As analysts we juggle a lot of different tasks on a daily basis. You might feel like there's always more to do than there are hours in the day. Trust me, I’ve been there. But there’s a simple concept that can help you stay on top of things: the “Rock, Pebbles, and Sand” method. Let’s […] The post Mastering Your Time: Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand in the World of Marketing Analytics appeared first on Data Driven U ..read more

Understanding the interplay between Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is crucial for optimizing your website's performance. By leveraging the data from both platforms, you can gain deeper insights into how keywords drive traffic and conversions. This article will walk you through the process of combining GSC and GA4 data, using Looker […] The post Maximizing SEO with Google Search Console and GA4: A Comprehensive Guide appeared first on Data Driven U ..read more

With the move to GA4 imminent, many will be looking to data storage options and specifically linking to BigQuery. We will look at some of the options available and the potential costs. One of the reasons you need to be thinking about storage options is because there is a 14-month limit on data retention with […] The post Understanding BigQuery and Looker Studio Costs appeared first on Data Driven U ..read more

We all know that message about cookie tracking when you visit a new website. What do you do in that situation? If you’re like the rest of us, it will be a case of sometimes ‘yes’, sometimes ‘no’.  A history of data privacy laws Modern data privacy laws began with the EU’s GDPR (General Data […] The post Understanding Cookies Compliance in Digital Marketing appeared first on Data Driven U ..read more

Debugging tools allow you to peek behind the curtain of a website. The tools we are going to look at not only allow you to see and fix issues with your own site, but also act as an educational tool to show you what is happening behind the scenes of your competitors’ sites. Dev Console The developer console is an excellent source of information which you will continue to benefit from as you gain more knowledge. Some set-up tips / tricks: Open the console: Open the developer console by clicking the three dots at the top right of your browser and selecting More tools then Developer tools from ..read more

A lot of business owners ask me “How do I make myself more efficient?” Automation is something that can take your business to the next level but you need to know how to apply these automations and how they can work for you. Today we are going to look at how to use automations with your Google Ads campaigns with one of the experts in this space. Shaun Bond is the owner of PPC Samurai, an automation platform for PPC marketing and has personally managed over $500,000 in Google Ad spend over a decade doing ad search, so there’s nobody better placed to talk about this subject. Google Ads Strateg ..read more

One of the issues we see is that sometimes users don’t think about how Google uses the data that they put into it. There are two key reasons why you need to rethink your strategy: Smart bidding – This new feature of Google Ads really benefits from having better data to work with. This means moving away from a siloed data approach into an aggregated data approach. Intent Matching – Since Google has introduced intent matching, it’s much harder to use keywords in a predictable way. This means introducing SIAGs to your bid strategy. We are going to look at the three different types of ..read more

The Google Ads Calculator is a tool developed in-house at Data Driven and has proved to be one of our most downloaded resources and biggest lead generators since we published it in 2015. Since then, it has been through some iterations and today we are going to look at the latest version we created for ecommerce. The million dollar sales tool So why is the calculator such a priceless sales tool? It’s because it helps you understand the whole picture that conversion tracking data doesn’t always tell you, incorporating data such as customer lifetime value, offline sales tracking, agency fees, pr ..read more

The introduction of key events in Google Analytics 4 confused and upset many marketers and data analysts. But if you look further than the panic and pain, this may be a welcome change for PPC specialists. Key takeaways GA4 introduced key events in March 2024 to partially replace conversions.  Only important actions users take after clicking on a Google ad are now being called conversions. If you don’t use Google Ads, you can mark events as key events to measure the performance of your site and marketing campaigns. Google promises that this change will help PPC advertisers better track an ..read more

In March 2024, Google Analytics 4 abruptly introduced key event rate as a new website metric. The new definition of one of the most popular marketing metrics of all times, conversion rate shocked and confused marketers, analysts and business owners. If you are one of them, read on and learn how you can use GA4 key event rates to your advantage… GA4 key event rate in a nutshell Key event rate metrics in Google Analytics 4 are in fact conversion rates but only for traffic that is not generated by Google Ads.  GA4 distinguishes two types: the user key event rate and session key event rate ..read more