Setting up analytics is one of the most important factors of success in any PPC campaign. Whether you’re creating a new account from scratch or taking over an account from another campaign manager, the steps should be the same. You need to ensure that all tracking is implemented correctly. This should be your number one priority, and you’ll have to go beyond the basics if you want to make your website data work harder for you.
Here are 5 golden rules to follow for maximum ROI and better campaign results.
1. Have clear targets and goals
Before creating any PPC campaigns, be clear on what your goals are. Nothing is more damaging to PPC optimisation than the lack of direction. Whether done in-house or by an agency, good AdWords management should always be results-driven. Make sure anyone who is working on the account has KPIs to work to, so you can monitor performance, and learn what works (and what doesn’t) for your brand/audience. Otherwise, the data pulled from your Analytics account will be of very little value to you.
2. Have conversion tracking for every search engine
One of the first steps is making sure that you can track conversions through every major PPC search engine – not just Google. To do this, run a lead-tracking report to see if conversion data is available for all search engines. You should then double-check that you have the right codes on your website and that every page is trackable. Only when you have complete tracking will you have the full picture.
3. Set up URL tagging for Analytics
Another essential step when linking AdWords with Analytics is implementing URL tags. All the Google data automatically syncs up in your reports, so you won’t have to worry about that. But other pay-per-click advertising won’t be included, and that means other traffic sources will show up as organic’. This will skew your data and give you inaccurate numbers. So remember to create custom URL tags for all PPC ad accounts. Google Analytics URL builder is a tool that can help you do this.
4. Don’t forget to use Goal Funnels
Goals are easy to set up and are an important part of understanding the customer journey. Not only can you track conversion from all traffic sources, but you can delve deeper and look at the entire conversion path. If you are taking over an existing account and Goal Funnels have already been created, check that these are correct.
5. Create a custom dashboard on Analytics
This is the easiest way of accessing all of the important data you need to see, straight away, By designing custom dashboards you can save time every time you log into Google Analytics. For instance, you may be interested in setting up a mobile e-commerce dashboard if you are focused on device sales. Over 80% of people now use their smartphones to look and shop for products online, so tracking mobile PPC traffic is something that will be helpful for retail brands.
