for a spin!

The Website Optimizer team has also launched a product blog where you can get the latest product news, industry insights, and testing recipes straight from team members. Head over there now for more details about the launch, but not before toasting another launch....

Urchin now out of beta!

Also announced at ad:tech -- Urchin Software from Google, aka Urchin 6, has graduated from Beta and is available to everyone as of today, April 16th.

For the moment, Urchin is only available in English. That will change though, so stay tuned for info on soon-to-be released international versions.

Urchin formed the basis of Google Analytics, released in 2005. But, while Google Analytics is a Google-hosted service, Urchin is software that you run on your own servers. This makes Urchin ideal for certain applications. You might use it if you:

• want to analyze your firewall-protected content, such as an intranet
• have 5 years' worth of old server log data to analyze
• need to know if your site's visitors are getting "Page Not Found" (404) errors
• need to have your site's traffic data audited by a third party
• need to create custom reports or integrate with other tools, like a CRM system
• need to integrate your e-commerce logs directly with Urchin

That said, we continue to recommend Google Analytics for most users and most circumstances, as its marketing-oriented reports are more advanced than Urchin's. You can even use Google Analytics and Urchin together at the same time and have the best of both worlds.

Urchin is available exclusively through Urchin Software Authorized Consultants, a subset of our Google Analytics Authorized Consultants professional services network. These partners can implement Urchin on anything from a Fortune-500 e-commerce site to a million-site web-hosting operation (and they have!). Authorized Consultants offer not just the software itself, but also an armada of support and consulting service options to suit every type of customer. But you can try out Urchin for 30 days by going to urchin.com and downloading the demo.

An Urchin license is $2995. If you purchased Urchin 5, you can apply all of your purchase price towards your Urchin 6 purchase. The license allows you to analyze traffic for up to 1000 domains, any number of load-balanced servers, and any number of log files (including access, e-commerce, cost-per-click, and other types of logs). Urchin 5 users used to purchase each of these things separately, but with Urchin 6, we're bundling everything together for one price.

Urchin 6 runs on Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD and supports Apache (all platforms) and IIS (Windows only). Here are the technical specifics.

Posted by Scott Crosby, Urchin Software Manager, and Jon Stona, Website Optimizer Team

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Join us at ad:tech in San Francisco next week

Do you have anything to do with digital media or online marketing? If so, you might want to check out the ad:tech conference next week in San Francisco. It's an energetic and fun few days packed with informative seminars and vendor displays, with an attendee list of lots of smart folks from companies on the cutting edge of branding and marketing, or those interested in getting there.

We'd like you to join us for one or more free educational sessions on Wednesday, April 16 and Thursday, April 17 at the conference. We'll discuss the latest AdWords, Analytics, Website Optimizer and Urchin Software product developments and provide new tips on how they can help improve your bottom line. You'll also learn straightforward, data-driven techniques to enrich your website and business directly from our own Analytics Evangelist, Avinash Kaushik. See below for information on the sessions, also in the ad:tech website special events section.

If you don't already have a pass to this great conference, just visit the ad:tech site to register for and obtain a free exhibit hall pass to attend the following sessions:

Location for all sessions: Room 110

What's New with Google Analytics and Website Optimizer?
Wednesday, April 16: 9:30 - 10:30 am
Thursday, April 17: 12:00 - 1:00 pm (Repeat Session)

We're continuing to rapidly iterate on tools that provide analytical power and accessibility to digital marketers. Come hear the most up-to-date news about Google Analytics, Urchin Software and Website Optimizer. This is an event not to be missed!

Scott Crosby, Business Development Manager (Urchin Software)
Tom Leung, Business Product Manager (Google Website Optimizer)
Jeff Gillis, Product Team (Google Analytics)

Successful Web Analytics - presented by Avinash Kaushik
Thursday, April 17: 3:15 - 4:45 p

So much of making money on your web acquisition strategies comes down not to the awesomeness of your campaigns and choosing the right keyword or promotion but rather the greatness or crappiness of your website. This is where Web Analytics and Landing Page Optimization come in. You'll learn how to improve any site using data, and if you pay attention you just might learn how to sell a lot more of whatever you are selling with help from Google!

The first fifty attendees will get a copy of Avinash's book, "Web Analytics: An Hour A Day."


The Google AdWords team will also be hosting several educational sessions that are worth checking out. Here's a full list of free Google events that you can attend:

Tuesday, April 15:
12:00 - 1:00: AdWords Fundamentals
3:30 - 4:30: Optimization Strategies: Part 1
4:45 - 5:45: Efficiently Managing Your Account

Wednesday, April 16:
9:30 - 10:30: What's New with Google Analytics and Website Optimizer?
11:00 - 12:00: Increase Your Advertising Reach (Traditional Media)
2:45 - 3:45: Optimization Strategies: Part 2
4:00 - 5:00 Measuring and Tracking For Success

Thursday, April 17:
12:00 - 1:00: What's New with Google Analytics and Website Optimizer? (Repeat Session)
1:15 - 2:15 Online Video Advertising at Scale
3:15 - 4:45 Successful Web Analytics

See you in San Francisco!

Posted by Jon Stona, Website Optimizer Team

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New Graphing Options: By Week and By Month

Sometimes trends can hide pretty well, and one of Google Analytics' jobs is to make the most actionable trends as apparent as possible so you can surface them to your colleagues and management (and get a promotion). And we realize that most management reporting is done in weekly and monthly time buckets.

With that in mind, we've made it even easier for you to use Google Analytics to create clear and effective management dashboards without having to extract data into other programs. You can use the rich Google Analytics UI and present your promotion-worthy numbers in all their vibrant glory by clearly visualizing trends in weekly or monthly units, in addition to day by day. Have fun with this feature! Watch the patterns come into focus.

Let's look at how the weekly and monthly graphing views can be used by comparing them with viewing the data by day, which used to be the only option. It's very interesting to open up one or two years worth of data to look at your site over time. (Click on the images below for larger views.)

Graph by Day

Strategic insights come from analyzing long term trends. This is the default view in Google Analytics. It hints at something interesting going on in terms of Visits on your site.


New: Graph by Week

Try this cool thing. Click on the Week link on top of the graph, it is newly available in your reports! Suddenly it is more clear what the trend in Visits is. Cooler!


New: Graph by Month

Click on Month and you are now really cooking. Months and months of data visually represented in a way that allows you to clearly show a positive trend, highlight the key points, and yes even ask for a bonus.

Of course all other visualization features in Google Analytics are even more useful now as you use these new time buckets. For instance, take a look at the compare to past visualization.


Comparison in Day view

Comparing two different time periods is a great way to get context to your current performance...

New: Comparison by Month

...but you can highlight the trends in your performance much more optimally by simply clicking on the Month link. This works great for your management reporting and moves you into that corner office. :-)


Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team

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