If you're making mistakes in Google Analytics, don't beat yourself up. Seasoned SEO experts make mistakes too. The good news is that they are easy to spot and solve. Overreporting may be caused by duplicate tags, for example. You might not be tracking conversions or clicks correctly if you have the wrong event or target tracking set up. You may be losing out on which forms of traffic are successfully being directed to your website if you don't recognize individual traffic categories.

In this column, we'll go through 7 of the most popular Google Analytics mistakes, as well as how to spot and correct them.

1. The Use of Several Google Analytics Tracking Codes

You can over-report your data if you have multiple instances of Google Analytics tracking code. Over-reporting can lead to erroneous evaluations of your site's true Google Analytics results. Since you use this data to make decisions, having incorrect data will cause your whole plan to fail.

2. Not Keeping Track of the Correct Event Clicks

You won't get reliable performance data unless you monitor the correct event clicks. Let's say your users click call button B, which is located further down the page than call button A. On the other hand, you're including tracking code on call button C. You're missing the mark on both call buttons A and B, and as a result, you're missing out on a lot of conversions.

3. Not Filtering Out Your Own Company Traffic

You've just started working on a client's website, and traffic is steadily increasing. Is this a sign that you're doing a good job with SEO?

Just wait a moment. Investigate the company's IP address by digging deeper into Google Analytics. You can block traffic from your own IP address from Google Analytics if you see it. Inflated visits from your own IP result in more erroneous results.

4. Not Tracking External Sources of Traffic With UTM Tags

Certain types of advertisement campaigns, such as those on third-party sites like Facebook and Twitter, benefit from the use of UTM tags for monitoring. UTM tags can also be used on advertisements and television commercials (it may be less effective but can be done). How would you guarantee the accuracy of your traffic reporting if you don't ensure the right UTM tags are placed on your ads?

5. Not Being Mindful of Your Parameter URLs

Parameter URLs are fine before they are bombarded with traffic and become a nuisance. Due to the high volume of traffic, reports can be hundreds of pages long. Filter out those parameter URLs from your Google Analytics reports if you know they shouldn't be monitored. You will increase the accuracy of your monitoring and build better attribution models for your search traffic by filtering out parameter URLs where they make sense.

6. Ignoring Individual Sources of Traffic

You're tuning out vital chunk of decision-making data when you neglect individual sources of traffic. For example, if you only look at the surface-level reports (in all versions of GA under version 4.0) under Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels, you’re reporting on all of the channels that Google Analytics reports on. But if you drill down further (for example, into organic search as opposed to direct or social) you can see performance as it relates to organic search traffic. This is a fantastic way to see how your site is doing and whether your SEO expert and you are on the same page.

If you need any help with these contact your local SEO company.