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And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver, for no mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller… 

I know I am fighting to stay alive when I get that Google Analytics notification saying that there is something wrong with my data code or implementation.

In this post, I would like to go over both the innocent and the huge mistakes that you have been making with Google Analytics and how to avoid them.

1) Trick or Treat and You Choose None

What is going on in your mind when you decide that not using Google Analytics is the best choice? It is a mystery worthy of a Halloween movie. Google Analytics gives you the option of free setup, it is a simple and full of instructions implementation and on top of that, it includes the Google Analytics Academy to teach you how to use it and get the best out of it.

2) A Haunted House Story

The Google Analytics version is not updated, and you start fearing immediately, that none of your data is accurate. You will be afraid of the dark spots around your account, scared of turning the lights off because something evil might happen while you are sleeping, scared of falling asleep. Every minute you will be experiencing this evil feeling and no one will even visit you, just like if you were living in a haunted house. Only a year ago Google Analytics was still designated as a beta but it is no longer a test where something can go wrong all of a sudden. Please move out of that haunted house and update your Google Analytics version.

3) The Mystery of the Death Valley Sailing Stones

These stones can be found on the floor of the Racetrack Playa, Death Valley with long trails behind them. Somehow the stones slide across the playa, cutting a furrow in the sediment as they move. Even when you hear the explanation of how they moved it is incredible.

99% of the time Google Analytics will show you the wrong data, it is because the code is just not in the right place. The code was set and left alone; when all you had to do was test your code implementation, use Real-Time and make sure that it is all tracking the way it should.

4) Two for Me, None for You

Two plus two equals what? And you stop for a minute and think, this does not add up. You know that it is odd that the amount of users that are visiting your website is higher than the number of sessions the same day. After the ghouls night out, things are never the same. Keep track of your data and create Goals that match your conversions in Google AdWords.

5) Under the Spell of the Black Hat Society

You feel like there is something wrong since you notice how someone in your store keeps going into your website and causes a mess with your data. Then you realize that you have been looking at the big picture, and sometimes my friend, that is not the way to do it. Filter your views to the only count whatever is making a difference and driving your business.

6) You Say Witch Like It Is a Bad Thing

Because it is. If JavaScript is not executing, Google Analytics is not tracking, as simple as that. Google Analytics only functions if the JavaScript code on the page executes, meaning that if you have errors in any of your other JavaScript on the page, the Google Analytics code won’t execute and there will be no tracking.

7) Only Installing Analytics in the Home Page

Small amounts of people arrive at your website, the bounce rate is huge and the Behaviour report only shows the home page “/” on your reports. Google Analytics code does not follow people around, cookies do. So whenever you want to track how your performance is on every single page of your website, please add the code on every single page of your website.

8) Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics Are Not Linked?

The Search Console is a source of great power, but only if you associate it with you Google Analytics. Access Search Console search data directly from the reports in Google Analytics. Search Console does some additional data processing that may cause your stats to differ from stats listed in other sources. Google Analytics tracks traffic only from users who have enabled JavaScript in their browser and tracks visits only to pages which include the correctly configured Analytics Javascript code. Visits to pages without the Analytics tracking code will be tracked in Search Console, if users reach them via search results or if Google crawls or otherwise discovers them.

9) More than One Google Analytics in One Page

More than one Google Analytics code installed on the same page means that your data is not tracking your visits, or page views properly. The main issue with this is the high Bounce Rate that you will discover for these pages.

10) The Worst of Them All. Not Creating Goals in Google Analytics

The Ultimate Horror Story after not using Google Analytics at all, of course, is not creating Goals for it. Who will go house to house all night asking for candies and then give the whole candy bag away? You will select specifically the candies you love and devour them. If you do not use Goals in Analytics you will be the little kid filling his bag with apples and toothbrushes because he is not keeping track of what’s in it.

Beware of these Failures

After Halloween is over is when the real boo crew comes to town. Not because you are scared of the data that you are seeing that is not accurate, but because it is time to clean everything up and show the real world that you can handle real data as well.

Remember Google Analytics has a whole academy to learn how to use it. It is free and easy to implement. Make sure that you follow the breadcrumbs and you will be far away from the Witch’s house in the blink of an eye.