The 80:20 Rule and Google Analytics
UPDATE 06/12/2023 - This article was originally written way back in 2017. Although we’ve all now moved on to Google Analytics 4, the recommendations here are still relevant. We’ve updated some of the links to point to GA4 resources.
The Arts Marketing Association asked me to contribute an article to the latest issue of JAM - the Journal of Arts Marketing.
The issue focused on the role of data, and my piece answered one of the most common questions I get about Google Analytics - "what are the essentials I should be doing?"
So, following the 80:20 rule, I thought about how arts marketers could get as much benefit as possible from Google Analytics, in the shortest possible time.
My top 3 recommendations
I'm not going to repeat the entire article here, but these were my three takeaways.
1. Make sure your Google Analytics account has been set up correctly.
Whether you're delving into your data or not, you absolutely must get the foundations in place as soon as possible. That means making sure your setup is error free and that you're collecting useful, good quality data. You’ll also want to set up some custom reports so that you can always see the most useful data (more on this in a moment).
If you're not sure what 'useful, good quality data' means then get some help.
Future you will really appreciate it and your data can be working for you in the meantime. Which leads me on to…
2. Get your website analytics data working for you
Other people and tools should be making use of your Google Analytics even while you're working on other things:
Your advertising agency can use it to optimise your campaigns,
Your web designers can use it to find areas of your site that need improving,
You can set up custom insights in Google Analytics to tell you when something notable happens. For instance, a spike in traffic to your 404 page.
Of course, this is all a lot harder if your Google Analytics setup hasn't been done properly and you have dodgy data, so don't forget to get that checked and sorted.
3. Focus on fixing
When it comes to diving into Google Analytics, start by finding things on your site that need fixing. Traffic to 404 pages and landing pages with high bounce rates are two prime examples.
Save yourself time by setting up custom insights (mentioned above) or by setting up reports that will show you the information you need at a glance. Which leads me on to…
The GA4 Reporting Kit
Over on Coach we have a DIY online course that will help you massively upgrade your Google Analytics 4 reports. Designed for arts and cultural organisations, we’ll guide you through how to upgrade your reporting to get straight to the most useful data.