Discover How To Implement Conversion Goals in Google Analytics

Benefits 

• By utilising these types of goals, you can ensure that you are aware of user actions – you can see whether they are responding to your CTAs. 
• You will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your website, and then take steps to improve based on this. 
• By using the GTM method, it can be easier to set up certain goals.
• You can use the feedback that you gain to optimise the strategies you currently have in place, to ensure that you give your users the best experience possible. 

 

Which Method to Use?

Throughout this blog post, we are going to explore 2 ways which you can use to track your business’s conversions. One is the Google Tag Manager method and the other one does not use GTM.

 

Google Tag Manager Method:

To begin, you will need to set up Google Analytics Events using GTM.

1. Open Google Tag Manager – sign in, and then select the relevant account.
2. Go over to the sidebar and select “Tags” and “New” – once you have done this, give your tag a name, choose something that you will easily be able to identify in the future.
3. Click “Choose a tag type to begin set-up” – this option will be under “Tag Configuration”. 
4. When the dropdown menu appears, click on “Universal Analytics”.
5. Select your Google Analytics ID variable – from the dropdown “Google Analytics Settings”. 
   • If you do not want to use this variable, then you will need to tick the “Enable overriding settings in this tag” – you will then be given the option of manually entered a GA Tracking ID. 
   • If you don’t know what your GA Tracking ID is, then you can find it by opening your GA Settings (ensuring to choose the relevant account and property), before selecting “Tracking Info” and then “Tracking Code”.
6. You will now need to click on “Event” from the “Track Type” dropdown menu.
7. Now you will be given the opportunity to enter information – this then ensures Google Analytics receives information relevant to the event.

• Category  

This will be based on your business type, and the way that you have configured your account – you may decide that you want to name your categories after the journey your page visitors will take when they have chosen a specific option. 

• Action

You may decide to name your actions after steps your customer takes when they are on your website.

• Label 

In this section, you will need to add particular information based on the action that was carried out. 

• Value 

This doesn’t have to be a monetary value – this will be linked to the event that is being set up. 

• Non-interaction Hit:

This is when a user carries out the desired action, which then triggers the event – you will need to decide if you want to count this user as a non-bounce if so, make sure it says “False”

8. Now you will need to decide in which cases you want the “Event” to be activated. 
   • An example of this would be a “Click” – if you want your users to click on a certain part of your website, then you can set this as a goal. 

 

“Page View” Event Creation 

1. 1. You would need to select “Choose a trigger to make this tag fire…”, you will find this under “Triggering”
   2. Select the “+” – it will be on the top right side of the screen.
   3. Give your Trigger a new name.
   4. Once you’ve done this, you will now need to select “Choose a trigger to begin set-up…”
   5. Now you will need to choose “Page View” and then “Some Page Views”
      •  It is important to make sure that the trigger naming system you put in place is something that you will remember in the future – it is important to ensure that you are able to understand what the trigger is. 
      • You will see the trigger firing rules, you need to make sure to click “Page URL” and then “matches RegEx”. 
      • Now you will need to construct the regular expression, ensuring that you match it to the URL of the goal you wish to fire. 
        • If you feel as though you are comfortable using Google Tag Manager, in addition to your website structure, then you might decide that using a regular expression is not suitable. If you feel this way, then follow these steps:
        • The below process will help you to form a RegEx that matches the site’s URL, regardless of:
          1. If the site starts with: http or https
          2. If a trailing slash has been used
          3. Parameters have been to your URL
          4. If, in the folder structure, there are deeper URLs
      • Now enter the URL where you intended for the conversion to be fired.
        • Once you’ve done this, you will need to remove the following from the URL:
          1. The http:// 
          2. www
          3. Last trailing slash 
        • Now you will need to add the following:
          1. a \ before each dot and slash in the URL
          2. (?!\/.*\/)*?*\/?)$|.*.*=.*) at the end of the URL
          3. (http|https):\/\/(www\.)? at the start of the URL

1. 1. • The RegEx has now been created – you will need this in future, so write it down.

 

“Click” Event

The following steps are related to the stages involved in implementing a “Click” event.

1. You will need to save the tag you are currently working on, this is something that you are able to do by selecting “Save” and then “Save Tag”. 
2. You will now need to select “Variables” and then “Configure”
3. Now you will be able to see the variable list – you will need to choose all the variables under “Clicks”
   1. It is important to note that if you are already aware of which variables you are going to need, then you can just select those. 
4. Make sure to select “Triggers” and then “New” – once you have done this, you will need to give the trigger a name. 
   1. Click these in the following order to rename the trigger:
      1. “Choose a trigger to begin set-up…” 
      2. “Click: All Elements” 
      3. “All Clicks”
      4. “Save” 

5. Now you will need to decide which variables are suitable for what you’re intending to track, in order to do this, you will need to select “Preview”.
6. In a new tab open your website’s URL – at the bottom of your screen, the GTM panel should be visible.
7. You will now need to hold down the “Ctrl” key – you will now need to select the button you intend to track. 
8. You should now notice that you have the option of selecting “gtm.click” on the GTM list.
   • Click it, and then select “Variables” 
9. You will notice that GTM presents all the information which came back from this click.
   • a – If you see that the “Click ID” is filled with text string, then you will need to write down this combination.
     • If you find that your website designer has used the same ID for some other project, then it may be a better course of action to select either the b or c options. 
   • b – When you don’t have a “Click ID” and you know that the HTML Class has not been shared with another button that you aren’t intending to track, then you are able to use that instead. (Write down this combination)

• • c – If the above options aren’t suitable, then you will need to use the variable “Click Text” – once again, you will need to write down that combination. 

• • • • Important – ensure that the text you have put in place is not being used elsewhere – this is because clicks on the other link containing this text will be counted as a conversion too.

10. Now select “Triggers” – you will need to choose the trigger that you previously created.
11. You will need to select “Trigger Configuration” and then under the “This trigger fires on” section, you will need to click “Some Clicks” and then choose the combination which you had noted down previously, and then click “Save”.
12. Look at the sidebar, and select “Tags” – you will now need to choose the tag you have created previously. 
13. You will now need to scroll further down the page and find the “Triggering” area, then select “Choose a trigger to make this tag fire…” and choose the trigger you had made previously. 
14. Click “Save”.
15. Now you will need to select “Save” (this time it’s the bottom at the top-right of the page). 
16. You have successfully created the trigger and have also added it to the tag you created. This means that the event you have implemented will now activate depending on the conditions you specified and the values set.
17. Once you have clicked “Submit”, the Submission Configuration panel will appear, and you will be given the opportunity to add a name and description – now click “Publish”.
18. A visible overview of the changes you have made will be shown to you. 

 

Google Analytics – Turning your Events into Goals 

1. Start on your Google Analytics account, and open settings (to do this, go over to the sidebar and select “Admin”) 
2. Ensure you select the relevant account, property and view.
3. Now select “Goals” and then “New Goal” 
4. You will now need to choose a custom goal, once you have done so, you need to give it a name.
5. Now you have the option of choosing a Goal ID and Goal set slot. 
   • Now click “Event”, before selecting “Continue”
6. You will now need to make sure that you put the values you entered previously (when you made the tag) into the following categories:
   • “Category”
   • “Action”
   • “Label”
7. You will also need to make sure that you have set all the drop-downs to “Equal to”, while making sure that “Value” is left as it is. Select “Save” 
8. Now the goal you created should be visible, you need to make sure that the “Recording” toggle is in the “On” position.

 

Google Analytics Account – Directly Setting Up Goals

1. 1. You will need to open settings in your Google Analytics account – you can do this by going over to the sidebar and selecting “Admin”.
   2. Now you need to ensure you select the right account, property and view.
   3.  Select “Goals” and then “New Goal” – you will now need to give this goal a name. 
   4. Choose whichever Goal ID and Goal Set slot you like and then click “Event” and then “Continue”.
   5. You will now need to choose the type of goal that you are intending to track. 
      • Types of Goals include:
        1. Duration 
        2. Destination 
        3. Pages/Screens per session 
        4. Event 

• • • • • Important – this type of goal is something you should only use in the event that your website already has events in place. Additionally – this is not something which will be covered in this blog.

1. 6. Decide which goal is the best fit for what you’re intending to track:

Duration Goal

1. 1. 1. You will need to click “Duration” and then “Continue”
      2. Once you have done this, you will need to input the settings for the goal. 

• • • • Duration 

This is the amount of time you want the goal to last for before it’s considered to be complete.

• • • • Value

Here is where you will need to enter how much the conversion is worth (estimation).

Make sure to select “Save” – now the goal you have just created should be visible, and you will also need to make sure the “Recording” toggle is in the “On” position.

Destination Goal 

1. 1. 1. You will need to click “Destination” and then “Continue”
      2. You will now have the option of entering goal settings

• • • • Destination 

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Equals to: (usable if your URL doesn’t have parameters)
            2. Begins with: (usable if the URL does have parameters, but no subpath)
            3. Regular Expression (usable if your case does not fit into the above categories)

• • • • Value

This is not a compulsory field, however, you can enter your estimation of how much the conversion is worth.

• • • • • Funnel 

Make sure to leave the toggle in the “Off” position – this is only if you are unfamiliar with using this option, and know how to implement it.

 

You will need to make sure to select “Save”, and the goal you have created will be visible. You will need to make sure the “Recording” toggle is in the “On” position. 

Now make sure to select “Save” – the goal you created should be visible, and you need to make sure the “Recording” toggle is set to “On”.

 

Pages per Session Goal 

1. 1. Click “Pages/Screens per Session” and then “Continue” 
   2. Now you will need to input the goal settings:

• • • Pages/Screens per Session 

The amount of pages which the user has to have viewed so that the goal is seen as being complete.

• • • Value 

An optional field – can allow you to estimate how much the conversion is worth.

You need to ensure that you have selected “Save” and the goal that you have created is visible. Ensure that the “Recording” toggle is set to “On”. 

 

Google Analytics Goals – Testing Process 

1. Using Chrome, start on your website and then select the Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension.
2. You will now need to select “Record” and then perform the action which will act as a trigger to the conversion. 
3. Select the Google Tag Assistant Chrome extension one again, and this time click “Stop Recording” and then “Show Full Report”.
4. You will need to click “Google Analytics Report” and choose the view that you’re intending to test, once you’ve done this, you will need to select “OK”. 
5. Now you will need to scroll further down until you see the “Conversions” area of the report – here you can see the following:
   • Goal Name
   • Conversion Value 
   • A green tick
6. You will need to make sure that the Goal is not firing when it doesn’t need to be – you can ensure that it does not do this, by selecting the Google Tag Assistant extension, and then selecting “Record”, once you have done this, you will need to carry out a random action, not related to conversions. 
7. Now you need to select “Stop Recording” and then “Show Full Report”. Then you will need to go over to “Google Analytics Report”. Once you have done this, you will then need to choose which view you are planning on testing and then scroll down to “Conversions”. You should see that no conversion appears, as it was an unrelated action.

 

And you’re done!

Congratulations, you now know how to set up Conversion Goals in Google Analytics!

Thanks for your time. 

We hope that you found this blog useful, and if you did, make sure to keep an eye out for next week’s blog, coming soon. 

In the meantime, why not check us out on social media, that way you can keep up with our latest news and events so you don’t miss out?