Understanding Google Analytics for SEO
Keywords
Geo data
Referal urls
Time spent on site
Bounce rate
E-commerce
E-commerce Conversion Rate
Ecommerce Transactions & Transaction IDs
Revenue
Average Order Value
Unique Purchases
Quantity
Average Quantity
Average Price
Product Revenue
Per Session Value
Ecommerce Data
The ecommerce data is made up of transaction data and item data.
Transaction Data
Transaction Data provide details about users’ transactions like:
Transaction ID (or order ID).
Store or affiliation name.
Total revenue generated from the transaction (can also include shipping cost and taxes)
Total tax associated with the transaction.
Total shipping cost associated with the transaction
Terminology
Dimensions—A dimension is a descriptive attribute or characteristic of an object that can be given different values. Browser, Exit Page, Screens and Session Duration are all examples of dimensions that appear by default in Google Analytics.
Metrics—Metrics are individual elements of a dimension that can be measured as a sum or a ratio. Screenviews, Pages/Session and Average Session Duration are examples of metrics in Google Analytics.
Sessions—A session is the period of time a user is actively engaged with your website, app, etc., within a date range. All usage data (Screenviews, Events, Ecommerce, etc.) is associated with a session.
Users—Users who have had at least one session within the selected date range. Includes both new and returning users.
Pageviews—Pageviews means the total number of pages viewed. Repeated views of a single page are counted.
Pages/Session—Pages/session (Average Page Depth) is the average number of pages viewed during a session. Repeated views of a single page are counted.
Avg. Session Duration—The average length of a session.
Bounce Rate—Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e., visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page).
New Sessions—An estimate of the percentage of first-time visits.
Goals—Goals let you measure how often users take or complete specific actions on your website.
Conversions—Conversions are the number of times goals have been completed on your website.
Campaigns—Campaigns (also known as custom campaigns) allow you to add parameters to any URL from your website to collect more information about your referral traffic.
Acquisition—Acquisition is how you acquire users.
Behavior—Behavior data helps you improve your content.
User behaviour
New vs. Returning Visitors – New visitors are those users that have not visited your site before the time period specified, while returning visitors will have made at least one visit to at least one page on your site previously. This is again determined by whether Google Analytics can detect cookies, which indicate previous visits. If Google cannot detect a cookie one will be set for future recording, unless the user has disabled cookies in their personal browser preferences.
Segments – Segments enable you to analyse your data in more detail, by filtering the results to show only information for certain kinds of traffic. You can also use segments to compare results between groups of visitors; for example new vs. returning, or paid vs. organic search traffic. Google also allows you to set up custom segments to for even more granular analysis.
User behaviour
New vs. Returning Visitors – New visitors are those users that have not visited your site before the time period specified, while returning visitors will have made at least one visit to at least one page on your site previously. This is again determined by whether Google Analytics can detect cookies, which indicate previous visits. If Google cannot detect a cookie one will be set for future recording, unless the user has disabled cookies in their personal browser preferences.
Segments – Segments enable you to analyse your data in more detail, by filtering the results to show only information for certain kinds of traffic. You can also use segments to compare results between groups of visitors; for example new vs. returning, or paid vs. organic search traffic. Google also allows you to set up custom segments to for even more granular analysis.
Landing Page – The page your user begins their visit to your site on; quite simply, how they ‘land’ on your site.
Bounce Rate -Bounce rate is given as a percentage, and represents the number of visits when users leave your site after just one page; regardless of how they got to your site or how long they stayed on that page.
Visitors Flow – The visitors flow report shows how users moved through your site, from landing page to exit page. – The page your user begins their visit to your site on; quite simply, how they ‘land’ on your site.
Bounce Rate -Bounce rate is given as a percentage, and represents the number of visits when users leave your site after just one page; regardless of how they got to your site or how long they stayed on that page.
Visitors Flow – The visitors flow report shows how users moved through your site, from landing page to exit page.
Traffic
Traffic Sources: Direct vs. Referral – Traffic sources show you how users got to your site, and in Google Analytics are split into direct and referral traffic.
Direct traffic is made up of visitors that type a URL directly into the address bar, select an auto-complete option when typing the URL, or click on a bookmark to get to your site (however, instances when Google Analytics cannot determine a source also get automatically assigned as direct).
Referral traffic is when a user has landed on your site by clicking on a link from somewhere else; this could be another site, a social media profile, or a search engine.
Custom information
Events – Events can be set up within Google Analytics to help you measure activity that may not otherwise be recorded by the tracking code; these may include when a user plays a video, downloads a factsheet, uses an embedded tool, or other on-site interactions.
Goals – For critical site objectives, such as getting users to fill in a contact form, complete an online transaction or spend a certain amount of time engaging with your site, goals can be set up to monitor the conversion rate of these activities. There are four types of goals available in Google Analytics: URL Destination, Visit Duration, Pages (or Screens)/Visit and goals tied to existing events. You can also assign a monetary value to each goal completion, to help determine the return on investment from your website or application.
Understanding Google Analytics: A Simple Guide to Advanced Terms
https://moz.com/blog/absolute-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics
http://www.cio.com/article/3093384/analytics/a-cios-guide-to-understanding-analytics.html