Tracking PayPal with Google Analytics and Google AdWords

Setting up ecommerce tracking is essential if you are selling online (if you don't sell online check out Monetizing Non-Ecommerce Sites). But not all ecommerce systems integrate with Google Analytics. And if you are selling online chances are you accept PayPal® as a method of payment. So how do  track visitors who have purchased via PayPal?


First step, create a thank you page for successful PayPal transactions and set that URL within PayPal so visitors are returned to your site.



The problem is that when the visitor returns to your site after payment has been received (or cancelled) PayPal gets the credit for the conversion and not the original way the visitor found your site.

Steps For Tracking PayPal With Google Analytics:

1. Log into PayPal.

2. Under the 'My Account' tab click on the 'Profile' link.

3. Click on 'Website Payment Preferences' (under 'Selling Preferences' in the right column).

4. Turn 'Auto Return' on and enter the URL of your PayPal thank you page.

Then add ?utm_nooverride=1 to the end of your URL (highlighted in blue below), this will ensure that transactions (i.e. conversions) are credited to the original traffic source, rather than PayPal.



For example, if a visitor came from a Google search for 'gardening book' the conversion will be credited to Google, organic, gardening book (and not PayPal, referral).

At this point if you simply want to track the conversions using goals you can setup a new goal for the thank you page within Google Analytics. However, if you want to also get Google Analytics ecommerce tracking up and running you will need to get a little more technical.

PayPal's payment data transfer allows you to receive transaction details once a visitor is back on your site (visit the PayPal technical overview article for details).

Getting Advanced With Ecommerce Tracking:

6. Turn 'Payment Data Transfer' on.



Please note that once you turn on 'Payment Data Transfer' it will be applied to all Auto Return payments unless otherwise specified within the button or link for that Website Payment.

7. You will now either have to create your 'Buy Now' buttons or modify your existing buttons.

If you are creating new 'Buy Now' buttons leave the return URL blank (or if you specify a different URL ensure it has ?utm_nooverride=1 at the end).

If you already have buttons on your site you will need to look for the following code:

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">

And add the following before the </form> element (with your correct thank you page URL):

<input name="return" type="hidden" value="http://www.site.com/paypal-thanks.php?utm_nooverride=1" />

8. Finally you will need to modify your thank you page to grab the PayPal data being transfered using either the POST of GET methods (you will have to talk to your web developer or IT person if you are not familiar with the coding of your site).

Basically, you will need the Google Analytics ecommerce tracking code to automatically (or dynamically) grab the correct values and place them in the code. You will be able to get total price, tax, shipping, transaction id, item name, quantity, etc.

Example Google Analytics Ecommerce Tracking Code:

<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-XXXXX-1");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
pageTracker._addTrans(
"6NB836968U296223E", // Order ID
"", // Affiliation
"20.00", // Total
"2.00", // Tax
"0.0", // Shipping
"", // City
"", // State
"" // Country
);
pageTracker._addItem(
"6NB836968U296223E", // Order ID
"ProductId123", // SKU
"Green T-shirt", // Product Name 
"T-Shirts", // Category
"20.0", // Price
"1" // Quantity
);
pageTracker._trackTrans();
} catch(err) {}
</script>

For Google AdWords conversion tracking you simply need to grab the total value and pass that into the conversion script as the value.

Example Google AdWords Conversion Tracking Code:

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var google_conversion_id = 12345678;
var google_conversion_language = "en";
var google_conversion_format = "2";
var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";
var google_conversion_label = "U10bCNfstvhghO6gM";
var google_conversion_value = 0;
if (20) {
  google_conversion_value = 20;
}
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js">
</script>
<noscript>
<div style="display:inline;">
<img height="1" width="1" style="border-style:none;" alt="" src="http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/12345678/?value=20&label=U10bCNfstvhghO6gM&guid=ON&script=0"/>
</div>
</noscript>

Read about Google Analytics ecommerce tracking

Read about Google AdWords conversion tracking

Finally, we strongly recommend that you test everything out using the PayPal Sandbox.


If you have any questions please feel free to contact us directly and if you are located in Australia check out our Google Seminars for Success for the best Google Analytics training available!

Thanks to ROI Revolution for inspiring this post who originally discussed Google Analytics and PayPal back in 2007.

Labels: Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Google Analytics Tips

Does Bing Equal Cha-Ching?

Advertising on Bing? Thinking of advertising on Bing? Then you need to know what you are being charged for. A click on your ad might not achieve the result you expect, especially if you are used to advertising with Google AdWords.

First let's look at Google AdWords. When your ad displays on Google the ad headline becomes the link to our landing page (destination URL).

Your ad's link on Google: (highlighted in red)

This is good in my opinion because when someone clicks we know there is a very good chance they wanted to click the ad. This is supported by the fact that the ad headline is presented as a link - it is blue and underlined.

Okay, now let's look at your ad's link on Bing: (highlighted in red)


Wow! That's a big difference in the way Bing classifies your ad's link compared to Google!

Even if someone only clicks the white space around your ad you receive the click and more importantly the cost. Looking at the link area this becomes a concern especially if someone is actually trying to click the next ad below and ends up on your site. I wonder if they will bounce?

I would also argue that being in the 1st ad position (as highlighted in the image above) has the additional effect that clicks on 'Sponsored sites' also sends a click your way. What if it is a competitor wanting to know how to advertise on Bing?



So now that you know what Bing considers a link (and a click on your ad) you can make an informed decision on how to proceed. You should definitely segment your analytics resports for Bing traffic and evaluate if there are any differences to your other CPC (Cost Per Click) campaigns.

Labels: Bing, Google AdWords

Google AdWords Scam

Watch out for all the Google AdWords phishing emails circulating at the moment.



Those of you who are new to Google AdWords are probably already familiar with the simple text-only emails that Google sends out for confirming your account details. But you should look out for any emails that request you to update your account and payment details.

Always login directly by typing www.google.com/adwords messages will be displayed directly on the Campaign Summary or Account Snapshot page.

If you receive any suspicious emails forward them directly to phishing@google.com

Labels: Google AdWords, privacy

5 tips for getting the most out of Google Analytics

I have been writing a '101 tips for using Google Analytics' article since late last year and it keeps getting pushed to the bottom of my priority list. Rather than letting them go stale in Google Docs I have decided to share a couple of tips with you - let's put them to work!

If you have a tip you would like to share or have a pressing Google Analytics question that might become a tip, then send an email to analytics@mangoldsengers.com

1. Setup website goals. A website goal is a high value action that you would like your website visitors to perform. On a content or lead generation site, this could include subscribing to an email newsletter or completing a contact form. On a e-commerce site this could be the completion of a checkout process. You can access goal data across numerous reports within Google Analytics, plus you will have access to goal specific reports under the 'Goals' tab.
   
   


2. Setup e-commerce tracking. If you have an e-commerce website make sure you enable e-commerce tracking within your Google Analytics website profile and add appropriate e-commerce tags to your website. If you don't have an e-commerce website you can still use e-commerce reports to associate a dollar value to particular website visitors.
   
   


3. Link your Google AdWords account to your Google Analytics account. Once your accounts are linked you will have access to AdWords visitor data within Google Analytics.
   
   


4. Track your marketing campaigns. Campaign tracking is a crucial element in understanding how your marketing campaigns are performing. By tagging online and offline campaigns you can begin to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. Tag everything!
   
   


5. Manually tag your CPC (Cost Per Click) campaigns. If you use a CPC system other than Google AdWords, you will need to manually tag your campaign URLs. CPC campaigns that are not tagged will be logged as "organic" (or unpaid) searches within Google Analytics.
   
   

Labels: Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Google Analytics Tips

Google Analytics vs. Urchin 6 vs. Urchin 5

Over the last few weeks I have been consulting with large companies on using Google Analytics for enterprise. I have been asked about the differences between Google Analytics and Urchin on a couple of occasions during these workshops, so this post is all about the differences. I have decided to include Urchin 5 in this comparison because a lot of people use Urchin 5 because it is provided by their hosting companies.

Brett Crosby on Urchin

"Urchin Software is a downloadable software product which makes it appealing to organizations with restrictive data policies or those wishing to analyze firewall-protected content, such as an internal company network.

"Urchin is also useful for those who want to perform ad-hoc historical log processing, who want to store their web analytics on local servers, hosting providers wishing to provide a value-added analytics service, and those requiring third-part audits." Brett Crosby, Google Analytics Group Product Marketing Manager

Compare, compare, compare

Here are the key features compared...

Feature	Google Analytics	Urchin 6	Urchin 5
Install and manage on your own server
Hosted and maintained by Google
Reprocess historical data (from logfiles)
Track content behind firewall
Track search engine robots/spiders
Goal tracking			Add-on
Campaign tracking			Add-on
Automatic Google AdWords tracking
E-commerce reports			Add-on

Break the firewall

One of the key differences between Google Analytics and Urchin, is that Urchin is installed on your own server, which allows you to track content that cannot be tracked by Google Analytics, for example a company intranet.

Google Analytics rocks Google AdWords

When it comes to tracking your Google AdWords campaigns, Google Analytics is your answer!

Google Analytics is a critical tool if you are running Google AdWords campaigns, once you have linked your accounts you have access to reports that are not available within Urchin. These reports provide incredible insights into the success of your campaigns and where improvements can be achieved.

Labels: Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Urchin 6