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Digital Marketing Experts Discuss 2023 Higher Ed Web Trends During Candid Fireside Chat

March 27, 2023

Learn about some of 2023's top digital marketing trends for higher education in this recap of a one-time-only chat between industry leaders.

Better Insights, Better ROI: GA4 Revolutionizes Digital Analytics

November 10, 2020

GA4 is here and it's going to vastly improve how you measure your digital marketing impact. Find out how Beacon can help you utilize this powerful, new tool.

If Beacon Was A Basketball Team...

March 12, 2020

Take point with Beacon's all-encompassing managed internet solutions. Learn how Beacon's robust services cover all the bases to get your business forward.

User Engagement Analysis: Higher Ed Recruitment Made Smarter

June 14, 2019

Congratulations from the Beacon team on completing another busy academic year!

Get More Students On Campus with Tailored Homepage Content

April 4, 2019

Spring is a popular time for campus visits. In April, campuses everywhere swell with high school upperclassmen, parents in tow, taking part in information sessions and embarking on campus tours. It's an exciting time, filled with intrigue and possibilities.

Could Your Higher Ed Website Stand to Lose Some Weight?

January 15, 2019

Is your higher ed website weighed down with too much old, under-performing content? January is the perfect time to prune outdated content. Find out how.

Google Analytics: Insights That Help Drive Web Design

July 27, 2018

A quick confession. Here at Beacon, we love Google Analytics. We’re data hounds. Whenever possible, we rely on insights gained from data analysis to justify website development decisions. Indeed, a lot of higher ed website redesigns benefit from taking heed of current usage patterns and audience attributes.

GDPR: What Is It? Does It Apply To Me? And So What?

July 19, 2018

If you work in digital marketing, you probably couldn’t help but notice the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) mania sweeping the internet earlier this year. Indeed, before the new regulations became enforceable in May 2018, there was breathless anticipation and countless “What You Need To Know” blog posts promising the low-down on all the important compliance implications.

Google Analytics: Understanding Your Audience

July 17, 2018

The competition for students in higher education is fierce. With so many excellent options for undergraduate and graduate studies, colleges and universities spend a considerable amount of time and resources recruiting prospective students.

Redesign Tips: Make Sure Google Analytics is in Tip-Top Shape!

August 3, 2017

Google Analytics needs to be addressed from the earliest planning phase of your redesign project. Here's 5 tips to ensure you don't lose valuable data.

19 Engagements on an eCommerce Site You Should be Tracking

June 19, 2017

Do you have an eCommerce site and need to know what GA tracking to implement? Here is a list of 19 engagement areas you should be tracking.

Going Into a Redesign: How Google Analytics Reports Can Help

June 15, 2017

You need context to get the most out of any website redesign. For websites undergoing a redesign, Google Analytics should be required reading.

New Variable Configuration in Tag Manager

June 12, 2017

Learn about the new Variable Configuration in Tag Manager called Google Analytics Settings. This variable will keep you from forgetting important settings in each of your tags!

Don’t Forget about Google Analytics when Redesigning Your Website

June 6, 2017

Don't make the big mistake of leaving Google Analytics tracking code migration off your redesign task list. Find out why in this post.

Wake Forest MSBA & Beacon – A Successful First Year

May 5, 2017

Beacon's Digital Marketing Team taught the Digital Marketing Analytics graduate level class for Wake Forest University's MSBA (MS in Business Analytics) class this spring.

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WFU Selects Beacon to Teach Graduate Level Analytics Course

April 21, 2017

Last year, when I discovered that Wake Forest’s Business School was starting a Master’s Program in Business Analytics (MSBA), I had to see how I could hel…

Google Analytics Event Tracking Tutorial

March 29, 2017

Beacon shows you how you can track content interactions on your website by using event tracking and setting up goal conversions in Google Analytics.

Using Google Analytics to Identify Prospective Students with Custom Dimensions

March 23, 2017

Beacon's Gus Kroustalis walks you through ways you can identify and track prospective students by using Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics.

Google Analytics Most Underused Report – Network Visits

October 19, 2016

Assuming your familiar with Google Analytics, then you know that GA has many valuable reports and lots of great information related to your website. At the basic level you can get sessions, pageviews, bounce rates and more.

Dig Deeper into your Data with Advanced Segments

September 1, 2016

I love Google Analytics. I love that you’re able to easily dig deep into data to discover hidden secrets about your website that might not be obvious with the basic reports in GA. In order to do this deeper analysis, you’ve got to use advanced segments. It can be scary at first for the average GA user, but once you start using them you discover how powerful they can be and the greater insights you can get from your data.

How To Use Annotations in Google Analytics

August 23, 2016

Picture this: you’re checking out your website data in Google Analytics, and decide to look at your monthly traffic year-over-year.

Benefits of Upgrading to Universal Analytics

August 19, 2016

Yes, Google Analytics announced their Universal version way back in 2012. It made sense to hold off on upgrading back then so that many eventual bugs could be worked through. I occasionally come across websites that have yet to upgrade. If your website is still using the Async version, it is time to upgrade to Universal Analytics. Here are some of the benefits that are waiting:

eCommerce Analysis: Using Google Analytics to Identify Your Whales and Minnows

August 12, 2016

If you manage an eCommerce site, you probably spend a lot of time in Google Analytics. There’s a ton of great metrics and reports to check out, like mutli-channel attribution, average order values by channel, eComm conversion rates, and so on. You’ve probably even segmented data by demographic, device type, or geography. All of this is great, high-five yourself if you’re doing these things because you’re probably a few steps ahead of your competition. But have you ever segmented by transaction dollar amount?

Four Ways that a Google Analytics Session Could Break

April 13, 2016

An issue that I come across occasionally is a lack of session continuity. This means that a visitor’s session on your website is split into two or more website sessions. When this happens, your website session totals, site usage metrics, and traffic source attribution are all filled with incorrect data.

Two Reasons for Missing Transactions in Google Analytics

March 3, 2016

How closely have you looked at your transaction data in Google Analytics? Have you seen where sometimes there are missing transactions in GA?

How to find Bot traffic and segment it out in Google Analytics

February 1, 2016

Recently, I had a client come to me with this question (and mind you, we don’t manage Google Analytics for them.

How to Set up a Custom Report for eComm Conversion Rate per User

January 20, 2016

I love analytics and all the information that can be extracted from the data. I happen to work with quite a few ecommerce clients and we are always looking for ways to improve online revenue. Each month we comb through the data and most of the time are always concentrating on revenue and eCommerce conversion rate. While this metric is great, I feel like it doesn’t provide enough insight into the users of the site.

How to Track Adwords Sitelink Extensions

September 14, 2015

Do you use sitelink extensions in your Google Adwords Account? If so, how do you track how they are doing in Google Analytics? Did you know they are not automatically tagged like ads are and therefore in order to see their performance in GA, you have to do a couple things different with them?

Google Analytics Goal Conversion and eCommerce Transaction Counting

September 8, 2015

Did you know that goal conversions and eCommerce transactions are counted differently in Google Analytics?

Why Should I Put UTM Tags on 301 Redirects?

August 19, 2015

So you probably just did a search for something like 'Why Should I Put UTM Tags on 301 Redirects?' Awesome, you're being proactive and realized that you're missing out on data and attribution. This is a practice I've been using for about a year now, there are many applications for tagging redirect URLs with UTMs and I'll address a few of them here. The Cliffs Notes version though is this: UTMs on the resolving URL of a 301 redirect give you better attribution in Google Analytics, and help you identify 301 redirects that are no longer need and could be slowing down your site.

Avoiding Google Analytics Tracking Issues

August 13, 2015

I love that Google Analytics provides out-of-the-box tracking code when setting up a new property. It helps marketers plug & play for a quick turnaround. Unfortunately, this convenient feature can give you the false sense of reliable data. Just because data is populating your Google Analytics reports does not mean that the data is accurate and reliable.

Basic Google Analytics Setup Checklist: A PDF Document

July 16, 2015

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for tracking your digital marketing performance. So powerful and versatile, in fact, that knowing the main important things to focus on during a basic setup can be challenging. And doing a search for “basic GA setup” yields pages of basic setup “checklists” that are more guides than lists. Well, fret no more! Shared below is a basic checklist (yes, an actual list you can “check”) that you can use during a basic setup or audit to ensure that you have all the important bases covered in your Google Analytics account.

How to Check Goal Conversions are Set Up Correctly in GA

January 20, 2015

I absolutely love that Google Analytics has the Real-Time Reporting section that allows you to see many different options in “real time.” Now, when you are testing out new goals you’ve set up, to make sure they show up correctly in GA, you don’t have to wait a few hours to see the data. It will populate in real time while you’re on the site clicking, which is very convenient – don’t you think?! I use this feature every time I set up a new goal to test it works correctly.

retailers-how-will-your-online-marketing-impact-in-store-sales-this-holiday-shopping-season

September 23, 2014

Install GAFUSIONTM and you’ll know. It’s very simple and affordable to setup with absolutely no long-term obligation. No fees until you see the results after the holidays. But it’s extremely important to install it soon.

Great Google Analytics Dashboard Shortcuts

April 30, 2014

If you are like most people who are new to Google Analytics, you have not yet broken the surface of possibilities that Google’s dashboards can provide. Google Analytics can help shine light on your website’s traffic sources, seasonality, Google AdWords spend and revenue, social media impact and user behavior. The most difficult art about Google Analytics can be sifting through the mountains of information and metrics and gleaning important trends and risk factors that help your business adapt and grow.

How to Track Offline Activity with Google Analytics

April 30, 2014

Customer life-cycles often have multiple components to them – both online and offline. They may start with a phone call and end the buying cycle with a purchase at a bricks and mortar location. Unfortunately, folks don’t have chips embedded in them, scanned automatically upon purchase and referencing them by Google Analytics User ID (Don’t worry. If there is anything we know about Google, this cannot be far behind).

The reality of Universal Analytics Tracking Offline Conversions:

April 22, 2014

By now you’ve heard the hype that Universal Analytics was designed to track users and all their interaction including offline conversions. While Universal Analytics does provide additional measurement capabilities, it is important to understand what those are and what the challenges are with implementing these.

Measuring Offline Data in Google Analytics

March 21, 2014

Many businesses with revenue channels other than just their website struggle to attribute the value of their online marketing efforts to the revenue produced through these other channels. Tying your offline data or conversions such as transactions through a call center or through a brick and mortar retail location back to digital marketing efforts has historically been extremely difficult and didn’t produce great data or methods to analyze the data. GA Fusion was designed to help solve this challenge. We’ve built a centralized conversion database that acts as middleware to connect your offline conversions to your online marketing efforts using Google Analytics as the measurement and reporting platform.

Update: Can Google Data Be Used To Predict Stock Values

April 24, 2013

Here is an interesting update to my article that used Google data and behavioral search analysis to predict that Ford stock would surge. The USA Today …

Increase Consumer Confidence on your E-Commerce Website

July 17, 2012

I enjoyed the following article "Inside Forbes: 'Aha Moments' From Our New Home Page" this week and thought I'd share a few thoughts/observations:

9 Basic Google Analytic Terms You Should Know

June 8, 2012

After a few client meetings, I realized that some of our clients don't know the basic "GA lingo" that we use in our reports. It seemed like I was having to explain certain terms over and over, which to me seemed odd but then again I do this for a living so I'm supposed to know them.

Solving Problems -- Puzzle vs. Mystery

May 2, 2012

Information workers are used to solving problems. Approaches can vary to determine a viable solution and can be bound by many constraints.

Los Alamos National Labs’ Bradbury Science Museum Website Launch

March 25, 2012

Just wanted to announce the successful completion of a new web site design for the Los Alamos National Labs’ Bradbury Science Museum… The client will be developing the site internally, but they are very pleased (see below) with the design that Wendy came up with! You can take a sneak peak here, if interested:

What Web Metrics are Important to Track

January 13, 2012

Clients often ask us what metrics they should be tracking. The answer to this question is simple. Review and track the metrics that are most important to your business. If you have an E commerce website, you should be measuring harder conversions such as sales, revenue, profit, etc.

Mobile Testing: "It has to work on HOW many devices?"

January 6, 2012

One of the many competencies here at Beacon that we take pride in is cross-browser compliance: ensuring that a site looks the same in all of the mainstream browsers. This task is not for the faint of heart: there are nine browsers that we support across two operating systems.

Google Analytics Event Tracking in a Template File

November 11, 2011

Ever had an issue where you want to track unique events (or virtual pageviews) within Google Analytics from a template file? For example, on an e-commerce site, you may have a series of product pages that use the same 'add to cart' button from either an include file or some kind of reusable wrapper.

Web Analytics, Privacy, and Beer

October 10, 2011

I am going to play the devil’s advocate here with relation to privacy and analytics. After all, I am a marketer and my goal as a marketer is to sell the most products or generate the most leads possible. The future of marketing is going to be understanding the user and being able to deliver the best message or promotional offer to a specific user for the specific product he/she needs at the specific time they need at the right price.

We Recommend Topsy

July 19, 2011

Founded in 2006, Topsy is a real-time search feature for the social web, and if you aren’t using it already to see what is going on with your business or areas of interest, we strongly recommend that you do.

Understanding the GA Tracking Custom Variables

June 6, 2011

School may be out for the summer, but it is back to the basics this week for our Beacon blog! Since many of our customers are unfamiliar with all of the tracking capabilities Google Analytics provides, I thought it would be a good idea to differentiate the tracking custom variable options.

The Goal Match Type Options for Google Analytics

March 15, 2011

If you have been confidently and accurately tracking goals within Google Analytics consider this post review. However, due to the large number of questions our firm receives from companies in the area, I thought it would be a good idea to have this in our company blog.

Switching to orange means more green

January 17, 2011

Quick Disclosure: As the latest addition to the Beacon team, the last two weeks have been spent adapting to all the things that come with starting out with a new company. I’m really excited about my role as an Account Executive and I look forward to digging in and being a productive part of the team. With that said, I must admit that having to contribute to the Beacon blog has caused me some anxiety as I have never wrote a “professional” blog post before, so please show mercy…

Web Marketing Is As Easy As Riding A Bike

December 8, 2010

Allow me to explain… I am a very data driven person and happen to be an avid cyclist over the past several months. I bought a road bike towards the end of the summer and since my very first ride I have been keeping statistics such as length of ride, time of ride, average speed, whether it was a group ride or solo, and even the temperature and style of ride.

How to Sell, Plan, and Measure Social Media to the Non-Believers

November 19, 2010

If you are trying to convince your boss or clients to jump aboard the social media train, you need to present the metrics first and foremost. Who cares what everyone else is doing?

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