I discussed the topic of false data in Google Analytics and how to deal with it in more detail in an article published in the latest issue of Online Marketing Polska [Issue 4(23)/2015]:

Download the article in PDF

Fanpage of Online Marketing Polska – facebook.com/OnlineMarketingPolska

Regardless of what you use web analytics for—whether it’s:

• Tracking how many people visited your business card website (using Google Analytics implemented on WordPress), or
• Analyzing revenue generated by your online store,

there’s no point in making decisions based on inaccurate data.

That’s why it’s essential to ensure data quality in Google Analytics (one component of high-quality data is covered in the linked article), and then consider what you should be measuring on your website.

With Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, you can now track virtually all user behaviors on a website, including:

• Video plays,
• Contact form submissions,
• Copying phone numbers or email addresses,
• Making reservations,
• Downloading PDFs,
• Reading the entire page content,
• And much more.

You should focus on tracking behaviors that are important to the customer journey. This gives you valuable insights into how many people (and what type of people, and where they came from) are following the desired path toward using the products or services offered on your site.

Gaining this kind of knowledge is the ultimate goal of web analytics. It allows you to effectively drive your marketing efforts.