Ok so we just got access to Google Annotations, after it was released aaaaaages ago – they failed to tell us that it was being rolled out slowly – I’m not sure if those in the United States got it first, but it’s now in the UK.

So, how should we use Google Analytics Annotations, well we’ve been having a think and here are some of our ideas…

Ways to use Google Analytics Annotations

Tracking Changes on the Site

Everytime you make a tweak to the design/page/content, add in an annotation specifying which page and what was done, that way when you notice a change in the performance of the site, or a page you can see why there has been a change.

Explaining Traffic Spikes

Last year we had a few posts that really did well, so you can use these annotations to explain what happened – this is very useful if you have SEO’s working on different accounts and they cover for each other for example.

Explaining Intelligent Reports

Another recent feature of Google Analytics is the Intelligence feature – this highlights higher than normal changes in various metrics such as visits, conversions, bounce rate etc. A good way of using the annotations is to explain these – especially if you have clients logging into the same Google Analytics account.

What not to use Google Analytics Annotations for

Tracking Hangovers

Telling people you secretly hate them