Tips Tuesday – GA4 Tracking Examples, Themes to Use, Check Site Tips

Hello Happy Site Owners and Webmasters!

Tips this week include:

• Why mental bandwidth is more important than how much time you have
• GA4 course vetting is underway
• Example of GA4 optin tracking
• Example of GA4 affiliate link click tracking
• How this GA4 course is tailored to bloggers
• How to better vet plugins before you install, and what’s left behind when you don’t
• Why it’s important to keep your sites updated, even the ones you aren’t active on
• Tips for checking your site functions and outdated info
• A list of themes to consider and ones to leave alone

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BlogAid Happenings

This past week has been filled with nothing but finishing up with current client projects and digging hard into the GA4 course tutorials.

Tips Tuesday will be a little bit different today because of that too.

I skimmed the news and there’s nothing urgent you need for this week, so we’ll cover what’s up in the GA4 course and some handy Site Owner reminders and tips.

Site Services Update

We’re coming to a close on the current site services projects that are open. I imagine most will be finished by week’s end.

And I’m going to delay pulling in new projects until all but 1-2 of those are closed, and only pull in maybe one at a time so I can continue to spend most of my day on the GA4 course.

So, the waitlist is up to about 3 weeks at this point and will stay that way, or longer, through this month.

If you are due for an audit checkup or want to have a service in November, now would be the time to put in that request.

That’s especially true since business picks up from now to the end of the year and that waitlist is going to grow.

It’s About Bandwidth

Folks, I’ve been going day and night and weekends on the course and here’s why.

It’s not about a matter of time, it’s about mental bandwidth.

Site tech work requires pretty intense focus. I mean, if I make a mistake I could blow up someone’s site. 

And then all the research and testing for the GA4 course takes pretty intense focus too.

So, I have to take breaks to rest and refresh my mind throughout the day.

And that’s also why I go back to it for a session after dinner and throughout the weekend too, so I can get as much done as possible each day without overwhelming myself.

BlogAid Course Happenings

GA4 Course Progress

I’ve got an exciting progress report for you this week, and a bit of a peek into what’s in the course too.

Learn Without Overwhelm

Needing a mental break is also why I’m splitting out the tutorials in the GA4 course like I am too. I know this is a busy time of year for you as well, plus you’ll be taking in a lot of new info.

I believe you’ll appreciate me breaking up the course into bite size tutorials so you will be able to get a whole section done and then take a mental break from it to see to your other duties, then come back to it for another short session.

Course Vetting Underway

Woot!!

I put out an invitation to my Hubbers (DIY site audit clients) for folks who dig deep into their analytics now, so we could do a paid gig so I could show them the tutorials and get their feedback.

And my peeps did not disappoint!!!

I met live on Saturday with one of my top clients and every oooo and ahhhh she made let me know just how excited y’all will be with what’s in the course.

And then every “oh my” gasp confirmed what’s going to be a pain point for you too. And she confirmed the direction I’m taking with how to present that info that will take away that pain.

Plus, over the weekend I found yet another way to do a couple of the things that are so helpful and easier for you.

That was a great breakthrough, but it’s also a bit of a setback because I have to make new tutorials for that part.

However, all this extra research is REALLY going to pay off because it helps me customize this course for MY clients and followers. 

90% of you are bloggers and there are certain things that you rely on in your analytics to help you make money on your site.

Examples of info you already rely on includes: 

• Traffic acquisition
• Most frequented posts
• Behavioral flow
• Number of sessions
• Time on site

What else you need that you don’t have now are things like:

• Tracking if your optin was seen and which post it was converted on
• Tracking affiliate clicks by post

This is the kind of reporting that makes you money!!!!!

And it also requires using Google Tag Manager, which I know most of you don’t do now.

I also know why you don’t use it. It’s a confusing beast!!!!

That’s the bulk of the research I’m having to do at this point.

The custom reports in GA4 are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

But, you have to find the Element ID or unique code that identifies that thing first, and then put it into Tag Manager so you can have it available in any metric in GA4. Then you have to build the custom report that shows you all relevant info about that thing.

The Element ID and how to set it up in Tag Manager is where the pain is for most folks.

And it is so worth me spending the extra research and testing time to take that pain away for you.

Optin Tracking Example

For instance, it would be nice to know if a visitor even saw your in-content optin, or your pop up optin.

And it would be nice to know which post they were on when they subscribed too.

That’s going to help you know if your optin placement is the problem, or if folks are just in the habit of scrolling quickly past everything to get to the recipe at the bottom or such.

But wouldn’t also be nice to know if that visitor were a repeat, instead of a new User, and they may already be on your email list – and that’s why they didn’t subscribe?

That’s the sheer power of these new GA4 reports when you use Tag Manager plus the newly improved and expanded default tracking that GA4 does that didn’t even exist in UA (Universal Analytics, also called GA3).

Affiliate Click Tracking Example

Let’s say you have the same affiliate link on a bunch of posts.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know which post a visitor was on when they clicked it?

Or, if you have a Resources page that has a list of affiliate links, wouldn’t you like to know what post they were on when they clicked over to that Resources page, and then know all the clicks they made on the Resources page?

Of course you would!

Taking Away the Pain

And all of this kind of tracking starts with identifying certain elements on your post, like your optin form, and the submit button and such.

How much code do you want to look through on your site to figure out what that element is?

None, right?

So, I’ve asked my Hubbers for links to posts with their optins and I’m going to find that element ID for you because all of them use different email list providers and embed the forms in different ways.

So, I’ll have a list in the tutorials of those combos and all you have to do is pick the one you use and then verify it is indeed on the site and I show you an easy way to do that.

Plus, the custom forms in GA4 have over 200 dimensions, metrics, and filters you can add to the report.

Plus, you have to know how to register the custom dimension you created in Tag Manager to make it available in those custom reports too.

I guarantee there is no way you are going to want to watch some generic tutorial and try to figure out how to apply all that to your tracking needs.

So, I’m doing that for you and tailoring the tutorials to exactly what you’re wanting to track.

In other words, even if you don’t understand all of the tech, you will be able to follow a “click here, do that” tutorial on your exact site elements.

Tailored to You

So, all the extra research and testing time I’m taking is going to be well worth it.

This is what sets this course apart from all others.

And, all this extra effort to meet your exact needs as a blogger without the brain pain will be reflected in the price of the course.

These are the metrics that make you money.

Great Course for Service Providers

Plus, if you are a webmaster, VA, or SEO, you will be able to offer services to help set this up for your clients too.

In fact, I’ll be opening that service on BlogAid, and I’m thinking about making a side course for folks who want to go even deeper into the advanced stuff so they can offer that service too.

I’m a Newbie, is This Too Much for Me?

My top clients who make a minimum of $10k/mo spend 90% of their time pouring over Google Analytics and Search Console reports and only 10% of their time creating effective content and products based on those metrics.

My clients who are making under $3k/mo are still on the hamster wheel of generating content that they hope catches on. And they only look at the vanity metrics in analytics of their most visited posts. They may look at Search Console a couple of times a year.

The bulk of my clients are somewhere in between those two camps. They’re making a full-time income and they want to see how to make more by improving what they already have and/or creating content and products that they know will do well.

Break Points in the Tutorial Order

I made break points in the order of the GA4 tutorials to fit all 3 of those client types.

If mainly vanity metrics is what you look at, then you’ll be able to see the things you see now in UA, like:

• Top posts
• Acquisition of traffic
• Sessions
• Behavioral flow

But, it’s not a 1-to-1 correspondence in GA4. In fact, things like Behavioral flow are gone. You can recreate it, and I’ll show you how.

So, there is a cutoff point in the course that if you get just this much setup, you can stop.

However, before you do, you’ll see why Behavioral flow leaves out all the good info, and how you can create a custom report that lets you see not only what posts or pages folks started on and left on, but what they did while they were on each one.

Did they:

• Just click on and click off quickly?
• Did they scroll?
• Did they spend any real time on that post?

See what I mean about the limitations of what you’re currently seeing in UA?

So, if you plan to just treat this like an upgrade to UA, you’ll be missing all the real power of it. But, the course is such that you can do that, if you really want to.

That’s all the happenings around here. Let’s get to some reminders for you.

Site Owner Tips

There are a few things that I feel like I say all the time. And I’m surprised when y’all don’t remember them.

But the fact is, I do say them all the time, just to individual people most of those times, and not to y’all as a whole. Or, I say these things during your first site audit, along with a gazillion other tips, and you forget.

So, here are a few reminders for you.

Vet Plugins Deeply Before Installing

Many plugins create extra files, folders, and database tables when you install them.

And even when you delete them, the plugin may no longer be in your list, but they leave all kinds of orphans behind that bloat your site and/or can cause conflicts with new things you install, or even things you already have.

Those orphans constitute the bulk of what we clean out during site audit fixes.

So, please do deeply vet a plugin to see if it is a right fit for your needs before you install it on your site.

Here are tips to help you do that:

• Visit the BlogAid Plugins page and see if what you are looking for is listed there. And you may find a tutorial on how to set it up and use it too.
• If you are a Hubber or Webmaster, ask in our private Facebook group. There may be someone who has tried a plugin I don’t have listed. But do your own leg work first and let us know what plugins you have already vetted.
• Do not email me or put a comment on a blog post asking me about plugins. I’m already giving you tons of free resources. If you want to pick my brain, you can hire me or get into one of my paid support programs for Hubbers and Webmasters.

Keep All Sites Updated 

The number one way sites get hacked is due to lack of updates.

Be sure you do your updates regularly. The day after your weekly backup is a good time.

If you have more than one site, all of them need to be updated. 

That includes those that you’re not currently active on with blogging and such too.

Every site puts all sites on your account at risk.

Check Functions Quarterly 

Every so often you need to ensure functions on your site are working, like your:

• Contact form
• Optin
• Purchase links

Check for Out of Date Info

Check things like your home page and sidebar for seasonal changes or outdated info.

It would be a good idea to check your About page for those things too.

Limit 3rd Party Requests

The big thing I find in audits that slows down sites are all the 3rd party requests coming into it, like:

• Instagram 
• Pinterest
• Reward Style
• Amazon
• Facebook pixel

A decent ad agency will not really slow down the site that much, and by decent, I mean the higher barrier to entry ones like Mediavine.

It’s these 3rd party things that will kill your site speed.

There are ways to do some of them that don’t kill your speed, especially with Reward Style and Amazon. Look into that.

And for the IG and Pinterest things, have a look at the 3 Speed related sections on the BlogAid Helpful Posts page for alternatives.

Theme Tips

I know many of you have a theme revamp on your plate for later this year or next.

Here are some tips and opinions to help you with that.

Trellis

If you’re with Mediavine and thinking about the Trellis theme, just don’t.

Foodie Pro

Just don’t.

Genesis

If you have Genesis and you’re thinking about moving to something that is faster, there is nothing substantially faster. 

Here’s my case study on Astra, Kadence, Genesis, and GeneratePress to prove it.

What is slow is your bloated to hell child theme.

Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water on this.

All 3 of BlogAid’s sites are on Genesis – so my money is where my mouth is on this. In fact, you may recall that I just paid my designer to upgrade the themes on my 2 member sites. And she put BlogAid on a better child theme base just a couple of years ago.

And this is still the preferred framework for lots of business sites and bloggers.

Kadence

The main Kadence dev was never really happy with the idea of having child themes. And he made an exception for one popular designer who was moving away from Genesis to what she thought was faster.

But, Kadence is making it harder to create a child theme these days and they strongly prefer that you do your design on the main framework.

That’s going to get you out of paying for upgrades to your theme to keep compliant with WP core code changes, like what I’m doing with BlogAid themes.

But, it also puts you at risk of your site breaking with WP core updates too. The risk is small with Kadence, but it is there.

And Kadence is going to give you all the design choices you want too.

But, you will want to purchase the Pro version to get everything.

Astra

I thought Astra was the bee’s knees when it first came out.

And the UAG plugin was absolute tops!!!!!

But, over the years, Astra has shown that they are going to be VERY aggressive with being the leader in the space. They even topped WP for the number of theme downloads, and that’s a huge achievement.

But that bleeding edge desire has, all too often, translated into massive breaks when they come out with a major update.

That includes not only the Astra theme, but now the UAG/Spectra plugin.

Me and one of my webmasters have done all we can to work with them, even to the point of insisting they have a real beta program for us to do deep testing.

And I’ve even had to go so far as to put out a public post shaming them for some of their practices before they would even listen to us.

A couple of years ago I had my book site put on Astra when it came time to revamp it, but I very quickly had it converted to Kadence because I could not take the stress of dealing with a potential break every time I did an update. I haven’t had a minute of trouble out of it since the switch to Kadence

Astra has gotten way better about this in the years since.

But, the Astra theme is just not as stable as Kadence, IMO. Nor is the UAG/Spectra plugin as stable as Kadence Blocks.

I’ve got the UAG blocks all over BlogAid, and I have yet to update to Spectra as I still consider it buggy. And I don’t plan to get rid of that plugin and replace it with Kadence blocks anytime soon, if ever.

But, for my new secret project site, it will either be on the Kadence or Genesis theme, and it will use Kadence Blocks plugin.

No more Astra for me.

Astra is prettier and offers a few more design choices, but for me, function trumps fashion and I want stability more than anything.

But, Astra will be the perfect fit for other site owners. And as I said, they have gotten way better with testing.

I know many of you are also on Astra and use the UAG/Spectra plugin – mainly because that’s the one I recommended most. And you purchased the Pro version to get all the styling choices.

And I’m not suggesting you should change anything for your current site.

But, if you start a new site, or you’re coming out of another theme framework like Divi or Elementor or such, seriously consider your theme choice knowing what we know now about the track record of the devs between Astra and Kadence.

Wrap Up

That’s a wrap for this week’s Tips Tuesday.

Thanks for sharing this podcast and post with your blogging buddies, and for leaving comments and reviews too.

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Be sure to visit BlogAid.net for more tips and resources and I’ll see you online.