Connect Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to your ecommerce platform

1 July 2023 is fast approaching came and went, just as fast as we expected.

Some UA Properties kept tracking data all the way to November 2023 but it’s all over now. Universal Analytics has been and gone!

If you were previously “dual tracking” GA4 with Universal Analytics, you can now remove the UA tracking code.

If your ecommerce platform supports Google Analytics 4, you should connect it as soon as possible to restore your web analytics tracking.

Keep reading to find instructions for your ecommerce platform (or leave a comment if yours isn’t yet covered).

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Are you ready for Conversion Rate Optimization?

What is Conversion Rate Optimization?

Getting traffic to your shop is not easy. 

If it were easy, everyone would be a success!

So the last thing you want is to waste time, effort or money on something that’s not giving you a return – and not even realize it!

That’s why we measure and monitor things like Conversation Rate, Cost per Acquisition and Profit. In fact, we want to optimize our marketing and our shop for these kinds of revenue-based numbers by doing Conversion Rate Optimization.

Optimization is the process of making something less wasteful while also providing better results. 

Instead of buying more and more ads, we optimize our shop to convert more of our visitors.

More revenue for the same ad spend.

Instead of pinning 100s of times a day, we optimize our pins to appeal to our target audience and get more clicks per pin.

The same traffic from Pinterest with much less effort.

I follow all the experts. Is my shop already optimized?

There’s a lot of great advice out there. 

There’s also a lot of “just OK” advice that works for some people, but doesn’t work for a whole lot of others.

Some of it is “best practice”.

Some is “throw it at a wall and see what sticks” practice.

Step one is to follow advice you trust, about building sustainable, targeted traffic and a shop that encourages people to buy.

Follow those best practices.

Step two is to make it work the best for you. This is where optimization comes in!

Optimization is about testing – again & again – and figuring out what works for YOU: your shop, your product, your audience.

Some “best practices” will fall by the wayside.

Some of those random tips will turn out to be gold.

And your shop will be even better!

But there’s a catch…

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Track an internal click in Google Analytics… without code or GTM access!

This is the situation you find yourself in…

  1. You have a website or page through a platform that doesn’t let you add or touch any code. It lets you add your Google Analytics tracking ID.
  2. You want to track clicks on a specific link – that you control – that tells you a user has shown interest or started an important process. Your GA code does not run on the page you’re linking to.
  3. You’ve noticed that GA4 will automatically track external (or “outbound”) clicks…. but this important link is still on the same domain. It never gets automatically tracked.

Your hands are tied… right?

Nope! (And when you see what the answer is, you’re going to kick yourself…)

Is this a tip for Etsy? No, this technique is rarely going to be useful for an Etsy shop. You don’t control any super-important links. But who knows – maybe someone will have a use for it?

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Get value out of Google Analytics 4 for Etsy, fast!

The move to Google Analytics 4 has been tough – especially for those who used Google Analytics for Etsy shops. The upgrade was last-minute and now we have a whole new system to learn and understand how to interpret for the particular ways Etsy shop visitor data gets tracked. The Google Analytics 4 interface is (more…)

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Explore your Etsy Google Analytics backup data (Looker Studio Dashboard)

This article is about how to view and explore the Google Analytics backup for your Etsy shop’s historical Universal Analytics data (2023 and earlier). If you did not backup your data before 1 July, it’s too late. Make sure you’re up to date with Google Analytics 4 instead.

No matter which method you used to backup your Etsy shop’s Universal Analytics data, you ended up with a bunch of spreadsheets.

Which are… not super user-friendly for actually viewing, exploring and using all this data!

At a basic level, you can use the in-built chart tools in your spreadsheet program of choice. But I recommend using Google’s free dashboarding program, Looker Studio (previously called Data Studio).

If you exported your data using my tailor-made UA backup tool for Etsy, I have built a Looker Studio dashboard to go with it. Here’s how to get it…

(Free mini-dashboard below)

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Backup your Google Analytics data before it’s deleted

On Some time after 1 July 2023, Google Analytics Universal Analytics (UA) stopped recording data.

The future is Google Analytics 4. Well, maybe it’s GDPR-friendly analytics instead. But it’s certainly not the same tool we’ve used for all these years (decades?) and it’s not the same set of data.

What do we do with all the data in our Universal Analytics Properties? Can we backup our analytics data? Can we transfer UA data to GA4? Can we continue to analyse it at all?? Is it only an option for big business (i.e. comes with a hefty price tag) or is it something boutique ecommerce shop owners can DIY?

We only have until July 2024 to figure this out, when Google will actually delete all our Universal Analytics properties and reports.

Transmission from July 2024…

It happened. It’s done. It’s gone.

If you got some backup data, fantastic! If you used my backup tool for Etsy, grab the Looker Studio Dashboard to explore it.

If you missed the window, don’t worry. Let’s look forward and make sure your shop is connected to Google Analytics 4 instead.

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Backup your Etsy shop’s old Google Analytics data for free

Left it to the last minute to save your Etsy shop’s old Google Analytics data?

If you’re here, then yes: you have. The countdown is on to 1 July 2024 when all our Universal Analytics data will be deleted!

Transmission from July 2024…

It happened. It’s done. It’s gone.

If you got some backup data, fantastic! If you used my backup tool for Etsy, grab the Looker Studio Dashboard to explore it.

If you missed the window, don’t worry. Let’s look forward and make sure your shop is connected to Google Analytics 4 instead.

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How to measure visitors from Pinterest to your handmade products

Pinterest is a wonderful and fun tool for collecting inspiration and aspiration… so it only makes sense that it’s also a fantastic marketing channel for your handmade stores! But how much traffic does it generate?

Find out how to measure your Pinterest visitors more reliably and control how they appear in your Google Analytics reports.

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Connect Google Analytics 4 to your Etsy shop (the right way)

If you’re ready to harness the power of numbers to optimize your Etsy shop but haven’t installed (or upgraded) Google Analytics yet, don’t wait any longer!

Here are the complete, accurate instructions for connecting Google Analytics 4 with an Etsy shop.

You will learn:

  • What login to use for Google Analytics
  • Whether to create a new Google Analytics Account or use one you already have
  • All the most effective, up-to-date settings to apply inside Google Analytics
  • How to link your new Google Analytics tracking number to Etsy
  • How to test everything is working
  • What to do next to start looking at your visitor numbers and behaviour!

⚠️ You need to follow these instructions even if your Google Analytics 4 Property was created automatically and you had the old GA version (Universal Analytics) connected to Etsy.

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Track your ads with a Paid Social Channel in Google Analytics 4

You pay good money for your ads on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest! So don’t let all that valuable traffic get lumped into your Google Analytics reports with your other visitors from social media, in the general “Social” Channel.

It’s important to clearly separate social media traffic you’ve paid for (advertising) and organic traffic (from your own and others’ posts). Learn how to use the Channel called “Paid Social” that will automagically capture all our social ad visitors, where they can be analyzed separately.

Quick Answer: Google Analytics 4 now comes with a Paid Social Channel built in. You can start using it right away by simply tagging your ad destination links with the Medium value of paid-social and a Source of the social platform’s domain (eg. instagram.com).

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