Spektrix users: How to troubleshoot your Google Analytics (plus free dashboard)
UPDATE 06/12/2023 - This article was written in 2016 and refers to Universal Analytics. To find out how we can help with Google Analytics 4, head over here.
Do you use Spektrix? Brilliant! Then you're probably selling quite a large % of your tickets online. That means you'll be keen to understand how well your website and digital marketing efforts are performing.
You probably have Google Analytics on your website too. But… well, the account was set up, and you go in there occasionally but, to be honest, some of the data in there is a bit weird and doesn't seem quite right.
Does that sound familiar?
Dodgy data is no good. Google Analytics can be complicated at the best of times, but if the data isn't right then trying to do the simplest bit of analysis can wreck your day. It can also chip away at your confidence and leave you relying on guesswork when it comes to gauging your website's performance.
Fact is, pretty much every new client we work with has some problems with their Google Analytics setup. It's no wonder people can be confused. So for Spektrix users, we've done something about it.
We've created a Google Analytics troubleshooting dashboard that will help you spot where there are problems with your website and/or your Google Analytics setup. It's free, and we're giving it away.
This was first shown at the 2016 Spektrix Conference and has since been refined. It's now clearer and packs in more information.
How to set up the troubleshooting dashboard
It's really very simple. Just follow these steps:
Log in to Google Analytics
Click on this link: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/template?uid=2UogXBpaQ8SJEvGzcl-jhg
Choose which Google Analytics 'View' to add the dashboard to.
That's it! The dashboard will appear, filled with your Google Analytics data.
Understanding what the troubleshooting dashboard is telling you
The dashboard is made up of a number of 'gadgets'. Each one pulls out data from across your Google Analytics account. It's a quick and easy way to identify where there might be problems with your setup.
Let's take each part of the dashboard one at a time…
1. Do you have ecommerce tracking set up?
If you're a Spektrix user, then you'll be using your website to sell tickets and possibly merchandise too. You should be collecting information about those transactions in your Google Analytics account to understand how your marketing channels are working.
Good: if this is working then you'll see numbers in here.
Bad: the gadget shows £0, or the number is a long way off the amount of revenue you actually take online.
2. Can you see your email campaign names?
Most email service providers (ESPs) have campaign tracking built in, so you can see the impact of your email marketing on your website. Some ESPs have revenue tracking built in but, of course, your campaigns might be about more than revenue (lead generation, content promotion, participation, and so on).
Good: you'll see a list of your email campaigns here
Bad: this will be blank, or filled with campaign names that you don't recognise (it's possible for links from other people's email campaigns to show up here)
3. Can you see your CPC campaigns?
If you're using AdWords then you should link your account to the relevant Google Analytics property.
Good: you'll see a list of your paid search campaigns
Bad: this will be empty, or not show the campaigns you might be expecting
4. Is revenue coming from a range of traffic sources?
It's very rare for all of your revenue to come from a single traffic source, and usually Organic Search dominates. Direct, Referral, and Paid Search should all be in the mix too.
Good: revenue will be attributed to a spread of traffic sources
Bad: if all your revenue seems to be coming from Referral or Direct then you might have a problem with your attribution.
5. Do you see your website or system.spektrix.com in your referrals?
If the previous one flagged an issue, then this one might just confirm it. Your website and system.spektrix.com should not be sending traffic to your website.
Good: if all's well, you'll see a list of third party websites sending you traffic (often these are news websites, listings, and partner/touring organisations)
Bad: if you see your own domain name or system.spektrix.com in the list of referrals then your analytics won't have been set up correctly.
6. Are you collecting duplicate transactions?
When someone buys something through your website, that transaction should only be logged in your analytics once. Sometimes it's possible for transactions to be double counted. A small amount of this is hard to avoid because of the way Google Analytics works, but too much will skew your data.
Good: you'll see a list of 1's next to each transaction ID (the odd 2 isn't the end of the world).
Bad: if you see a row of 2's or even 3's then you might have a problem that'd be worth investigating deeper
7. How many 404s?
When a user goes to a page that doesn't exist on your website then they should be shown an error page. This is called a '404 page'. This isn't really a problem with your analytics, but you don't want too many of these.
NB: this gadget is set up to look for pages on your site with a page title that includes '404' or 'page not found'. If your site displays these pages with a different title then you may need to edit this gadget.
Good: a small number of page views for your 404 page.
Bad: You'll see a large number of page views here. 'Large' will vary depending on the amount of traffic your website
What to do next
The aim of this is to give you a very quick glance at how your analytics are set up. Chances are, if you (or your digital agency) have just added the Google Analytics code and skimped on any further setup then you'll have been collecting bad data for some time.
The good news, is this can be fixed. Although sadly we can't go back in time to fix your data, so the sooner it's done, the more good data you'll have to work with.
Spektrix have put together some documentation covering the nuts and bolts of sending ecommerce data to Google Analytics and removing the common self-referral issue. Your account manager should be able to help you with that.
If you need us to give you a hand putting things right, then just get in touch and we'll chat about how we can help.
We've worked with the Royal Court Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Saffron Hall, Hackney Empire, and others, so we know what we're doing!