The Website Optimizer that Google made available to all of its AdWords clients shows how well (or poorly) links convert; Google’s Analytics team thinks people can benefit by seeing how users of both Optimizer and Analytics can use them together.
Google Analytics Expands On Website Optimizer
Making their Website Optimizer generally available to AdWords customers should be helpful in achieving better conversions. Webmasters can test different web page designs to see which one brings in the clicks that go “bling-bling.”
“What if you found out that version b. saw 70% more clicks than the version a. Wouldn’t you use that version for all your pages?” Jeff Gillis wrote of a sample comparison of elements at the Google Analytics blog.
While the Optimizer can help show this activity, Google wants site publishers to be aware of how it can be used with Analytics to learn more:
Website Optimizer reports on only one metric — conversions on links. What if you’d like to know how different versions of the same web page affect other metrics, such as Exit Rate, Average Time on Page, Navigational Analysis or New vs. Returning visitors. Now there’s a way – you can integrate Website Optimizer with Google Analytics by making a few modifications to the JavaScript and to the tracking on the page.
The technique isn’t formally supported by Google, so webmasters should proceed with that caveat in mind.
Shawn Purtell of ROI Revolution came up with the JavaScript trick that expands upon what Website Optimizer can do for an Analytics user. It’s a three-step process for the webmaster:
1. Put two JavaScript functions on the test page (The integration tool)
2. Change the Google Analytics Tracking code on your test page
3. Filter out the combination data from main profiles within Google Analytics
He explains those steps and shows what webmasters can expect to see on ROI Revolution’s website.
