lesleyhays

The (almost) Definitive Guide to Real Etsy Traffic Sources in Google Analytics

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⚠️ IMPORTANT!
These instructions are for GA Universal Analytics and are no longer applicable. Etsy now supports GA4.

The out-of-date article below is available to read if interested. If the topic is still relevant in GA4, it might be updated in the future.

POP QUIZ: Can Google Analytics answer this question?

“How do people find my Etsy store?”

At first, Google Analytics looks like it has all the answers! There in your reports, you see: direct traffic, referrals, a few from Facebook and other social media… Isn’t that how they got there?

ANSWER: Nope! Not unless you follow the instructions in this guide.

Google “etsy traffic sources” and you’ll find this little Help article from Etsy. In that article it says this:

“Google Analytics shows how people found Etsy.”

So, what’s the difference?

Well, that means that any of the traffic sources you see in Google Analytics could show how that person found the Etsy home page or an entirely different shop before they navigated to yours within Etsy. Half your so-called social media traffic could be from other people’s marketing! (And not in a good way…)

Even worse, Google Analytics doesn’t show you how people found your shop within Etsy, which makes up the bulk of your traffic. Etsy search, clicks from favorites or recently viewed, promoted listings: all hidden.

That kinda sucks.

Where’s all the Etsy traffic? Probably in “(direct) / (none)”…

You could just analyse your traffic sources in Shop Stats, but let’s fix it in Google Analytics instead.

This guide explains how to use channel definitions and filters to make traffic sources a whole lot more accurate!

This looks much better! Yep, these are the exact same visitors.
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lesleyhays

The Etsy Seller’s Guide to Hiding Your Own Visits in Google Analytics

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A long time ago, when I worked in retail, I envied the prim, organised merchandisers whose sole responsibility was (as far as I could tell from behind the counter) to fluff around with enticing displays of gifts and stationery.

I know I’m not the only one!

Now as Etsy sellers, we get to “merchandise” our own online shops every day.

Check how our listing thumbnails look all together in the catalogue.

Pour over a new product page to make sure every detail is perfect.

Go through our shop policies with a fine tooth comb to make sure we aren’t accidentally committing to replacing unwanted items with a lifetime supply of Starbucks…

And I know—because I’ve spent my fair share of time there—that we do a lot of this “fluffing around” in our public shop front. You know – the exact same view that our buyers see.

The pages of our shop where our Google Analytics code runs. Those pages.

Oh… I think we have a little problem to fix.

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lesleyhays

Introduction to Direct Traffic in Google Analytics

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Direct traffic in Google Analytics is one of the first big mysteries you discover. What does it mean? Why does it perform so well? Who are these people?

What is this?

Every other traffic source seems so self-explanatory: Google, Pinterest, organic (search), email… But (direct) / (none). Direct from where? None of what?

No seriously. What IS this? What does it mean and why is there so much of it?

In this guide, you’ll get a thorough but easy to understand introduction to the mystery of Direct Traffic. You’ll learn:

  1. Why “Direct” is fundamentally different from all your other traffic sources
  2. What kinds of visits it actually includes
  3. How to keep it “clean”
  4. How to analyze it

This article has been updated for Google Analytics 4.

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lesleyhays

UTM Campaign tags: marketing pixie dust that you control!

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If you’ve hung around here for a while, you’ll have heard a little about UTM Campaign Tags. They are the magic ingredient for making sure that visits from Instagram, Pinterest and anywhere else show up in your Google Analytics reports correctly.

Why doesn’t this happen right in the first place??

To know where a visitor came from, Google Analytics has to listen in to the conversation happening between the visitor’s browser and your website. Often this conversation includes information about the last page the visitor looked at (their traffic source).

This is called “referral” information.

But sometimes, for a whole bunch of technical reasons, it doesn’t have this information or it’s wrong. In many of these cases, the visit will be attributed as “direct” traffic (the catch-all black hole bucket of mystery visits!) and you’ll never know if your marketing actually worked.

Campaign tags let us control all the information about the source of the visit and leave nothing to chance.

See? Magic!

Keep reading to find out how and where to use campaign tags for marketing your handmade shop!

This article has been updated for Google Analytics 4. (You don’t need to change your tagged links!)

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lesleyhays

Stop! Protect that data! – Preparing Google Analytics with backup & test Views

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OUT OF DATE: These instructions were originally provided for Universal Analytics. This version of Google Analytics is no longer available.

Google Analytics 4 comes with a built-in method for testing filters without needing to maintain separate Views. (In fact, the concept of “Views” no longer exists!)

Upgrade to Google Analytics 4

Before you start creating or testing things with Filters in Google Analytics, it’s important to take some steps to keep your data safe.

What’s the danger?

Whenever you make changes to your GA settings for things like Goals, Filters, Content Groupings etc. — all the things I describe in my articles — the changes to your data are permanent. You need a backup without any of these changes, just in case you get something wrong…

Like accidentally creating a filter that removes ALL your traffic and you don’t notice for a week… right during a big ad campaign!

Oops…

A Testing area takes it one step further to let you test out these settings first, then apply them to your main set of data only when you’re sure they’re working correctly. It’s up to you to decide how risky you think a change is and whether you should test it out first.

How do we do this in Google Analytics?

In Analytics, you can have multiple ways of viewing the same data. These are called, appropriately, Views.

In this guide, we’ll create a backup “Raw Data” view to preserve everything with the default settings, and a “Test” view for trialing more complicated Filters before applying them to your main View (normally called “All Web Site Data”).

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lesleyhays

SERIES: Data Privacy for Makers

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These days, the internet is constantly abuzz with talk about data privacy. From Facebook scandals, to updated Privacy Policies, to new laws: it’s everywhere!

So it’s perfect timing to get to know your obligations as a business owner, for the data you collect and store for your customers, contacts and website visitors.

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lesleyhays

Create a Privacy Policy for Your Shop & Secure Your Customers’ Trust

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If you’ve been following the steps to get up to speed on data privacy, your final step is to update (or create) your shop’s Privacy Policy.

Do I need a Privacy Policy if I only sell on Etsy?

All shops should have their own privacy policy, even if only you sell on Etsy or don’t even have an email list! If you run a business with customers, you handle personal data.

Do I need a Privacy Policy if I’m not worried about the GDPR?

Yes, you should have your own privacy policy even if you don’t think the GDPR applies to you or if you’re not worried about it. Here’s why:

  1. Customers are expecting more transparency and honesty, regardless of the law.
  2. Other privacy laws almost certainly apply that require a privacy policy. “GDPR standards” should work for these too (though seek legal advice if you’re unsure).
  3. Certain features in Google Analytics (and other tools) require notices that Etsy doesn’t cover in their own privacy policy, such as Advertising Features.
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lesleyhays

Do You Need Consent for Your Advertising & Analytics?

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We’re used to asking people to sign up to newsletters and email lists. We might need to tweak how we do it and refine our “consent process”. But the basics stay the same:

People actively send us their details.

But personalized advertising and analytics happened in the background. No questions asked.

Until now!

This article is all about asking for user consent. You will still need to update (or create) your privacy policy for all the advertising and analytics tools you use, even if you aren’t required to collect consent for all of them.

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lesleyhays

Avoid the Blacklist & Do Email Marketing Consent Right

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Google “email marketing best practices” and you’ll get millions of results.

Literally.

But also unsurprisingly. The internet is chock full of marketers wanting to tell you how to write can’t-say-no subject lines and make-money-while-you-sleep drip campaigns.

But what about the basic email best practices? You know: how to send emails that are legal and ethical.

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lesleyhays

Keep Your Customer Information Safe: It’s Your Responsibility!

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Just like you need to have a basic understanding about tax laws and business registration laws, you need to get the gist of how to keep your customers’ details safe and secure.

Understanding your obligations will help you:

  • Know what information you can ask for and how to ask for more.
  • Deal with any customer requests about their data.
  • Make sure you’re telling them the right information during checkout and in your privacy policy.
  • Vet the tools and services you use to make sure they help you stay compliant.
  • Inform your customers if they might be affected by a security breach in any of the systems you use.
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