As a CRO specialist, you know that data forms the basis for successful decisions. But what if that data is incorrect? Incorrect measurements often lead to wrong choices, loss of time and frustration. Do you want to know how to prevent this? Then read on.
Don’t blindly rely on standard tools and metrics
Many companies blindly rely on standard tools such as Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Magento and Shopify. While these tools can provide valuable insights, they also have limitations. For example, GA4 may have difficulty filtering bot traffic correctly and a number of metrics in Shopify and Magento are calculated in a different way than is usual in the market or in GA4, for example.
These limitations can lead to a distorted view of your website performance. By understanding how metrics are created and what they really mean, you can avoid misinterpretations and make better decisions.
The consequences of incorrect measurements
Incorrect measurements give a distorted picture of the behavior of your online visitors and the performance of your website. This can lead to:
- Incorrect conclusions and strategies
The lack of reliable data makes it difficult to make informed decisions. - Internal discussions and possible distrust
Teams can lose trust in data, making collaboration difficult. - Negative impact on conversion and turnover
Suboptimal choices due to incorrect data can negatively affect your business results
Practical examples and solutions
Only with correct measurements can you arrive at reliable insights. Below I share some practical examples that show what can go wrong and how to solve these problems.
Vertekenende add to cart rates in Shopify en Magento
Shopify Analytics once warned of a sharp decline in the add to cart rate. This turned out to be because Shopify counts the added products against the total number of sessions, regardless of whether visitors viewed product pages. However, a quick analysis showed that the add to cart rate improved when calculated against the number of product pages viewed.
A deep dive into GA4 showed that an increase in blog traffic had increased session volume, without directly contributing to cart activity. In a similar case, an add to cart was already present in Magento when a button was clicked, even if a product configuration was still required and the product had not yet been added to the shopping cart. These events were copied directly into GA4, causing both sources to contain incorrect information.
The solution? Measure add_to_cart events yourself against product views instead of all sessions. And make sure that the event is only measured when a product has actually been added to the shopping cart. This gives a more accurate picture of the actual behavior of visitors.
Bot traffic disrupts session statistics
When transitioning from Google Universal Analytics to GA4, my colleagues and I saw huge spikes in sessions every month, often from Ireland or with unknown origins. These sessions had an average duration of 0 to 1 second and appeared to be caused by bots, in our case Cookiebot. This distorted the conversion rate and made analyzes less reliable.
The solution? Exclude bot traffic via Google Tag Manager (GTM). In our case, this led to an increase in the conversion rate from 0.8% to 1.2%. With the same number of conversions, we increased the conversion rate by 50%, just by excluding irrelevant sessions.
Discrepancy between conversions in GA4 and CRM
Major differences regularly arise between conversions in GA4 and a CRM. Although these will never completely agree for a variety of reasons, you can reduce discrepancies if you pay attention to the design of your measurements. For example, I once saw that in GA4 a lead was already created as soon as the submit button of a form was clicked, even if the form had not been completed correctly. So no validation took place, which meant that the number of leads in the CRM was much lower than in GA4.
Simply measuring visits to your thank you page is also not a good indicator of the actual number of conversions. A visitor can visit your thank you page multiple times without leading to multiple real conversions. Consider a return from the browser history or the start of a new session/view after a session timeout due to 30 minutes of inactivity.
The solution? Avoid simply measuring conversions based on visits to your thank you page or click events in GTM. Pay attention to the correct setup of your measurements. Preferably use dataLayer pushes that a developer can set up for you based on actual conversions. This ensures more reliable data and prevents misinterpretation.
Source: PixieMe / Shutterstock.com
How do you do it right?
To avoid errors and collect reliable data, follow the guidelines below.
1. Define your goals
Determine what you want to achieve. Which goals do you want to score on to be successful? Think of macro conversions such as transactions, turnover or leads, but don’t forget micro conversions such as an add to cart ratio. The insights they provide will help you achieve your higher goals, if you measure them correctly.
2. Understand the standard metrics
Are your goals clear? Then investigate whether the standard metrics from the tools you use tell you exactly what you want to know and measure. Generally, there is more than enough documentation available online to find out how they are calculated. Do you think it makes sense to measure the add to cart rate compared to all sessions? Or would you rather measure it compared to the product views?
Provide custom metrics when the standard does not meet. Create your own calculated metrics in GA4, Looker Studio or whatever source you use for your analyzes and reporting.
3. Focus on data quality
Ensure accurate implementation of your measurements. Check whether you exclude bot traffic. And if you exclude traffic, don’t forget your internal traffic. In addition to bots, colleagues who regularly visit your website can also significantly cloud your results. In addition, don’t rely blindly on simple click events or pag views from GTM, but ensure custom metrics that actually measure what you want to know.
Correct measurements are the foundation for effective CRO strategies. Data is power, but only if it’s right!
Source: www.frankwatching.com
