The Ultimate List of All Situations That Require a Google Analytics Annotation

Ever feel like when you look at your Google Analytics data that it doesn’t quite tell the FULL story?

Like, what about that huge spike of traffic in July that’s coming in as direct?

What caused that traffic?

Or didn’t our website go down last year for a few days? When was that?

There are all sorts of situations that your Google Analytics account can’t account for.

That’s where YOU come in.

YOU are the person who best knows the story behind the data in your account.

But holy crap, how are you supposed to keep all of that info in your head?

I’m here to tell you that, no, you should not keep all of that info in your head (or, you can, but let’s not make that the only place you keep it, okay?)

Instead, you should be adding these little “stories behind the data” to your Analytics account.

How?

With the use of what’s called a Google Analytics annotation.

Not sure what that is? It’s basically a little note you can add to your account.

Unsure how to add one? I walk you through exactly how to do that in this post.

But what sort of situations should you be adding notes for? Like everything? Just when your website goes down?

Instead of keeping you guessing, I thought I’d pull together a list.

And without further ado…

The Ultimate List of All Situations You Should Be Using a Google Analytics Annotation For

1. Website goes down
2. Adwords spend goes up
3. Facebook spend goes up
4. Facebook spend goes down
5. Adwords spend goes down
6. Website redesign
7. Made changes to your Analytics account (filters, goals, etc.)
8. Made changes to your Analytics code
9. Started a TV campaign
10. Started radio advertising
11. Hired a PR firm
12. Started a billboard campaign
13. Month your magazine ad goes live (but you’re making sure that’s not coming in as direct traffic, right?)
14. Is your business seasonal or dependent on the weather? Like a ski rental shop with an unusually warm February? Make a note.
15. You just mailed 1000s of direct mail pieces

The Key

The key here is to NOT go overboard, which it can definitely be easy to do with these notes on your account.

Keep it simple – any major online or offline activity – not every time you send out an email or get a link from a website.

How do you know if you’re using them right? After a few months, you look back at your data and don’t see a million notes on your timeline, but instead a few notes that very obviously correlate with huge dips or spikes in your traffic.

Traffic mysteries no more!

Am I missing one?

Comment below with your favorite way to use Google Analytics annotations and if it’s one I missed, I’ll add it to the list!