Category

Analytics & Data

Our coverage of analytics recognizes that data drives ecommerce but collecting that data and interpreting it can be confusing. Our huge library of Google Analytics articles ranges from basic setup to the sophisticated interpretation of on-site activity of visitors and customers. We also analyze data security, blockchain topics, and ancillary tools such as Google Tag Manager and Google Data Studio.

Analytics & Data
Creating (Free) A/B Tests in Google Optimize

July 9, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Executing a successful A/B test is easier said than done. The learning curve can be steep. Measuring the outcome can be confusing. Google Optimize aims to address these difficulties in ...
Analytics & Data
17 Resources for GDPR Compliance

June 25, 2018 • Sig Ueland

The General Data Protection Regulation is now in effect. For website owners worldwide, compliance with GDPR seems daunting. Luckily, there are plenty of resources to help. Here is a list of ...
Analytics & Data
How to Migrate Data in an Ecommerce Replatform

June 20, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

When switching to a new ecommerce platform, merchants often overlook one key component: the data. Most providers claim that the data migration is easy. But that is not always the case. In this article, I'll provide a data-migration checklist.
Analytics & Data
Tips to Track Content Marketing Performance

June 8, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Content marketing can attract customers, build brand loyalty, and create overall engagement. But how do marketers know if their content — blog articles, videos, social posts — archives those goals?
Analytics & Data
Use Google Analytics, Data Studio to Plan Inventory

June 1, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Inventory planning is essential for merchants. Overestimating inventory needs can be costly. But underestimating can be costly, too — hurting revenue and profit. Just-in-time inventory preserves cash, reduces storage needs,
Analytics & Data
Drowning in Data? Consider a Business Intelligence Tool

May 21, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Ecommerce businesses use multiple tools and services. Most have their own dashboards, which measure different aspects of the business. So how does a merchant pull all the data together to see the big picture? Many companies use business intelligence tools, which combine data from multiple sources and display it in a meaningful way.
Analytics & Data
New Google Analytics Settings Reflect GDPR Requirements

May 15, 2018 • Morgan Jones

The E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation becomes effective on May 25. Google and other data gathering services are protecting themselves by allowing users to control the data retained from customers and ...
Analytics & Data
Internet Attorney on GDPR Compliance for Ecommerce

May 15, 2018 • Pamela Hazelton

The General Data Protection Regulation from the European Union takes effect on May 25. The law is sweeping, with massive fines for noncompliance. It affects most every company worldwide, large ...
Analytics & Data
Getting Started with A/B Tests (to Drive Sales)

May 8, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

A/B tests can improve conversions on an ecommerce site. There are many testing platforms — search Google for “A/B tests.” To run a test, identify a key conversion element, such as ...
Analytics & Data
Does Facebook’s Data Debacle Impact Advertisers?

April 11, 2018 • Michael Stancil

Facebook is an enormously powerful advertising tool. There is no better mix of users, placements, and targeting. Sure, you have keywords with Google, and even audiences, but not with the ...
Analytics & Data
Spy on Competitors to Improve Products and Promotions

April 6, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Spying on your ecommerce competition can help with product pricing and marketing strategy. The first step is to identify all competitors no matter how large or small. Once you’ve compiled ...
Analytics & Data
Getting Started with Google Tag Manager, for Ecommerce

April 4, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Many websites lose reporting from one of their marketing or analytics platforms. The culprit is usually the removal of tags during updates to the sites. Tags are critical for ecommerce merchants. But they add clutter to websites. That's the purpose of Google Tag Manager — to manage tags and contain them in a single JavaScript snippet on all pages.
Analytics & Data
Facebook’s Data Scandal Affects Ecommerce Companies

April 3, 2018 • Robert Brady

Facebook is facing a public relations nightmare surrounding its collecting and sharing of user data. Here is the short version. A Cambridge professor used a Facebook survey app to obtain profile ...
Analytics & Data
3 Ways Customer Data Drives Ecommerce Conversions

March 27, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Data is important to ecommerce businesses. But many are not sure how to use it — to collect, analyze, and make meaningful changes to their business. The key ecommerce data is easy to obtain, however. It comes from customers. In this post, I'll review how to apply basic customer metrics to improve your ecommerce sales.
Analytics & Data
Use Google Analytics to Audit PPC Traffic

March 7, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Pay-per-click advertising is a key revenue driver for many ecommerce businesses. But click costs can be expensive. Ensuring that all clicks are reported accurately in Google Analytics will help make informed decisions. In this post, I'll describe a process for auditing the reporting of PPC traffic in Google Analytics. I'll offer guidance on identifying issues with PPC reporting, with insights for how to troubleshoot and fix reporting errors.
Analytics & Data
How to Track Overall Marketing Performance for All Channels

March 6, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Marketers typically measure the performance of campaigns and channels. For email, the key metrics could be opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and sales. For pay-per-click ads, it could be cost per click and cost per conversion. But how do you measure your marketing performance overall? And how do you compare channels, such as email marketing to PPC ads to social media?
Analytics & Data
Which Promotions Perform Best for Your Ecommerce Business?

February 11, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Ecommerce merchants typically run promotions throughout the year. Some are seasonal, such as "Free Shipping on Valentine’s Day Flowers" and "20% Off for Cyber Monday." Others focus on product categories, such as “Free Socks with Purchase of Any Jeans." But how does a merchant know if a promotion was successful? That's the purpose of this article.
Analytics & Data
Google Data Studio: Track Sales, ROI from All Sources

February 6, 2018 • Morgan Jones

The proliferation of marketplaces and advertising channels represents a data challenge for ecommerce merchants. Increasingly, merchants are selling on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, for example, in addition to their own websites. Many are now advertising beyond Google AdWords and Bing ads to other channels, such as Facebook and AdRoll. The challenge is obtaining traffic and conversion data from each of those sources.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: 3 Reports to Customize for Ecommerce

January 3, 2018 • Morgan Jones

The standard reporting in Google Analytics works well for many ecommerce sites. But there are opportunities to enhance the default dimensions and metrics in Google Analytics, to empower online merchants even more. In this article, I'll review three ways to customize Google Analytics reports, to help merchants track key metrics and make critical decisions.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Using Enhanced Ecommerce to Grow Revenue

December 10, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Reporting on overall revenue and revenue by channel is among the most essential data for a niche ecommerce company to grow its business. Google Analytics has a powerful revenue-reporting suite ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics to Detect Website Errors

October 31, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Websites sometimes break without their owners being aware. This can include errors when shoppers are browsing or checking out, which can cause serious abandonment. Identifying and correcting the errors that ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics for Ecommerce SEO

September 26, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Google and other search engines have made it challenging to identify the keywords that drive organic traffic to websites. Jill Kocher’s article, “Understanding Google’s Keyword ‘Not Provided’ Data,” provides a ...
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics Setup Checklist for Ecommerce

August 29, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics is loaded with reports and has many settings that can be customized to enhance reporting. The following checklist is designed for ecommerce merchants. By using Google Analytics’ reporting ...
Analytics & Data
Measuring What Matters for SEO (Hint: It’s Not Rankings)

August 18, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown

When measuring natural search performance, use the key performance indicators that matter to the bottom line. While each piece of data has its place in managing SEO, only visits and revenue ...
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Removing Internal Traffic and Referral Spam

August 1, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Web traffic from employees, related parties, and automated bots can distort reporting in Google Analytics. For example, including internal traffic in return-on-investment calculations can produce a lower, inaccurate percentage from ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics to Track Multiple Ad Channels in Purchase Cycle

July 3, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Ecommerce merchants must produce profitable traffic from their advertising efforts. Cash flow is essential. Traffic acquisition must be efficient. However, not all traffic channels drive immediate sales. Some channels assist ...
Analytics & Data
Ad Blockers Can Affect Analytics Reporting

June 8, 2017 • Hamlet Batista

Ad blocking software doesn’t just block ads. It also blocks most tracking beacons used by analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and others. Jason Packer, with Quantable, an optimization ...
Analytics & Data
Measuring Offline Sales in Google Analytics

June 7, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Some of the best online shoppers do not actually purchase online. They start their purchase process by finding the product they need online, and then either call the merchant or ...
Analytics & Data
Bad Product Data Hurts SEO

May 19, 2017 • Jill Kocher Brown

The quality of product data impacts natural search performance on ecommerce sites, far beyond whether meta tags are optimized. Product data isn’t traditionally thought of as contributing to SEO, but ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics to Track Profitability by Product

May 5, 2017 • Morgan Jones

Niche ecommerce merchants must focus on cash flow. They do not have large capital reserves to support unprofitable investments. Although growing sales is good for the ego, growing cash flow ...

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