Reporting insights from Google Analytics
Note: This article references Google Universal Analytics which was sunset in June, 2023.
Olark’s Google Analytics integration provides additional reporting insights for managers. Here are just a few of the many questions that Google Analytics can help you answer:
- How busy is chat right now?
- What % of visitors chat with us?
- Where (on which pages) do visitors start chatting with us?
- What types of visitors chat with us?
How busy is chat right now?
If your organization has multiple agents chatting at the same time, Google Analytics can tell you how many chat conversations are going on in real-time.
- In the left-hand menu select Real-Time > Events
- In the search box on the right, enter in Olark_Chat. You’ll be able to see how many conversations are happening on your site, as well as other chat-related events:
- Operator_Sent_a_Message
- Visitor_Sent_a_Message
- Conversation
- Visitor_Sent_an_Offline_Message
- Olark_Targeted_Chat_Sent_a_Message
A “Conversation” here is defined as a chat where both the visitor and agent have sent at least one message to each other OR where the visitor has replied to an Automation rule.
As a manager, use this information to make adjustments if you see that chat volume is too high or too low, relative to the number of agents who are currently online to chat.
What % of visitors chat with us?
To calculate this percentage, find the total number of chats you got in a given date range, and divide that by the total number of users (visitors) in the same period.
- Before you do anything, choose the time period you want to look at, using the date range selector in the top right of the reporting interface. For this example we’ll use Google Analytic’s default date range, which is the past 30 days.
- To find the total number of chat conversations during that time, select Behavior > Events > Top Events in the left-hand menu.
- Right above the data table, click the Event Action link for your Primary Dimension, and then click on the advanced link next to the search box. In the empty field (after “Include | Event Action | Containing”) enter in Conversation and then click Apply at the bottom. In this example, we had 1,671 total chats during our date range (past 30 days).
- To find the total number of visitors that came to your site, go to Audience > Overview and then take note of the number of Users.
- Divide the total number of chats from Step 3 above, and divide it by the total number of Users who came to your site during that time from Step 4 above.
In this example, we had 1,671 conversations in a 30-day span, and divided by 73,272 users that means 2.28% of our site’s visitors chatted in that time. Based on our analysis, for most Olark-using businesses this figure is between 0.5% to 2.5%** of visitors, but your results may vary.
One way to increase this number is by adding click to chat links to key pages, as explained in this guide: Adding a click-to-chat link. Your results may vary, but we’ve seen some Olark customers raise their % of visitors chatting to as high as 8-12% using this method.
Where (on which pages) do visitors start chatting with us?
By knowing which pages generate the most chats, you can make the right changes to increase sales leads and reduce support queries.
- In the left-hand menu select Behavior > Events > Pages.
- In the data table at the bottom, click on the Secondary Dimension dropdown and click on Event Action (under Behavior).
- Click on the advanced link next to the search box, and in the empty field (after “Include | Event Action | Containing”) enter in Conversation and then click the Apply button at the bottom.
For sales pages generating too few chats, try sending automated proactive messages to customers with an Automation rule.
For support pages generating too many chats, try modifying the content of the page so that the information that customers need is already on the page and easy to find.
What types of visitors chat with us?
By better understanding who your “core chatting visitor” is, you can optimize your site to better target those those people.
- In the left-hand menu select Behavior > Events > Top Events
- Right above the data table, click the Event Action link for your Primary Dimension
- Click on the advanced link next to the search box, and in the empty field (after “Include | Event Action | Containing”) enter in Conversation and then click the Apply button at the bottom.
- Click on the Secondary Dimension dropdown, and choose an item under Users. For example:
- Select Country to see a % breakdown of what countries your chatting visitors are from.
- Select Device Category to see what % of your visitors chat from Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet.
- Select Browser to see what browser types (Chrome, Safari, etc.) chatting visitors are using.
...and so on! Try out different secondary dimensions to understand exactly what kind of visitors tend to chat with you the most (and least), and use this insight to optimize your site accordingly.