Too often we’re approached by companies wanting to get more out of their Google Analytics, only to find they’re working with the most basic implementation. But lazy developers who might have simply ticked the box after adding the default JavaScript tracking snippet to each page on the site no longer have excuses.
Google has released Autotrack for analytics.js, a library of plug-ins for Universal Analytics intended to “leverage as many Google Analytics features as possible while requiring minimal manual implementation”. Developers can pick and choose from the custom tracking scripts that enable everything from tracking outbound links and forms to measuring session time more accurately.
Google Tag Manager integration is yet to come, but on the way.
Why should you care?
One-page websites, in particular, will benefit from some of the custom tracking options but Autotrack is intended for any site running Universal Analytics without customised tracking code. If you have customised your code, check out the usage documentation on Github to make sure there will be no conflicts should you want to utilise one or more of the plug-ins.
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Jeremy is a Partner and Senior Consultant at SureFire. Jeremy has been working in search since 1996, when he joined the Australian search engine, LookSmart. After relocating to San Francisco, he was instrumental in the development of the company’s paid search ad platform. At analytics company Coremetrics (now owned by IBM) he established an in-house search agency managing campaigns for Coremetrics clients such as Macy’s, Bass Pro and Lands End. At Acxiom he managed members of the pioneering SEO firm Marketleap and worked with clients such as Capital One, American General Finance and Kaiser Health. Joining SureFire in 2009, he is the head of Paid Search Advertising and oversees the delivery of AdWords and other PPC campaigns. He also helps clients make sense of their website data.
