The events in Google Analytics help you in viewing that how many visitors have visited your blog weekly. Even, you can see from where is the traffic on your website is coming & whether it is organic or paid.
You might get amazed that Google Analytics can even tell you that how many times a single video or a PDF file is downloaded.
Moreover, the event feature can be customized depending on your requirements and the specifications of the user. You can say that virtually all the interactions done by the user on the web page can be tracked.
Tracking events include:
- Playing the videos
- Downloads of PDF
- Views of pop-ups
- Scrolling the page
- Amendment on the fields of the form
- Number of times the link is clicked
And the list goes on.
Your website is ready but you are looking for tracking and recording your data.
But Here The Question Arises That How To Do These Tasks? In this article, you will get a detailed description regarding how to set up and track events in Google Analytics.
What Are Google Analytics Events?
Before, proceeding towards the study of Google Analytics, the concept of the events must be understood.
According to Google, events are the combinations of the interactions done by the user on the web page. It can be tracked on an individual basis. There are several elements which include images, videos, buttons, podcasts, and lightboxes.
The question might pop-up in the mind that why are we highlighting the events? What is the significance of the event feature provided by Google Analytics?
The Importance of Events In Google Analytics
Yes! Events are important because they direct the visitors to become your customer or regular visitor to your website.
Even they have watched a video on your website it means they are interested in your content. In the same token, even the purchase is not completed by the customer but it shows his willingness on your eCommerce website.
Tracking these events is very useful and helps you in setting up an effective campaign. You can easily reach your targeted audience and make offers to them.
Types Of Events In Google Analytics
The types of events in Google Analytics can vary from basic to customize.
Basic Events Tracking: In Google Analytics, the basic event means the Page Views events. By default, an event occurs whenever the web page is loaded. Some of the default events are signing up, log in, buying, searching, or check out.
Enhanced E-Commerce Events: The enhancements in e-commerce help in tracking additional information. The e-commerce events, such as add to cart and sale & purchase of a particular product with the help of Google Analytics helps in gathering more richer and detailed data.
Custom Events: With the help of Google Analytics events tracking you can now track the custom events too, such as tracking of scrolls and downloading the e-vouchers.
Components of Events In Google Analytics
During the user interaction with the particular event, Google Analytics receives the code for recording the event. In event tracking, four components are included in the code which is as follows:
Category: The name of an element or object that you want to track and analyze. It can be PDF Files, Videos, or Buttons.
Action: The kind of interaction that needs to record. The action parameter includes several downloads, a number of times video played and clicks on the button.
Label: (Optional, But Recommended) is a piece of additional and distinct information related to the event that a website owner or marketer needs to track and analyze. The label parameter includes the name of the video, movie subtitles, or the name of the downloaded file by the user.
Value: (Optional) parameter is an integer that is used to load a numeric value to an object or element, such as the downloaded time of the video in seconds.
To Be Noted: The negative integers are not supported and assigned to a Value Parameter.
All this information is sent to your account of Google Analytics for marketing. It helps not only the website owners but also the inexperienced or beginner marketers to use analytics reports for better decision-making.
How To Setup Event Tracking In Google Analytics
If you are willing to track the number of events or some specific parameters on your website then simply set up an automated event tracker or add the tag links on your website manually.
Let’s discuss these 2 types of methods.
Tagging Links Manually: You can modify or customize links to add the Category, Action, Label, Value components of events on your website in a manual way. But to add links manually, you must have some basic knowledge of website coding or development.
For inexperienced marketers or beginners, auto-tracking of the events by using Google Tag Manager is the best fit!
Auto-Tracking Of The Events (Using Google Tag Manager): If you want to measure interactions of your website, simply set up an auto-event tracking by Google Tag Manager.
It is not difficult as it seems to. For this, you need to go through the basic understanding of the triggers, tags, and variables. To initiate the tracking, particular variables need to be set on your desired web page. You can update it easily and the tags can be added in the code of your Google Analytics. You don’t need to be an IT expert for it.
Let’s go through the simple steps on how to set up a Google Tag Manager which helps you in tracking the events more efficiently.
Step 1 – Create An Account
Simply create an account on the Dashboard of the Google Tag Manager. Your account name should represent your business.
Here is the point where the Container Setup is required. Basically, the container is a sort of jar or bucket where all the rules, tags, and macros of your website are placed. The Container’s Name should be in a descriptive manner.
Mention which kind of content it is connected with. (Android, Web, IOS, or AMP).
After agreeing on the terms and conditions, the container will provide you the code for the installation of the container.
This process gets easy by the activation of the header and footer plugins. This script can be added and can be used on the whole website.
Step 2 – Built In Variables
Check that the built-in variables are enabled so that the tags can be created. On the sidebar of the Google Tag Manager dashboard, click on “Variables” and click on “Configure” to proceed on the next page.
Here, all the variables are listed which you want to track.
Mark check on the variables which are needed.
After the variable’s selection, the tag is created.
Step 3 – Create A Tag
On the dashboard, click on the button Add a new tag.
After this step, you will be directed to the new web page.
On this page, you will see two areas for customizing the tags.
- Tag Configuration where the tag will place the collected data.
- Triggering means which type of data are you looking for.
Click on the Tag Configuration button where the list of the tags is displayed.
Choose the option of Google Analytics: Universal Analytics so you can create new tags.
Select the data type you want to track by going in the menu of Google Analytics: Universal Analytics.
Choose the option of New Variable… from the Google Analytics Settings menu.
Step 4 – Trigger An Event
You will proceed to the new page where you have to enter a new Tracking ID for Google Analytics.
Here, data of the website will forward to the Google Analytics tracking events. After the completion of the triggering section, you need to choose the page which has to be triggered.
Click on All Pages so that data is sent from all the web pages. After these all steps, your new setup of the tag is created.
This is the new tag of Google Analytics and the data is sent to the Google Analytics Page.
How Google Analytics Events Tracking Benefits A User
Google Analytics is helpful in different ways which can’t be ignored by the user.
It can be used to:
- Track the Outbound Links of other websites
- Help in studying the number of clicks on sending emails or calls. This helps in understanding the queries that are being received from your website.
- Track the downloads like PDF and Media Files
- Measure the interactions along with the video files, i.e, How much time did the user spend watching the video?
- Observe the number of clicks on some special elements like the Contact Us page & About Us page
- How the user is moving the cursor on a particular web page?
- How many users have shared the blog post?
The tacking helps in studying and collecting important information regarding the events conducted by the user on the website.
A Guide For The New Marketer Concerning The Google Analytics Event Feature
I have already shown you the importance of events in Google Analytics, and now it can be perceived that you are now thoroughly familiar with the basic substantials.
Google Analytics is extremely beneficial which can’t be neglected at any cost. So for the newbie and inexperienced marketers, we have some significance as well as motivating tips to ponder over.
Keep on scrolling to unroll the list:
- Decision Making:
Helps in studying and collecting important information regarding the events conducted by the user on the website. It is useful in decision-making processes.
- Build Marketing Strategies:
Several campaigns are running by the firms. Tracking of the events helps in building the most suitable strategies and helps the new marketers in observing the campaigns. The marketers can analyze from which product they will receive more benefits.
- Study SEO For Better Web Traffic:
Events tracking shows you which web page got the most views or which one is famous among all other web pages.
Moreover, it helps in directing the SEO to study the traffic of the most viewed web page.
- Segmentation Of The Users/Visitors:
It also facilitates dividing your users or visitors into portions or you can say segments. Your segmentation can be specified in detail as well. Like the regional and geographical location of the visitor on the website.
- Track Any Type Of Website:
If your website is a resource provider; so the number of downloads can be tracked as well. All the engaging activities regarding the events you have posted will be seen.
- Helps In Finding SEO Keywords & Optimal Content:
Tracking the events also helps in finding suitable SEO Keywords and the optimal content you should post. You can also convert your data into valuable information for the user.
Bottom Line
Google Analytics Events Feature is a worthy and additional service to measure the interactions of the user. The primary goal is to help in analyzing your targets whether they are micro or macro. With the Google Tag Manager, you can create the setup more efficiently. Even the codes are manageable and understandable, No need to worry! if you don’t have a tech background.
All of the above pieces of information related to Google Analytics Events will be strengthening newbie and inexperienced marketers with each minute passing by making their business more fruitful.
