Google Analytics: 4 examples of Content Grouping
Google Analytics presents us with a tool that allows us to group content from a website or app in order to obtain metrics for each group.
This is especially useful when there are vast amounts of content to analyze. In this way, access and the creation of reports made as a dashboard (panel, dashboard) is facilitated, depending on the needs of each business.
GA standard reports
Content grouping is available in Google Analytics behavior reports:
Behavior> Site content> All pages.
It is important to note that above the information box there is a selector for the main dimension. This drop-down list will show all the content groupings that you have added to Google Analytics.
This selector also exists in the navigation flow, so instead of seeing how users move from page to page, you can see how users move from content to content within your site: what interested them the most, what attracted them, what held them back, what drove them away.
This tool exists in many other content reports, such as Landing Pages and Page Speed. However, who is still using standard reports today? Organizations interested in a deeper analysis use custom reports or dashboards (dashboards, dashboards).
Custom Reports and Dashboards with Content Grouping
When you create a content grouping, Google Analytics will create a dimension for each grouping. It is important to understand that the content grouping contains a number of groups and each group can contain a number of pages or screens.
This tool exists in many other content reports, such as Landing Pages and Page Speed. However, who is still using standard reports today? Organizations interested in a deeper analysis use custom reports or dashboards (dashboards, dashboards).
It means that the values for the content bundle dimension will be for all content groups that the bundle contains.
Google Analytics allows you to form up to 5 content groups, therefore, you can obtain up to 5 new dimensions. Use these dimensions within content groupings as you would any other. Here's a simple custom report showing potential content bundling for a blog:
You can use content groupings in a custom Google Analytics report. Then when you look at the report you will see something like this:
When you add a content grouping to a custom Google Analytics report, the data will be aggregated based on the content group.
They can also use content group dimensions on their dashboards. Here is a very simple example using the page value metric and the content grouping dimension:
4 Examples of Content Grouping Strategies
To use this tool and make it really useful, you must understand how you want to analyze this information.
Here's how different types of businesses might use content bundling.
1) Patagonia: Ecommerce.
Patagonia sells outdoor equipment for men, women and children. They have two communicational axes: on the one hand, they promote "fast and light" travel, that you take what you need; on the other hand they are fervent environmentalists. Understanding the content structure could help each Patagonia department understand your marketing initiatives. One way that content groupings could be done would be:
- Product pages: place them all together to know if the user actually sees them. A further step would be to group them by product line. Category pages can also be differentiated from generic ones.
- Special product tools: Patagonia offers the possibility of assembling your own kit according to the conditions of your trip.
- Check-out: all those that have to do with the check-out process. Although the percentage of users see these pages is lower, it is important to differentiate them since they do not have to do with marketing or products themselves
- User pages: They are used to maintain a proper record of what was purchased, the status of the order, delivery, etc.
- Marketing Pages: everything about the brand, its events, etc. It would be nice to make subgroups within this category.
- Error pages: any type of error, be it content or purchase process, etc.
2) Mailchimp: Software Service
This company offers companies its service so that they can manage their email marketing efforts. It is divided into a section for marketing and another section for applications. Content grouping should mimic this structure.
- Marketing product pages: dedicated to product information, from features to price.
- Marketing content pages: all marketing efforts that are not the products themselves, for example a blog, research, reports, etc.
- User pages: those that the user uses to use the product. Idem previous case.
- Error pages: all kinds of errors that the user can experience. Idem previous case.
3) Application, game: Clash of Clans
Gaming applications are very similar to other business models. Some games generate profits through in-game ads and the sale of features, such as levels, etc. Some companies do both. The content of an application can be divided as it would be done with an e-commerce.
- Game level screens: most of the content is in the levels, although there are also attack screens, chat windows, etc. All of these screens can be grouped together.
- Ecommerce screens: those dedicated to selling extra features in the product. In Clash of Clans you can buy gems that are then used to buy other items.
- Configuration screens: it is where the user chooses all their preferences, from language to colors.
- Error screens: all kinds of errors displayed to the user. Idem previous cases.
4) For publications: MarketingLand.com
The content grouping tool is tailor-made for the publishing industry! Those sites are the ones that have to analyze the most content. Such is the case with MarketingLand, a popular site for those who are in the digital world of marketing.
- Content category: By default almost all publications use categories to organize their content, it is the most logical step. Some sites organize their content in other ways such as author or date. The best way is to do it by topic and customize the dimensions with these other criteria (author, date, etc.)
- User pages: for those publications that offer memberships.
- Error pages: Ditto the previous cases.
These are just examples of companies that are quite different from each other. There is no magic formula !!!
The final decision on how to use the content grouping tool offered by Google Analytics will be up to each organization, depending on the information they need to analyze.
Fountain: Analytics Talk.
