Get Your Metrics On

Earlier this week, Joe Patti published an interesting article at Butts In the Seats about getting more out of your website metrics by following the blog Google for Nonprofits and it made me recall a superb nuts and bolts style post a month ago by Ned Dwyer on how to get serious about using Google Analytics (GA) regardless if your skill set is novice or intermediate.

ADAPTISTRATION-GUY-133I intended to post something about Dwyer’s article but promptly forgot about it so I’m glad Patti’s post reconnected the neurons. Dwyer’s post focuses on using what might seem like one of the more daunting aspects for those who aren’t already Analytics pros: custom reports.

Custom reports let you keep a close eye on what matters most to you and your marketing and online engagement efforts that GA doesn’t already present in one of the ready-made dashboard components.

He uses practical examples, such as creating reports to track email subscription conversion, and has loads of well documented screencaps to illustrate each step in the process. If that’s still too much effort, there are even a few prepackaged custom reports you can apply to your analytics account Dwyer put together from his examples.

Of particular interest is the section that covers how to monitor which content performs best on social media. And like all good tools, GA is always evolving so staying on top of the latest skills is a must for anyone serious about maximizing their organization’s online presence.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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