Google Analytics Rollup Reporting Without Buying Google Analytics 360? Yes!

Google Analytics Rollup Reporting Without Buying Google Analytics 360?  Yes!

Note:  This is NOT a post about setting up Rollup Reporting.  It is about why you need it and if its possible to do without paying tons of cash for Google Analytics 360.  You can either try and set this up yourself or hire us- we know how and its super complicated.

So...

What is Google Analytics (GA) rollup reporting, and why might you need it?

What is Rollup Reporting?

All your yummy data rolled up in one place!

Rollup reporting sounds like it is, rolling up multiple websites a business may have into one Google Analytics view.  Think of it like this:  Each of a companies websites is like the ingredients in a burrito- chicken, guac, beans, rice.  The Rollup site is like a burrito all those delicious data from all of a companies websites are "rolled up" in a yummy data burrito!

Why might you want to use it? 

For example a company may have 3 websites and they want to see analytics info for not just one website, but 3.  They would create a Rollup view of all 3 sites ("rolled up") to do this (see image to the right).

Or, a company have multiple websites that all use the same tool.  And that tool (for example, Hubspot) only allows for one Google Analytics ID to be put in.  So they will either need to buy 3 licenses for the tool, or they can create a Rollup GA view and then they can use the one tool with all 3 sites and not lose tracking or conversion tracking.  

Is this hard to do?  Yes.  Can you do this with regular (standard) Google Analytics?  Not out of the box.   In fact, if you want the ability to do this out of the box, you would need to upgrade to Google Analytics 360, their premium analytics suite.  But that costs $150,000 a year.  

So, in these two instances, its very useful to either set up a Rollup GA view yourself or pay a pro to do this for you - recap of Benefits:

• Get all your different websites data in one place.
• Save a ton of $$ by not having to shell out $150k/year for Google Analytics 360.
• Save money by not having to buy multiple versions of a tool you use when you only need one.
• If you use a tool that only allows one GA ID to be plugged in, get back all that conversion data by using the GA ID of your Rollup view in the tool. 

The last point is huge for alot of companies.  We actually had a client where they purchased and setup a tool they needed that they used for all 5 of their websites.  But it could use one GA ID in it.  So we set up a Rollup view for all of their 5 websites.  Now they have the conversion data they were missing for so long back.

Its complicated!

To set up Rollup GA reporting without GA 360, it takes a combination of Google Tag Manager (GTM), GA, access to all a companies sites, relevant tools they want to track, and tons of testing and debugging.  One tiny mistake and it simply won't work.

But if this is something you think your company needs, we can set it up in most cases.  And when you compare the cost of hiring a pro to set this up using standard GA vs. paying for GA 360, buying multiple licenses for a tool you need, or not having the crucial conversion data so you know what is working in your online efforts and what is not, its worth it!

New LinkedIn Features - Retargeting + Lead Ads

Just a quick note that LinkedIn has dropped a couple of really cool new/old features that you will want to take advantage of if you're running paid ads on their platform:

Lead Ads:  Launched around 4/5/17:  Similar to Facebook's Lead ads, a person sees the ad, clicks on it and it auto fills a form that has all their info- all without leaving LinkedIn- very handy.  For B2B, many say that FB can bring in the leads using Lead Ads, but alot of the leads are poorer quality, since FB is not as much for B2B.  Using this feature on LinkedIn might help get better leads.  We've tested it and so far, not as many leads as FB but better quality and the rate people fill out the form and submit is very good.  More about them here.

Website Segments (Retargeting) Launched around 4/16/17:  Back by popular demand (and LinkedIn being bought by Microsoft), you can have campaigns targeted to people who have previously visited your site.  We've just started testing this out, we'll see what happens...More info here.

Always good to stay on top of the latest and test things out to give you or your clients the best results!

New Adwords Quality Score Updates

Quality Score is a crucial component of how well your Adwords PPC campaigns, keywords, ads do.  That was the brilliance of Google setting up Adwords is that unlike way back where bidding on keywords in Paid Search were only the bid, they factor in how well you set up and optimize your campaigns and Quality Score is a big part.  

Recently there have been alot of updates in Google's Quality Score, real significant ones for the first time since 2013.  For professionals who are managing Adwords accounts, its important to keep up on things so that your information and how you optimize stays current.  

Below are links to Google's post, a great post by noted Adwords pro Frederick Vallaeys and the PPC Rockstars podcast where he's interviewed.  Be sure to check out all 3, especially the podcast:

1.  Adwords Post on QS Update:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GoogleAds/posts/aw9kTjzGLcz

2.  Frederick Vallaeys article on QS Update:  http://searchengineland.com/minimum-quality-score-can-save-money-adwords-226757

3.  https://player.fm/series/ppc-rockstars/how-does-quality-score-affect-cost-per-click-in-adwords

Enjoy!

Should You Outsource Your PPC Management?

Many businesses and potential clients often struggle with the question:  Should I outsource my PPC campaign management?  Or should we do it ourselves.  Like alot of things, it depends.  

Of course, in my opinion, I'd say outsourcing is almost always the way to go.  Unless your PPC ad spend is very low or you just don't have any money to pay for outsourcing, you in most cases should have a pro handle your PPC management for you?  

Instead of me telling why, I'll link to 3 great articles below.  But before going off-site to these articles, here are a few brief thoughts on why outsourcing your PPC is a good move:

I can definitely speak to the fact that just keeping on top of the changes (500 in the last year alone) is a huge reason to outsource.  Also, knowing what to optimize.  We just optimized a clients account and saved them thousands per month in wasted ad spend.  And of course avoiding costly mistakes.  What you don't know in the complex world of PPC can hurt you (or at least your wallet or bottom line).

Not to mention that not being able to take advantage of advanced PPC techniques, campaigns, etc. (RLSA, Remarketing, Dynamic Keyword Insertion, Call tracking, custom landing pages, event tracking and more).  These advanced areas can really boost your profits.

Also, many often focus on the wrong stats and metrics.  While CTR and CPCs are important, the end results- profits, CPA, CPL and more are outcome based and determine whether PPC adds money into your business or not.  And isn't that what advertising is all about, more sales, leads, profits and customers?

Never mind the time and the fact that a business could never hire an employee for the amount it costs to outsource.  Average salary for a PPC pro is $40-80k/year.  Add in employee benefits, retirement and employer taxes and its more.  At $40k/month, that's at least $3333/month.  You could get a really good PPC pro for that price to manage your account, sometimes for less.

Bottom line:  In most cases, the numbers just work in favor of outsourcing.  

Links to 3 great articles-great food for thought:

http://goo.gl/iUHz6v

http://goo.gl/2IRFM4

http://goo.gl/iVsFwE

Exclude Ads from Showing on Mobile Apps

Display campaigns, all types, including Remarketing and all the other flavors are a great way to get more traffic, clicks and conversions if done right.  However, its so important to make sure your ads are showing on sites that result in your business goals being met (traffic, purchases, leads, etc.)  So, to do this its important to not only target the right sites, audiences etc. but also to exclude your ads from showing in places that results in poor results.  

One place that advertisers often can waste money, paying for poor quality clicks is having your display ads show on mobile apps.  Think seeing your ads in regular apps, apps that are games, news apps and any other type of apps.  Many people don't realize that by default, Google will show your ads in apps, all types of apps.

Yes, for some advertisers it makes sense to show your ads in apps.  But for many its simply a waste, can lead to poor performance and wasted ad spend.   

First, you can go in Adwords to your Placement Performance Report.  You'll see there how many times and places your ads are showing in apps, not just website.  You may be shocked to see how many impressions, clicks and ad spend having your ads show in apps result in.  And yes, remember that even if you aren't spending much for these spots, if they have a high number of impressions, your campaigns overall Quality Score and performance can suffer.  

How to do it:  

So, how to exclude your ads from showing on mobile apps?  Under campaign exclusions, add this in:  adsenseformobileapps.com.  This will exclude your ads from showing on any and all mobile apps.  You can get more granular with this if you like, excluding from certain mobile apps.  

Another thing to think about is who might be accessing the mobile app.  Many, many mobile apps are used by children (and adults) playing games.  If they see your ad, they may click on it just because its their.  All these clicks by curious kids could result in alot of extra cost to you.  

Warning Example:

For example, we have a client who sells software.  But their logo has a cute animal.  Imagine an ad with a cute animal in an app that kids play.  The kid might click on it thinking its another game, just because its cute and eye catching, or they think its even part of the game, with no intention of buying software.  That could add up to alot of clicks by curious kids.  This can give you an example why it may be good for you to exclude your ads from showing on mobile apps.  

ps-  Additional credit to Bryant at getfoundfirst.com.  His link here has nice screenshot on how to add the exclusion.

Have you used this tip, if so, leave a comment below...