Blog
Data Pipelines Don’t Fail Quietly: A Practical Guide to Monitoring & Alerting
| by christopher@analytics-ninja.com
Christopher Bridges “Do not confuse things that are hard with things that are valuable.” ~ James Clear It’s a common fallacy that monitoring data pipelines, and other key performance data, is […]
Data Enrichment and Data Activation using HubSpot and Server GTM
| by Analytics Ninja
. Situation : One of the challenges that one of our clients faced was a lack of visibility into their HubSpot campaigns' performance in Google Analytics. They run dozens of HubSpot email […]
BigQuery - What permissions do I need?
| by James Cottrill
Getting the right permissions in Google Cloud can be complicated and BigQuery is no exception to this. We're unpacking how to get IAM right and what to do to improve your processes.
Prevent Shopify App and Custom Pixels from firing without consent
| by Simon
As we worked on updating our consent management logic to align with Shopify’s recent checkout extensibility release for one of our main client (read our previous article on the topic if you […]
Shopify Checkout Extensibility Review: 8 Months In and Dozens of Implementations
| by Simon
In 2024, anyone working in analytics for Shopify websites has been busy "upgrading" to Checkout Extensibility. This is especially true for Analytics Ninja as one of our major clients is a […]
Reducing BigQuery Costs - Clustering the GA4 events table
| by Analytics Ninja
Anyone who works with Google Analytics should be using BigQuery for their analysis and reporting. There, I said it. Hit level, raw event data is your best source for whatever you want to report, if […]
Google Analytics Backup & Archiving
| by Analytics Ninja
Today is a very auspicious day. In less than 24 hours, Google Analytics will stop processing data from tens of millions of websites. Sites that have been using Google Analytics for a very […]
Apple's Safari 15.5: Impact on Geolocation Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
. Yesterday I was asked an interesting question by one of my clients. The organization, which provides services in the United States, wanted to know if a greater percentage of people were […]
Customer "Journeys" and "Tries"
| by Analytics Ninja
Using SQL-modeling to tell different stories about user behavior A bit over 7 months ago, Jules (our Head of Data Analysis and Conversion Optimization) sent me a message in Slack letting me know […]
Fixing Shopify's Broken Data Layer with Server Side Google Tag Manager
| by Analytics Ninja
At Analytics Ninja, we find ourselves ever more and more excited about using Google Tag Manager Server Side containers (SSGTM). While Google is certainly not the first vendor to introduce Server […]
Weighted Sorting in Looker Studio using Google BigQuery
| by Analytics Ninja
Finding the diamonds in the rough... One of my favorite features in the Google Analytics UI is the ability to do weighted sorting. With more and more Google Analytics reporting being done in […]
Google Analytics UserID Views and Visitor Back Stitching
| by Analytics Ninja
Google Analytics and UserId Backstitching For a few years now I've been obsessing about how Google Analytics treats UserIDs. There are quite a few posts out there for how Google Analytics UserID […]
Advanced Page Load Speed Measurement with Google Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
One of the most common needs that have come up for Analytics Ninja's clients in 2019 has been measuring page speed. The marketing industry seems to be very heavily focused on the topic with a wide […]
Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention and Google Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
https://twitter.com/johnwilander/status/1136119342209294336 I've tried not to think too much about Safari's Intelligent Tracking Platform (ITP) lately. The topic tends to get me worked up and […]
Methods of Workflow Sanity with Google Tag Manager.
| by Analytics Ninja
Also known as: a story of one ninja's journey to tag management nirvana. This blog post was co-authored by my good friend and esteemed, highly respected, super-expert colleague Sam Briesemeister. […]
Guide: Facebook Pixel with Google Tag Manager
| by Analytics Ninja
How to set up the Facebook Pixel using Google Tag Manager. Recently I was tasked to deploy a Facebook Pixel on an ecommerce site. While deploying tags with Google Tag Manager is normally a […]
Tracking Brighcove Videos with Gooogle Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
This post is authored by David Vallejo . Brighcove is an online video platform that allows to embed onDemand videos on your websites. It seems there’re out of there some people looking for a way to […]
Google Analytics Custom Metrics & Calculated Metrics
| by Analytics Ninja
Metrics, Metrics, Metrics, oh my!! With the recent (very welcome) release of calculated metrics in Google Analytics, I thought that the time was ripe to write a post about custom metrics in […]
Using Google Analytics to Grow Your Business
| by Analytics Ninja
The following post is an email that I wrote for the Traffic1M course presented by SumoMe.com. It is geared to folks who are just getting started with Google Analytics, and online marketing in […]
Smooth Google Analytics Migrations using Google Tag Manager
| by Analytics Ninja
This post is authored by David Vallejo. At the current juncture, this blog is not configured to support for multiple authors. I hope to remedy that in the future. ~~Yehoshua Since Google Tag Manager […]
REAL Time On Page in Google Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
A better way to measure content engagement with Google Analytics This post is inspired by a conversation that I had with my friend and colleague Simo Ahava at Superweek as well as a recent work […]
Advanced Remarketing with Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager
| by Analytics Ninja
From Data Layer to Dollars... Some visitors are more profitable than others, and thoughtfully created Remarketing Lists can help businesses focus their ad spend on the most valuable visitors. This […]
Google's Universal Analytics is Out of Beta - Time to Switch?
| by Analytics Ninja
Universal Analytics The big news last week (at least for folks like me) was that Universal Analytics finally came out of beta. Is it time for you to switch? Short answer --> yes, soon. :-) What […]
Shopify Google Analytics Integration
| by Analytics Ninja
The following is the tale of some investigative work I did for a company which approached me to help them with their Google Analytics tracking for their online store. This company, like so many […]
Where did my traffic go?
| by Analytics Ninja
A question that is commonly asked of analysts is "WHERE DID MY TRAFFIC GO?!" (Yes, even occasionally emailed in all caps). :-) Indeed, this is a question that I received from a publisher recently, […]
Measuring Profit using Google's Universal Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
Leveraging Custom Dimensions and Custom Metrics to gain insights into Merchandise and Profitability. I spend a bit too much time on Twitter. It’s not a terrible thing, as in addition to Twitter […]
DudaMobile Google Analytics FIX
| by Analytics Ninja
DudaMobile + Google Analytics = #Fail Sometimes I find myself really bothered by 3rd parties who claim to have Google Analytics integrations not take the care to make sure that is done correctly. […]
The Importance of Clean and Meaningful Google Analytics data
| by Analytics Ninja
Ever since returning from Superweek in beautiful Galyateto, Hungary , I've been thinking a lot about data and the utility of Google Analytics as a tool. Yes, I know, I spend a lot of time thinking […]
Google Analytics Bounce Rate (actually) Demystified
| by Analytics Ninja
Bounce Rate in Google Analytics Every few months of so, I see a (re)tweet pointing to this infographic from KissMetrics . Here's a snippet: (Update: to learn about content engagement and […]
How "Unique" are Unique Visitors in Google Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
"Unique" Visitors 25%-39% inflated I've been working on implementations with a number of clients who have a need for visitor level tracking in Google Analytics so that they can start using GA to […]
Google Analytics Updates How Visits are Calculated
| by Analytics Ninja
Google Analytics Updates How Visits Are Calculated In a recent blog post , the Google Analytics team made announced that they are changing the way that visits (sessions) are calculated. […]
Multi-Touch Attribution with Google Analytics.
| by Analytics Ninja
Multi-Touch Attribution with Google Analytics It is well known that Google Analytics relies on last touch campaign attribution. In short, this means that conversions and transactions are attributed […]
Google Product Search (for a fee)
| by Analytics Ninja
I recently discovered a discrepancy between the way that a client's Google Merchant Center account was performing on Google Product Search and Google Product Ads . When I first set up Google Product […]
Web Analytics Basics - Conversion Tracking & Segmentation | SphinnCon 2011
| by Analytics Ninja
I recently had the pleasure of speaking at SphinnCon 2011 . I'm sure that anyone there would agree that this year's conference was really great. Big thanks to Barry Schwartz for putting it together. […]
Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ)
| by Analytics Ninja
I finally got around to taking the Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam… My results are here:
The Analytics Slice and Dice | The Importance of Segmentation Part I – SEO
| by Analytics Ninja
Segmenting traffic in Google Analytics (or any other web analytics pacakge) is key for any analyst who is looking to get the most out of their data. I have seen far too many businesses look at their […]
Analytics for Eye Doctors
| by Analytics Ninja
I recently started working on PPC and Analytics for a new launched website. In this case, it is an Optometrist in Lincoln, NE . I’m particularly interested in knowing if anyone has any bounce […]
Conversion Funnel Analysis – Abandonment Rate by Time of Day
| by Analytics Ninja
One report that I find extremely useful in the Goals Section is the Conversion Rate Report. In a moment, I’ll explain how a quick export of data from the Conversion Rate Report can provide […]
Google Analytics Goals & Bounce Rate
| by Analytics Ninja
Proper configuration of Goals in Google Analytics is a critical to the ability to make good business decisions. Especially for those of you out there spending money on PPC, in order to make the best […]
Advanced Segments to Track Conversion Funnels
| by Analytics Ninja
Understanding your conversion funnel is one of the keys to finding the best ways to improve your conversion rate. The first thing to do is to identify which part of your funnel needs fixing. For […]
“Google Analytics isn’t working!” – A possible fix.
| by Analytics Ninja
This Google Analytics Ninja seems to have saved the day and spotted a problem with code implementation for a friend’s WordPress blog. (Well, a friend of a friend, but I guess it is about the […]
Let Google Analytics run a Search Query Report for Yahoo PPC
| by Analytics Ninja
There are a lot of things that bother me about Yahoo Search Marketing. A LOT. If anyone from Yahoo out there reads this blog, please pass on this piece of advice to your supervisors –> copy […]
Segment by Match Type in Google Analytics
| by Analytics Ninja
This is one of my favorite advanced segmentations. I often times find myself frustrated by the fact that keyword match types are all mashed together and reported as one keyword. Indeed, as far as I […]
Analytics Ninja | July 12, 2009
| by Analytics Ninja
Welcome to my Analytics Ninja Blog: Analytics Ninja Yes… Yes… I know that there are plenty of other Web Analytics Ninjas out there. I have a lot of respect for many of my colleagues who […]
