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What Data is Google Analytics Goals Unable to Track?

What Data is Google Analytics Goals Unable to Track?

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It is important to track goals as that helps to measure the progress of the different goals for the different parameters of single or multiple projects. The progress can be further analyzed in a better way after stacking the results against the predefined goals or KPIs. But, what data is Google Analytics Goals unable to track?

Well, KPI is Key Performance Indicator and that is the most important factor for figuring out the success or failure of the business sector of any organization. Google Analytics Goals can monitor the following four types of parameters – Revenue, Acquisition, Inquiry, and Engagement.

Importance of Tracking Goals

Revenue helps the owner to track the total number of purchases, the amount of money obtained, and which products are the most favorite. Acquisition parameter is crucial for monitoring account creations or sign-ups on the website which helps to know about the total number of users. The inquiry parameter talks about the tracking of visitors who have an interest in your site and products. Engagement helps to track interactions on the site and this parameter also leads to the recording of the number of potential to-be customers. With these four major parameters, any organization can craft a successful business story after catering to the most revenue-producing group of customers and the most revenue-producing products.

In a way, the KPIs help to monitor and record the transition of a visitor toward becoming a customer. After becoming a customer, that customer is now the most important factor for that business. In the meantime, tracking the record can take place on different levels, such as Clicking links, Calling, Video Calling, or Sending queries.

If you can figure out the steps in the journey of the customer, then that helps to figure out better goals. And after figuring out those more effective goals, then you can collect data regarding those parameters. Most of the parameters can be easily recorded via Google Analytics.

So, why do people provide such time for recording and analyzing data? Because the KPIs help us find the most likable sectors leading to tremendous growth, and also the sectors with the lowest customer turnover or growth. This data analysis will help you develop your organization better.

About Google Analytics Features and Relation Among Types of Data

Google Analytics is a popular website that is very useful in collecting data and analyzing those data, especially related to your website traffic & content. When you develop your website, you want to develop it accordingly. For that development, it is important to maintain the traffic and increase the traffic as well.

After using the Google Analytics software on your website, you get many important statistics. Like, as how much traffic your website is generating, which content has more views, which content is generally well-liked or hated, etc. All of that relevant information can be obtained from the Google Analytics goal completion report. Another relevant simple example is the usage of subscriptions.

Whenever someone subscribes to your website or content via email or other login details, you get a notification showing details about the customers. In the Google Analytics report, the following elements such as destination, duration, number of visits per page, & events. These kinds of details are recorded via many websites nowadays. Those websites then use different kinds of data to improve the quality of their content. For example, in the iGaming industry, online gaming websites rely on these analytics to understand user preferences and enhance their offerings.

Google Analytics’s goal features help you to track many application activities. These include making purchases, visiting the sign-up page, Contact Us page, etc. But customer lifetime value is a different parameter from the rest of the parameters. The reason is that this parameter is not about interaction, and this parameter cannot be put into exact numbers. There is no single number to show us the customer’s lifetime value. As of this moment, there is no such algorithm or software to track the lifetime value of a particular customer for a particular business or organization.

Google Analytics needs suitable data to calculate any particular parameter value. So, be sure to collect as much data as possible.

Can You Turn Off Google Analytics?

To turn off Google Analytics tracking for your website, you need to remove the tracking code from your website’s HTML or CMS. Here are the steps to do this:

1. Access Your Google Analytics Account

Go to the Google Analytics website (https://analytics.google.com/).

Sign in to your Google Analytics account using your Google credentials.

2. Select the Property

In the left-hand menu, click on the property (website) for which you want to turn off tracking.

3. Navigate to the Tracking Code

In the property settings, select “Tracking Info” from the Property column on the left.

4. Disable Tracking

  • Click on “Tracking Code” under “Tracking Info.”
  • You will see your tracking code snippet. It usually looks like a block of JavaScript code.
  • To turn off tracking, you can either delete this tracking code from your website’s HTML or disable it by following the instructions provided below the tracking code snippet.

Disabling Tracking without Removing the Code:

    • If you want to disable tracking without removing the code entirely, you can add the following line just above the ga('send', 'pageview'); line in your tracking code:
      javascript
      ga('set', 'sendHitTask', null);

5. Save Changes

If you made changes to the tracking code (e.g., adding the line to disable tracking), save the changes.

6. Remove the Tracking Code from Your Website

    • Log in to your website’s content management system (CMS) or access the HTML source code directly.
    • Locate the part of your website where you originally added the Google Analytics tracking code. This is typically found just before the closing </head> tag in the HTML or within the CMS settings.
    • Delete the entire tracking code snippet or any part of it that you added.

7. Update Your Website

    • After removing or disabling the tracking code, save your website changes.

8. Clear Cached Pages (if necessary)

    • If your website uses caching, you may need to clear the cache to ensure that the tracking code is no longer active on cached pages.

9. Verify Tracking Is Disabled

    • To confirm that tracking is no longer active, you can use browser developer tools or tools like Google Tag Assistant to check if the Google Analytics script is loading on your website.

Please note that it may take some time for Google Analytics to reflect the changes, and historical data will still be available in your Google Analytics account for the period when tracking was active. Also, if you’re using additional tracking methods, such as through Google Tag Manager, you should review and disable or remove those as well if needed.

Other Options

Now that we know what data is Google Analytics Goals unable to track. Let’s discuss several alternatives to Google Analytics for website and app analytics. These alternatives offer various features, pricing structures, and levels of customization to suit different needs. Here are some popular alternatives to Google Analytics:

Matomo (formerly Piwik)

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform that provides real-time analytics, privacy features, and the ability to host your analytics data on your server. It offers many features similar to Google Analytics, including goal tracking, e-commerce tracking, and customizable dashboards.

Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is a robust analytics solution that is part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud. It provides comprehensive data and analytics tools, especially suited for larger enterprises and businesses looking for advanced data analysis and integration with other Adobe marketing products.

Mixpanel

Mixpanel specializes in event tracking and user-centric analytics. It’s particularly useful for mobile app analytics and tracking user interactions within apps. Mixpanel is known for its user-friendly interface and funnel analysis capabilities.

Heap Analytics

Heap Analytics is an event-based analytics tool that allows you to track every user interaction on your website or app without the need for extensive code changes. It’s known for its ease of use and retroactive event tracking.

Open Web Analytics (OWA)

Open Web Analytics is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics. It provides features like goal tracking, e-commerce tracking, and heatmaps. Being open source, you have full control over your data.

Clicky

Clicky is a real-time web analytics tool known for its simplicity and real-time tracking. It offers heatmaps, uptime monitoring, and email reports. It’s suitable for small to medium-sized websites.

GoAccess

GoAccess is unique in that it’s a real-time, command-line-based log analyzer. It’s open source and provides a way to analyze server logs without the need for JavaScript tracking code. It’s a good choice for server log analysis.

StatCounter

StatCounter is a simple website analytics tool that offers real-time stats, visitor tracking, and customizable reports. It’s user-friendly and often used by small businesses and personal websites.

Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg specializes in heatmaps, scroll maps, and other visual analytics tools. It helps you understand how users interact with your website visually.

Woopra

Woopra is a customer analytics platform that goes beyond traditional web analytics. It offers customer journey tracking, segmentation, and real-time notifications, making it suitable for businesses focused on customer engagement and retention.

When choosing an analytics tool, consider factors like the size of your website or app, your specific analytics needs, data privacy concerns, and budget constraints. Many of these alternatives offer free plans or trials, so you can experiment to find the one that best fits your requirements.

Conclusion

So, what data is Google Analytics Goals unable to track? The customer’s lifetime value is the customer’s lifetime performance, and this is a complete metric. Moreover, this parameter value is not findable on a website or app. This is why Google Analytics Goals cannot track it. So, we get to learn about what data is Google Analytics Goals unable to track. And we also realize the importance of this parameter.

Therefore, although the CLV would be very crucial for an organization, it is not yet possible. But we hope, soon, there will be an algorithm and software to track and calculate the lifetime value of the customer.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are Google Analytics Goals?

Google Analytics Goals are specific actions or events on your website that you want to track and measure. They help you understand how well your website is performing in terms of user engagement, conversion, and other key objectives.

2. How do I set up Goals in Google Analytics?

To set up Goals in Google Analytics, go to your property’s Admin section, click on “Goals,” and then create a new Goal. You can choose from several predefined templates or create custom Goals based on specific user interactions.

3. What types of Goals can I create in Google Analytics?

Google Analytics offers four main types of Goals: Destination, Duration, Pages/Screens per Session, and Event Goals. Each type allows you to track different aspects of user engagement and conversion.

4. Can I track e-commerce transactions as Goals in Google Analytics?

Yes, you can track e-commerce transactions as Goals by setting up Enhanced E-commerce tracking. This allows you to monitor specific e-commerce-related actions like product purchases and cart additions.

5. How do I measure the success of my Goals in Google Analytics?

You can measure the success of your Goals by analyzing the conversion rate, which is the percentage of users who complete the desired action out of the total number of users. Google Analytics provides detailed reports to help you assess Goal performance.

6. Can I set up Goals for different segments of my website’s audience?

Yes, you can create Goals for different segments of your audience using Google Analytics. Custom segments and advanced filtering options allow you to track Goal completions for specific user groups.

7. Are there any limitations to the number of Goals I can set up in Google Analytics?

Google Analytics allows you to set up 20 Goals per reporting view. However, you should prioritize and select the most critical actions to track to avoid cluttering your reports.

8. Can I edit or delete Goals after they’re set up in Google Analytics?

Yes, you can edit or delete Goals at any time in Google Analytics. Simply go to the Admin section, select the appropriate view, and navigate to the Goals settings to make changes.

9. Can I set up Goals for mobile apps in Google Analytics?

Yes, Google Analytics allows you to set up Goals for both websites and mobile apps. You can track specific in-app events as Goals to measure user interactions and conversions within your mobile application.

10. How can I use Google Analytics Goals to improve my website’s performance?

By tracking Goals, you can gain insights into user behavior and conversion patterns. Use this data to make informed decisions, optimize your website, and enhance the user experience to achieve your business objectives.

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