What is not Considered a Default Medium in Google Analytics
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Welcome to Brand Builder Marketing, a trusted name in business and consumer services, specializing in website development. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the topic of what is not considered a default medium in Google Analytics. Understanding this concept is vital for optimizing your website's performance and improving your online visibility. By the end of this article, you will have gained valuable insights to outrank your competitors and achieve higher search engine rankings.
Why is Understanding Default Mediums Important?
Default mediums play a crucial role in Google Analytics as they help track the source of your website traffic. By default, Google Analytics categorizes the mediums into various channels such as organic, direct, referral, social, and more. However, there are certain scenarios where certain sources fall outside these default mediums, making it important to understand and accurately track them to gain a comprehensive understanding of your website's performance.
What is not Considered a Default Medium?
While Google Analytics provides a wide range of default mediums to track your website traffic, there are certain scenarios where other sources can't be neatly categorized into the predefined mediums. Here are some examples of what is not considered a default medium in Google Analytics:
- Email Campaigns: If you run email marketing campaigns, it is vital to track the traffic and conversions generated from them accurately. However, email mediums are not considered a default medium in Google Analytics, meaning you need to set up custom tracking parameters to measure their impact.
- Affiliate Marketing: If you have affiliate partnerships and generate traffic through affiliate links, it is necessary to track this traffic separately. Affiliate mediums are not part of the default mediums in Google Analytics, making it essential to implement custom tracking to measure the performance of your affiliate campaigns.
- Offline Advertising: If you run traditional advertising campaigns such as TV, radio, or print ads, tracking the traffic and conversions generated from these sources is crucial. Since offline mediums are not considered default mediums in Google Analytics, you need to set up custom tracking to accurately measure their impact on your website.
- Custom/Referral URLs: In many cases, businesses use custom or referral URLs to promote their content or generate traffic from specific sources. These URLs generally do not fall under the default mediums and require custom tracking to accurately attribute the traffic to the respective sources.
- Mobile Applications: If you have a mobile application for your business, tracking the traffic and user engagement within the app is important. However, mobile app mediums are not part of the default mediums in Google Analytics. You will need to integrate specific app tracking tools or set up custom tracking parameters to effectively measure the performance.
How to Track Non-Default Mediums?
Tracking non-default mediums in Google Analytics involves setting up custom tracking parameters and implementing specific tools or modifications. Here are some methods to track the non-default mediums mentioned above:
Email Campaigns:
To track the effectiveness of your email campaigns, you can use UTM parameters. UTM parameters are tags that you add to your email links to provide additional information to Google Analytics. By adding these tags to your email links, you can track the traffic, conversions, and other key metrics associated with your campaigns. Make sure to configure your Google Analytics account to recognize these UTM parameters and attribute the traffic correctly.
Affiliate Marketing:
When it comes to tracking traffic from affiliate links, you can utilize affiliate tracking platforms or create custom tracking codes. Affiliate tracking platforms offer advanced analytics and reporting features specifically designed for affiliate marketing. Custom tracking codes, on the other hand, involve assigning unique parameters to your affiliate links, enabling you to track their performance accurately in Google Analytics. Depending on your requirements and technical expertise, choose the method that suits you best.
Offline Advertising:
For tracking offline advertising, one effective method is to use dedicated landing pages or customized URLs. By using unique URLs in your offline ads, you can easily identify and track the traffic generated from these specific sources. Moreover, you can create custom landing pages for each offline ad campaign and track the conversions occurring on these pages using Google Analytics. This will provide a comprehensive analysis of the offline ad performance and its impact on your website.
Custom/Referral URLs:
For custom or referral URLs, it is recommended to make use of UTM parameters. By adding UTM parameters to your custom URLs, you can track the traffic, conversions, and other metrics associated with the specific sources. This will allow you to gain valuable insights into the performance of these custom URLs and effectively optimize your marketing efforts.
Mobile Applications:
Tracking traffic and user engagement for mobile applications can be achieved by integrating specialized mobile app analytics tools such as Firebase Analytics or Google Tag Manager. These tools provide in-depth insights into user behavior, demographics, and conversion metrics, enabling you to optimize your mobile app performance effectively. Implementing the necessary tracking codes or SDKs (Software Development Kits) as provided by these tools will help track all relevant metrics outside of the default mediums in Google Analytics.
Conclusion
Understanding what is not considered a default medium in Google Analytics is vital for accurately tracking and analyzing your website's performance. By comprehending the sources that fall outside the default mediums, such as email campaigns, affiliate marketing, offline advertising, custom/referral URLs, and mobile applications, you can implement the necessary tracking methods to gain precise insights and optimize your marketing efforts.
At Brand Builder Marketing, we specialize in website development and provide comprehensive solutions to improve your online visibility. By understanding the intricacies of Google Analytics and other digital marketing tools, we help businesses outrank their competitors and achieve higher search engine rankings. Contact us today to explore how we can assist you in reaching your online marketing goals.
