Don’t know much about Google Analytics Universal? Funny, Google introduced it in beta back in late 2012, but most folks have not made the decision to ‘upgrade’. At some point, just like the switch to ‘enhanced campaigns’ in Google Adwords, you’ll have to move on over to Universal, but the timetable is not set. At Dasheroo, we just started fiddling around with Universal, we’ll keep ya in the loop on how it goes.
So, back to the subject. What Is It and what are the benefits?
- For starters, Universal is based on a new, more flexible & powerful tracking code that better tracks activity across all digital devices – your website of course, but also mobile apps and devices like game consoles.
- Easier cross-domain tracking. Your webmaster will love this. You can now automatically track data across different domains (blogs, website, etc.)
If you’ve got Google Analytics, yo’ve got both Classic AND Universal.
- (from google): ‘Adjust your list of recognized search engines’. Uhhh. OK. Are there any other search engines?!
- Exclusions. You are in more control over how referral sources and search terms are reported on. For instance, you could exclude your shopping cart vendor as a referrer so you can more accurately measure what really drove your online sale.
- Custom dimensions & metrics. This is cool! Now you can create your own metrics, or a dimension, that allows you to track behavior of folks depending on whether they are logged in or not, and track them separately.
So should you jump to upgrade? Google suggests doing as we at Dasheroo are – run them both to make sure your set-up is tight, and you’ll also get a better understanding of how each behaves. But at some point you will be migrated over.
In future posts we’ll talk more about our experience with Universal, as well as some tips and tricks on setting up Google Analytics Universal!