My slides from the Searchlove Boston conference in May 2016. The presentation covers actionable tips and tricks for working with Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics.
2. Simo Ahava
Senior Data Advocate, Reaktor
Google Developer Expert, Google Analytics
Blogger, developer, www.simoahava.com
Twitter-er, @SimoAhava
Google+:er, +SimoAhava
11. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
12. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
13. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
14. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
15. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
16. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
17. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
18. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
19. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
Except if you’ve implemented THAT incorrectly…
20. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
Except if you’ve implemented THAT incorrectly…
There’s also the sessionControl parameter…
21. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
Except if you’ve implemented THAT incorrectly…
There’s also the sessionControl parameter…
Lets not forget mobile and single-page apps!
22. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
Except if you’ve implemented THAT incorrectly…
There’s also the sessionControl parameter…
Lets not forget mobile and single-page apps!
Who knows what else happens server-side?
23. Google Analytics Session
Group of interactions that takes place on a website
That expires after 30 minutes of inactivity…
Or at the end of they day…
Or when acquisition campaign changes…
Unless the referral is in the Referral Exclusion List…
Or traffic is cross-domain, and cross-domain tracking is implemented…
Unless it’s implemented incorrectly…
Which is likely since it’s so !#/%(“% difficult…
Unless you’re using Google Tag Manager…
Except if you’ve implemented THAT incorrectly…
There’s also the sessionControl parameter…
Lets not forget mobile and single-page apps!
Who knows what else happens server-side?
Cookies, localStorage, persistent data stores!?
32. Google Tag Manager
Lets you create and deploy tracking
and measurement scripts with ease.
Facilitates interaction between various
departments within your organization.
33. Google Tag Manager
Lets you create and deploy tracking
and measurement scripts with ease.
Facilitates interaction between various
departments within your organization.
Allows you to focus your time on analysis
rather than implementation.
42. #1: Inject Meta Data Dynamically Into The Page
http://goo.gl/PJmQuR
43. Custom HTML Tag
<script>
(function() {
// The NAME attribute of the meta tag:
var name = 'description';
// The CONTENT attribute of the meta tag:
var content = 'Simo Ahava's blog provides a unique, understandable, and relatable peek into the digital world.';
var m = document.createElement('meta');
m.name = name;
m.content = content;
document.head.appendChild(m);
})();
</script>
44. Page View Trigger
"Inject the Meta Tag during the page load sequence as soon
as Google Tag Manager has loaded"
60. Custom JS Variable: {{JS - Blog Images}}
function() {
// Make sure the selector points to your content element
var content = document.querySelector('.entry-content');
var imgs = content.querySelectorAll('img').length - 1;
if (imgs>20) return '21+';
else if (imgs>15) return '16-20';
else if (imgs>10) return '11-15';
else if (imgs>7) return '8-10';
else if (imgs>5) return '6-7';
else if (imgs>3) return '4-5';
else if (imgs>1) return '2-3';
else if (imgs>0) return '1';
else return '0';
}
61. Custom JS Variable: {{JS - Blog Length}}
function() {
// Make sure the selector matches your content element
var content = document.querySelector('.entry-content');
var wCount = 0;
var cText = content.textContent || content.innerText;
cText = cText.replace(/(^s*)|(s*$)/gi,'');
cText = cText.replace(/[ ]{2,}/gi,' ');
cText = cText.replace(/n /,'n');
wCount = cText.split(' ').length;
if (wCount>3000) return '3k+';
else if (wCount>2500) return '2.5k-3k';
else if (wCount>2000) return '2k-2.5k';
else if (wCount>1500) return '1.5k-2k';
else if (wCount>1100) return '1.1k-1.5k';
else if (wCount>800) return '800-1.1k';
else if (wCount>500) return '500-800';
else if (wCount>200) return '200-500';
else return '<200';
}
62. Custom JS Variable: {{JS - Blog Title Length}}
function() {
var title = document.title;
var wCount;
title = title.replace(/(^s*)|(s*$)/gi,'');
title = title.replace(/[ ]{2,}/gi,' ');
wCount = title.split(' ').length;
if (wCount>20) return '21+';
else if (wCount>16) return '17-20';
else if (wCount>12) return '13-16';
else if (wCount>10) return '11-12';
else if (wCount>8) return '9-10';
else if (wCount>6) return '7-8';
else if (wCount>4) return '5-6';
else if (wCount>2) return '3-4';
else return '<3';
}
76. <script>
(function() {
var s = document.location.search;
var h = document.location.hash;
var e = {{Event}};
var n = {{New History Fragment}};
var o = {{Old History Fragment}};
// Only run if the History API is supported
if (window.history) {
// Create a new history state if the user lands from Google's SERP
if (e === 'gtm.js' &&
document.referrer.indexOf('www.google.') > -1 &&
s.indexOf('gclid') === -1 &&
s.indexOf('utm_') === -1 &&
h !== '#gref') {
window.oldFragment = false;
window.history.pushState(null,null,'#gref');
} else if (e === 'gtm.js') {
window.oldFragment = true;
}
// When the user tries to return to the SERP using browser back, fire the
// Google Analytics timing event, and after it's dispatched, manually
// navigate to the previous history entry, i.e. the SERP
if (e === 'gtm.historyChange' &&
n === '' &&
o === 'gref') {
var time = new Date().getTime() - {{DLV - gtm.start}};
if (!window.oldFragment) {
dataLayer.push({
'event' : 'returnToSerp',
'timeToSerp' : time,
'eventCallback' : function() {
window.history.go(-1);
}
});
} else {
window.history.go(-1);
}
}
}
})();
</script>
Custom HTML Tag
91. <script>
(function() {
var startEngage = new Date().getTime();
var timeEngaged = 0;
var idleTime = 0;
var idle = true;
var idleReport = false;
var idleTimer, reportTimer;
/* Set the user as idle, and calculate the time
they were non-idle */
var setIdle = function() {
idleTime = new Date().getTime();
timeEngaged += idleTime - startEngage;
idle = true;
};
/* Reset the 5 second idle timer.
If the user was idle, start the non-idle timer */
var pulse = function(evt) {
if (idle) {
idle = false;
startEngage = new Date().getTime();
idleReport = false;
}
window.clearTimeout(idleTimer);
idleTimer = window.setTimeout(setIdle, 5000);
};
// Utility function for attaching listeners to the window
var addListener = function(evt, cb) {
if (window.addEventListener) {
window.addEventListener(evt, cb);
} else if (window.attachEvent) {
window.attachEvent('on' + evt, cb);
}
};
/* Push an event to dataLayer every 15 seconds
unless the user is idle.
Also, push an event when the user leaves the page */
var report = function(evt) {
if (!idle) {
timeEngaged += new Date().getTime() - startEngage;
}
// Push the payload to dataLayer, and only push valid time values
if (!idleReport && timeEngaged > 0 && timeEngaged < 3600000) {
window.dataLayer.push({
'event' : 'nonIdle',
'nonIdleTimeElapsed' : timeEngaged
});
}
if (idle) {
idleReport = true;
}
// Fix possible beforeunload duplication problem
if (evt && evt.type === 'beforeunload') {
window.removeEventListener('beforeunload', report);
}
timeEngaged = 0;
startEngage = new Date().getTime();
reportTimer = window.setTimeout(report, 15000);
};
addListener('mousedown', pulse);
addListener('keydown', pulse);
addListener('scroll', pulse);
addListener('mousemove', pulse);
addListener('beforeunload', report);
idleTimer = window.setTimeout(setIdle, 5000);
reportTimer = window.setTimeout(report, 15000);
})();
</script>
Custom HTML Tag