Self Assessment

Website data strategy inventory

Step 1 of 4

25%

Documenting your data resources will help you move forward with confidence

The first step to determining the future of your analytics capability is to ensure continuity of your data operations by creating an inventory of what you have, what you use, and your capacity to continue operating what comes next. This self-service website data strategy inventory will ask you about technical and business aspects of your data. Once submitted, your entries will be shared with you via email and will serve as evaluation criteria for your decision, as requirements for the implementation process of your next analytics system, and as a data strategy reference guide for your organization over the long term.

This inventory is designed to help you catalog everything you have setup, configured, and put in practice that is based on your website analytics system. Having this documented is a crucial step to understanding and managing the impacts of an analytics system migration.

Email(Required)

By providing your email address above, we will be able to send you a summary of what you enter into this form. This rudimentary inventory should be a touchstone and requirements documentation that you will use through the rest of this process and any subsequent project you undertake to replace your Google Analytics, whether you do so internally or with outside assistance.

Google Analytics technical checklist

Answer the following questions to the best of your ability.

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being Not Confident and 5 being Very Confident, how confident do you feel in your understanding of the TECHNICAL setup of your analytics?(Required)

Feel free to come back to this after you review the questions that follow.

What's special about your analytics?

Using GTM to manage your GA install?

Yes

I don't know

Multiple sites included in GA?

Yes

I don't know

On-site search data configured correctly?

Yes

I don't know

Ecommerce data collecting?

Yes

I don't know

*GA events" (e.g. downloads, scroll) collecting?

Yes

I don't know

*Custom dimensions/content groupings?

Yes

I don't know

UTMs employed on inbound web traffic?

Yes

I don't know

If you answered yes to GA Events, what custom user interactions are you tracking, or do you wish you could track?

GA4 makes it relatively easy to add a few common interactions, such as file downloads, but if you have any that are unique to your website, such as interactive content or unique calls-to-action, you will need to plan for this as you migrate.

If you answered yes to custom dimension/content groupings, what context about your data are you gathering with these, or do you wish?

GA4 removes a lot of content data you may have been accustomed to, but if you have any unique concepts you organize your numbers around, such as "topic" or "department", you will need to reconfigure this no matter what system you move to.

Is there anything else unique or sophisticated about your analytics setup that will need to be addressed in your next system?

The role of GA in the organization

In addition to owning Google Analytics as a platform, it is essential for your team to feel ownership of the DATA that comes out of the platform. How you use that data, and what down-stream impacts it has on strategy, tactics, decision-making, and the demonstration of impact are crucial to the success of "web analytics" overall.

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being Not Confident and 5 being Very Confident, How confident do you feel in your understanding of how the organization USES your Google Analytics data?(Required)

Feel free to come back to this after you review the questions that follow.

List any tangible reports, dashboards, or other internal outputs that include website data

Having this list will help you pinpoint what will be affected by a disruption in data process. This may include dashboards, such as content highlights, ad hoc campaign performance analyses, or recurring reports like quarterly departmental or annual board reporting.

What meetings, processes, or other habits do you and your team have that include website data?

Look at your calendar and ask: "When do we work with data?" This may include meetings, such as an editorial meeting, or processes, such as project planning, where some stakeholder might ask "How has previous content like this performed?" or some similar question about audience website behaviors

Who in the organization benefits from having website data?

Understanding who benefits and how will help you keep track of what the impact may be of losing access, and help you prioritize requirements for your replacement system

Who is the owner of the following technical responsibilities of web analytics?

Strategy, requirements & documentation(Required)

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Basic setup

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Advanced configuration(Required)

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Maintenance/Troubleshooting

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Reporting/Dashboard building(Required)

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Data analysis

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Data lifecycle management

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

Integrations

Colleague

Vendor

No one/I don't know

For any row above where you marked "colleague" or "vendor" list who these people are

This will be an important set of people to coordinate and follow up with as they will need to be informed or involved in the transition

The last word

Any final reflections on your website analytics setup and data processes?

Is there anyone else in your organization you would want to complete this form?

When the time comes to make a final decision, who from your organization will need to be involved, and what will they need to see to inform the choice?

Analytics Audit

Not sure how to answer these questions? Have a big team involved in your data operations, and looking for change management support? Our analytics audits provide facilitated in-depth assessment, expanding on the principles of this self-assessment. Contact us to discuss how we can help.

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