I’ve worked in Digital since 2008, working at both agency and in-house roles across several areas, giving me a well-rounded set of skills.
Web Analytics
I’ve used Google Analytics throughout my career, from Web Developer to Senior Analytics Consultant.
As an in-house Web Developer / Internet Marketer I used Google Analytics to track user acquisition and behaviour across dozens of multi-lingual end user websites. These GA properties were also used to optimise our marketing campaigns (of which I managed our PPC campaigns).
In my current role of Senior Analytics Consultant I regularly audit, troubleshoot and implement Google Analytics tracking for clients over a large range of sectors.
Paid Search
I’ve directly managed millions of pounds of marketing spend through Google AdWords and BingAds across companies in the Mobility, Fashion and Pet sectors. These clients were challenging but rewarding due to their large account sizes that were often global and with a large inventory of products.
I am involved with the strategy and structure of Google Shopping (having written tools to specifically help with structuring campaigns), as well as helping clients set up Google Merchant Centre and assist their developers to build their product feeds in-house.
And since AdWords scripts first came to AdWords (BingAds – please catch up) I’ve used my programming skills to create various scripts such as:
- Updating ad copy and ad group status through querying client API’s and Final URL scraping
- Shopping product group structure builder (Which was useful when you couldn’t import new Shopping product groups through AdWords Editor!)
- Daily data exports (including AdWords conversions by name and from Google Analytics) that pushed data to either a Google Sheet or posted to a client API
- Processing recent AdWords performance data for anomalous performance
CRM Integration & Online to Offline Tracking
During my time as an in-house web developer / internet marketer i was responsible for building, maintaining and improving a server side visitor tracking script. This involved a PHP script which ran on every page-load of the end user website that looked at referral and url tagging to determine what traffic source drove the visit. This was passed through to our internal CRM software, allowing us to tie various lead state changes (e.g. qualified lead, sale) back to the user’s touchpoints. This in-turn drove more effective optimisation throughout the various digital marketing campaigns.
As a Senior Analytics Consultant I’ve assisted companies in linking up their Google Analytics data to their CRM software. This involves capturing the Google Analytics Client Id when a user submits a form on your website and storing it in their CRM. This client ID can be used when pushing data back into Google Analytics when lead states change. Ive also assisted in helping clients push data into google analytics so they’re able to better segment data and gain insight.
Tag Management
I have implemented tag manager solutions (e.g. Google Tag Manager) for several companies. The process involves migrating existing tags (Google Analytics, Google AdWords, display tags, Social, etc) into the tag management platform.
To help streamline the management of tags further I use naming conventions and features such as lookup tables and custom client-specific JavaScript to reduce the number of tags, triggers and variables.
And where the triggers in the tag management platform hasn’t been sufficient I’ve also written bespoke JavaScript to elegantly solve the problem.
Web Development
During my role as an in-house web developer i was responsible for our global multi lingual websites that used PHP, MySQL, HTML and CSS. To reduce the number of code bases the sites were running mostly off the same set of files which looked at the current hostname and language settings and returned content and language appropriate to the user. When mobile growth started to pick up i updated the site’s CSS and HTML to be responsive to the users device, which improved conversion rate.
There were also other sites that were separate from the core business which I rebuilt and maintained. And one suite i used the MVC framework Code Igniter (Which at the time was a good choice) to build.
Throughout my time agency side I’ve used various Web technologies to solve problems, create processes and save time. Most code I’ve written in this role has been JavaScript, in AdWords scripts, Google apps script. Some of the scripts did:
- Daily email scanning for specific data files, processing the data and pushing it to a Google Sheet
- Regular emailing of Google Sheets
When AdWords and Google apps script weren’t appropriate I used PHP.
- Processing data feeds to create Google Merchant Centre compliant product feeds. This also uploaded the processed feed to the GMC.
- A dummy e-commerce website for training sessions on implementing Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics
- Scraping landing pages used in PPC campaigns, counting offers on a page. The information was then used to update ad copy offers
- Using the Analytics API to pull reports and settings for audits