Google Analytics 4, tips for measuring UX
Tips from our UX, Technical and Clients Services teams.
Google Analytics 4, top tips for measuring user experience
With the phase-out of third-party cookies and the move to Google Analytics 4 around the corner, there is a lot of change in the air for Marketeers, which will bring both opportunities and challenges in the world of user experience. This blog explores our Google Analytics 4 top tips, how to put a plan into place as marketers and continue to improve website user experiences.
While we can’t do anything about the fact we’re now capturing less data, we can explore other ways to measure the user journey and enrich your website’s offering, whilst still respecting your users’ privacy.
With perspectives from our UX, Technical and Client Service teams we have put together our top tips on how to measure user experience and prepare for the next generation of Google Analytics:
Say goodbye to Universal Analytics and embrace GA4
Many organisations are still on Universal Analytics and this is due to be retired from 1 July 2023, when it will stop processing new hits.
This means that if you set up your analytics before October 2020 you’re likely to be using Universal Analytics and will have to export your data and make the switch in order to continue to capture data from your cookie-consenting users.
It may all seem a bit daunting now so, to make this transition as painless as possible and to give you time to understand your data and make decisions, we recommend setting up Google Analytics 4 now (yes, now!) and running it alongside your Universal Analytics account.
Setting up Google Analytics 4 Tips
Tip one – set up a GA4 dashboard
Setting up a dashboard in a tool like Data Studio to create a report to track GA4 data alongside your Universal Analytics account as a comparison exercise while you get to grips with the new data model.
Look at the patterns in your data, not the numbers
As mentioned above, It’s important to use this transition period to understand the new measurement model in GA4. Metrics we’ve come to rely on such as Sessions and page views are being replaced by events and parameters and Bounce Rate is being dropped entirely! You may be wondering how you’re going to produce insightful reporting without these metrics, but the truth is these numbers have been less significant since the phase-out of third-party cookies two years ago. It’s no longer the numbers that are meaningful, but the patterns and insights we gather from users we can collect data from.
This deeper view into the user journey gives a clearer picture of what traffic sources and campaigns create the most engagement and will help you measure the quality of the content you’re directing them to.
Tip two – keep it simple
Start with the basic insights that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provides and refine them over time to fit your needs. If you’re a charity, you should track your donation journey to identify how you can increase conversions. If your site’s role is to generate leads, you should track which traffic sources and entry points convert best and amplify them.
Measure user behaviour
It’s not just data we need to measure to understand and improve the user experience. To make more impactful decisions we need to understand the context behind the data and any conversion barriers and that’s where behavioural insights come in.
Tools such as Hotjar provide a GDPR compliant way to gain real-time insight into how users are behaving on your website through heatmaps and recordings. Alongside tools to measure and observe behaviour, the feedback functions also allow you to run questionnaires with your audience from external to onsite surveys.
For quick user-driven results, A/B testing is a more expensive but highly effective way to compare two versions of a web page and to see what will have the biggest impact on users. With A/B testing there is a lot to consider and it helps to think back to your secondary school science days! Before you get stuck in it’s vital that your experiment is ‘testable’ which leads us on to our final tip…
Tip three – how to create a hypothesis for A/B testing
- Objective: What is that we are trying to achieve? This could be ‘to increase the number of donations on our website’.
- Desired user action: What do we want users to do more of? For example, ‘users to click on the donate button’ or to ‘see users donate more per single donation’.
- Metric/KPI: How will you measure success? A useful metric could be ‘the ratio of users reaching the thank you page’, or ‘the increased total amount of weekly donations’.
Contact us if you’d like to talk more about how to measure and optimise the user experience of your website.
Write the perfect website brief for your agency
From kitchens to RFPs our insights on creating a collaborative website brief.
A while ago, my wife and I were complaining that our kitchen was falling apart. We had a tiny fridge and the door hinge had broken (I had masterfully fixed it with sellotape and it held together for 4 years like that). The backs of the units had all come off (I had masterfully fixed it by stuffing VHS tapes behind it that held for 5 years). The handles on the drawers were broken (I had masterfully… never mind… you get the idea). So we decided that the next thing that breaks is a sign that we need to change the kitchen. The next day our oven blew up. Our decision was made, we needed a new kitchen.
We started looking at all the usual places. We went to the big DIY shops and big chain kitchen shops. The people we spoke to were all perfectly polite and helpful and spent a good hour helping us draw up a plan for the new kitchen. They were drawing up what we were asking for and trying to stay in our budget, but we were doing the designing and as much as I know a lot about sellotape and VHS tapes, I don’t know all that much about kitchens so we found it difficult to get to something we were happy with.
We decided to check out a small local kitchen shop that has some nice fancy kitchens on show. We thought it would be outside our budget but went for a look anyway. The owner had been running it for 20 years and within 5 minutes, had given us more ideas and suggestions than all the previous sales people put together. We sat down with him for half the afternoon and he designed our perfect kitchen. He made good use of all the little spaces that we were just going to put filler panels on, made us choose all the right appliances (who knew an induction hob can change your life so much) and he worked it all out so it was the best we could get for our budget.
Like many things, this got me thinking about creating websites!
Website brief consistencies – RFPs
Over Christmas, I dug out all the briefs and RFPs we had received over the nine and a bit years of Pixeled Eggs. I was trying to see if I could put together a guide for “how to write the perfect website brief” and being a nerd, I wrote some scripts to analyse things like which words appeared most in the briefs. I looked at lots of other such guides and there are some excellent ones that tell you what you need to consider and it’s all good advice. They all say:
- What’s your business
- Who are your audience
- What are your goals
- Who are your competitors
- What designs do you like
- Technical requirements
- What’s your budget
The importance of discussions in your website brief
But what they all lack, is that 2 hours of sitting down with someone experienced who can help you plan, ask the right questions, and offer suggestions that will ultimately mean a better brief and therefore a better product.
Now, I love pitching! It’s exhilarating and fun and I never want to stop pitching and when it all comes together on a good pitch, it’s an amazing feeling. But all this made me wonder why pitches can’t be in the format of a 2 hour two-way discussion on the requirements to formulate a brief. Both the agency and the client get a lot more out of it and as the client, you’ll get to see exactly what the people in the agency are like and it’s less likely you’d be seeing the work that some excellent freelancer has put together for the pitch and won’t be around to deliver.
There is huge value in planning a brief together. When I went through the old briefs, some were really well thought out and detailed, some didn’t include anywhere near enough information and some were heavy on one area (usually tech) and didn’t include any other useful information. By planning a brief together with an agency, you also get consistency and the right questions get asked and the right amount of detail gets covered.
So we’ve decided that’s something we’re going to offer as part of the service. If you need a new website, we will run a requirements meeting and help you write the brief. At the end of it, you end up with the answers to all the right questions to help any agency you choose build you the best possible product (of course, we hope that agency would be us, but if not, we hope you’ll send us a lot of haribo instead).
If your website is currently held together with sellotape and you’re thinking of a new project, get in touch with us and we will help you write the best brief.
Incidentally, the most used word in the briefs is “Content”. Content is what helps you grow!
Three must-haves for a user-centric website approach
(and why chocolate matters).
In our recent audit of charity websites produced with interactive industry association BIMA, a full 39% of websites received a low grade for usability. A poor user experience creates all sorts of problems for website owners, from reducing visibility to putting off customers and damaging brand perception.
Taking a user-centric approach to website design has the opposite effect. It increases engagement, dwell time, customer value and brand perception. There is a perception that applying a user-centric approach will increase the time and therefore cost of a website project. In our experience, this isn’t the case and with the right approach, you can better understand your users and create a great user experience that delivers a solid return on your investment.
Chocolate
Understanding the importance of a user-centric approach starts with a basic understanding of how the brain works.
When a relationship is formed, the brain produces Oxytocin. Oxytocin is the neurochemical associated with social bonding and emotion and is produced when we have a positive user experience (or when we eat pleasurable foods like chocolate).
Before we talk about how to trigger Oxytocin in design, it is important to understand that a negative user experience can cause the brain to produce Cortisol which is the neurochemical associated with stress. Inducing stress within design can often be a successful principle in motivating users to act to avoid loss. However, its success is dependent on the user which is why it’s so important to understand your audience to inform the right balance.
Here are our three must-haves for delivering for your website visitors:
1. Don’t overload
A positive user experience is one that instils confidence and trust in the user. If a website has surface appeal; is easy to use and clear, this will motivate the user, demonstrate expertise and show that the brand will act in the user’s interest.
Overloading the user causes cognitive strain which Increases critical thinking. Good usability considers how users consume information and ensures that the design accommodates memory limits to aid comprehension. This makes the user feel good and motivates them to act.
2. Know your audience and target them as personas
Beyond best practice, your approach should depend on your user, so it’s essential to understand your audience to get this right. The users’ demographics, personality types, values, status, life experiences, and needs will inform you on optimising your design.
For example, an audience persona with a more conservative personality type might be more likely to respond to authoritative design patterns than someone who is less so and, therefore, might be more susceptible to less traditional design patterns.
3. Know your audiences’ context and when to deliver
A user-centric approach is also understanding the environment and situation a person is in and what they are trying to achieve. If we listen to what people need at specific interaction points with us, we can understand how to deliver a user-centric experience to our audience. Getting this right will trigger Oxytocin in your user and maximise a positive outcome for your business.
The benefits to users and organisations of getting it right
It’s important to remember that generating the right amount of oxytocin (and cortisol) depends on the user. Finding the right balance is achieved by understanding the core values and context of your audience and being there for them at the right time in a relevant way.
Having a stronger insight will allow you to get under the skin of the user and help your business to achieve the following goals more easily and more often:
- Increased engagement – People will spend more time on your site, and will be more likely to engage with you on other channels
- Higher conversion rates – Your users will be motivated to act on your proposition
- Increased loyalty – People will like you more, and are more likely to return to your website
- Efficiency – Audiences will be better able to ‘self serve’ which means a reduced burden on company support
A user centric approach will inform lucrative and efficient decisions that will drive your ROI forward and reduce costs for your business.
BIMA audit reveals some charity websites put people off and damage their brand
BIMA Charities In Need report suggests many mid-sized charities fail to deliver satisfactory user and mobile experiences.
Our BIMA Charities In Need report suggests many mid-sized charities fail to deliver satisfactory user and mobile experiences to their supporters and beneficiaries.
About the BIMA charities audit
The report focused on charities with an income of £100k-£10m in England and Wales that includes 33,000 charities with a combined income of £28bn. To produce the report, we examined the Platform, Technical and Usability performance of 411 charity websites which created a database of more than 20,000 data points, and gave each charity a ‘scorecard’ for their website’s performance (details in report).
Two big themes came out of the report:
- Usability Many charities are failing to apply a user centric approach
- Mobile Many charities missing the mobile opportunity
1. Usability
UX researchers NN/g claim that “the first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother” which is a great working definition.
The audit results indicate some charities don’t understand this and are failing to maximise their impact. 39% of audited websites received a D or F usability grade, while 39% received an A or B.
The audit reveals that higher income charities (£2.7-10m income) struggle to deliver good or excellent user experiences compared to their lower income (£100-310k) counterparts. Lower income charities achieve 47% of As and Bs, while higher income charities received 48% of Ds and Fs.
While there is little data on the impact of poor usability in the charity sector, there is plenty in retail where sales are vital. Business Insider estimate that US $4.6 trillion are left on the table by merchants due to abandoned shopping baskets in 2016, up from $4.2 trillion in 2013. Of course not all of this is caused by poor usability, but it is easy to see that those that offer the best user experience maximise revenue.
Alongside this there is growing evidence that a website user experience is a core part of the brand experience, which means that a poor website experience creates a poor perception of the brand. This means that as well as reducing engagement and revenue, many charity websites are damaging their brand perception.
2. Mobile
Mobile was another weak point for charity websites. 1 in 10 audited charities had no mobile website, while mobile versions of websites received 75% of all F grades.
So what is the impact of poor mobile performance?
Global mobile traffic is ahead of desktop by about 4% so the lost opportunity for beneficiary and supported engagement must be recognised.
There is little data to be found on charities or from the UK, but we can see how important mobile is in US retail behaviour. In the US, 6 in 10 internet users start shopping on one device but finish on a different one, and 82% of smartphone users say they consult their phones before purchase. [Source Google Ipsos GPS omnibus March 2016] They get ideas, look up information, and make decisions, all from their smartphone anytime, anywhere.
It is easy to see how supporter engagement and beneficiary support would also run across different devices at different points in the dynamic between charity and individual.
So what can be done to tackle this?
Key recommendations of the BIMA report include:
- Don’t assess the value or relevance of digital to your charity on the performance of your C, D or F grade website. It is likely to be damaging your brand and putting supporters and beneficiaries off.
- Think of your website as a journey of improvement, not a destination to get done
- Look for a digital partner (not a supplier) to help you on that journey (a partner like us!).
- Apply a user-centric approach that helps you create a website for your supporters and beneficiaries, rather than your charity.
- Keep it simple, if you have a limited budget prioritise the most important things.
Pixeled Eggs partnered with BIMA to produce this audit to enable charities to take an informed look at their website strategy and performance. We hope it will encourage charities to re-consider and re-prioritise digital within their overall strategy. We hope it becomes a useful tool that helps charities get the most from their websites.
If you would like to directly compare your charity website’s performance to the report, we can create a scorecard for you. To get going contact us at letsgo@pixeledeggs.com or find out more about our approach and services.
You can download a free copy of the BIMA Charities In Need report here.
Only 2% of charity websites achieve a ‘grade A’ in our BIMA audit
The BIMA Charities in Need report findings and launch.
For many charities, the pandemic has turned the issue of income from a constant challenge to an existential threat. As the UK establishes a new normal, the survival of many charities will rely heavily on their ability to leverage technology and their online capabilities. So how well is the sector equipped to manage?
We are delighted to have completed the first ever in-depth audit into UK charity websites. The BIMA charity website audit report assessed how well 411 small and medium sized charities achieve digital best practice. We assessed websites based on usability, platform choice and technology performance across mobile and desktop devices, and then looked at the quality of user journeys for information seekers, supporters and beneficiaries. The worrying results show a sector already in crisis is poorly placed to use digital as a way of bouncing back.
- Fewer than 2% of audited charities achieved an ‘excellent’ rating
- 41% received a ‘fail’ or lower
- 11% of charities had no website at all
- Almost 1 in 10 didn’t have a mobile responsive version of their website
It’s been a huge project to complete, with a rigorous and transparent methodology we have published with the report.
If you work in or are a partner to charities, this report will give you real insight into what best practice looks like and what is and is not working online for charities. It includes audit results, methodology, case studies and recommendations.
Watch the launch event below:
