Setting up goals in Yandex.Metrics: sending a form

Setting up goals in Yandex.Metrics is a necessary step when launching an advertising campaign in Yandex.Direct. Accurate goal setting helps you track conversions and effectively set up retargeting. Ignoring an important moment in the formation of an advertising campaign, owners risk missing out on a large part of potential customers and "merge" the entire advertising budget. To avoid failure and improve conversion, tracking goals will help.

What is the counter "Yandex.Metrica" and how to install it on the site

The counter "Yandex.Metrica" is a program code that is embedded in web pages. "Metrics" consists of two parts: a counter and a database. When users perform any actions on the pages of the site (input, clicks, transitions, etc.), the counter code is executed and passes to "Metric" information about the web page and the actions of visitors.

The goal setting in "Yandex.Metrics" begins with the creation, configuration and installation of a counter on the site.

• Open Yandex, register and log in to the account.
• Go to the Metric.
• Click the button "Add counter".
• Enter a friendly name for the counter (for example, store name).
• Specify the address of the site to be installed (or the full path to the page: my_syte.ru or my_site.ru/sale).
• Set the "Timeout" visit (the number of minutes of inactivity on the site before the end of the session.
• For example, 30 minutes are indicated. If the user does nothing for half an hour, the session will end and new actions will be written to another session.
• Accept the user agreement by checking the box and click on "Create counter".

Setting up goals in Yandex.Metrics requires setting the counter code on the site. For this:

• Click "Settings" (gear).
• Select the "Counter Code" tab.
• Check the checkboxes for "Web browser, ..." and "Asynchronous code". There are 8 parameters of the counter code in total. The first analyzes the actions of visitors, the second makes the code "easier".
• Copy the counter code below and add it to the HTML code.

Tip: Set the counter before the closing tag / head on all pages to record all visits to the site. At this stage, the counter has been created, the initial settings have been completed, the code is installed on all pages of the site. Now the activity of visitors will be displayed in the service "Metrics".

Setting goals in Yandex.Metrics

Each advertising campaign should lead the user to a certain result, which is called the goal.

There are two types:

• Conversion - track the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and conversion, help to analyze the activity of the audience on the site.
• Retargeting - help you customize your ad impressions to site visitors who previously performed any activity on it.

The goals for setting up are divided into:

• Simple - assume the implementation of one step, the goal is achieved by one thing, for example by clicking on the button.

• Composite - allow you to create a chain of steps that require consistent execution. With its help, information is gathered about the execution of each step. Such an analysis will help to understand at what point visitors have difficulties.

Setting goals in the "Yandex.Metrics" of a simple type consists of 5 main stages:

• Click the button "Add target".
• Give a clear name for the goal.
• Specify the condition type.
• Set the condition parameter.
• Click Add Target.

The created target will be visible in the panel, where the number, title, description and ID are displayed.

Goal: Number of Views

Such a goal will be achieved when a visitor looks at a specified number of pages. For configuration, add to the "View" condition the number of pages that the guest of the site should look at. Virtually not used in online stores and single-page. However, it can be used to study user behavior.

Goal: visiting pages

The achievement is to go to a specific page (inside the site, from the ad unit, even downloading the file). The goal setting in "Yandex.Metrics" is done by adding a partial or full URL of the page and has several conditions:

• URL: contains. Here part of the address is indicated. The goal is achieved by clicking on the link containing this part.
• URL: matches. You must specify the full address of the page you want to visit in order for the goal to be achieved.
• URL: starts. Only the initial part of the link fits, it is suitable for those cases when a group of pages is tracked, for example, my_site.ru/catalog.
• URL: regular expression. In this case, the address is not the address, but the regular expression containing the URL. For example, it is used for SEO-analytics. Setting up a target in Yandex.Metrics with a regular expression requires careful study, and it's impossible to tell in one paragraph what it is and how to use it correctly.

Visiting pages is one of the most accurate goals that triggers and records a conversion only when the visitor actually went to the page.

Purpose: JavaScript event

Here the goal is to execute the code, for example click on the button, send the request through the form and so on. The complexity of the configuration is that, in addition to creating a goal in Metrics, you need to add the event code to the desired item on the site. In simple words, it looks like this: first the element code triggers the event, which the meter sends to the Metric.

Setting up the goal "Event" in "Yandex.Metrics" is associated with editing the code of the web page. For each element, a new target is created, in which a unique identifier is specified. It is mentioned on the website once in the event code.

The configuration is performed in four steps:

• Add a new JavaScript event target.
• Enter a unique identifier for the goal.
• Save the settings.
• Paste the event code into the HTML of the page that is responsible for the item.

If the event code and the ID are inserted correctly, then after a while the statistics will start to collect.

The most striking example of use is the tracking of buttons, which fixes "Yandex. Metrics". The setting of the "Push Button" goal is carried out according to the general principle.

• Create a JavaScript event target.
• Enter the Click target ID.
• Open the HTML of the page where the button is located.
• Find the code responsible for triggering the button.
• Add the event code there:

Composite goal

When configuring a compound goal, you can create from 1 to 5 steps, which helps to track the specific path of the site visitor. For example, you can consider the passage from the catalog to the product card:

• Create a composite goal.
• Enter the name of the first step ("Catalog").
• Specify the condition - URL: contains - and enter the / Catalog link.
• Click "Add Step" and enter the name of the next step ("Category").
• Specify the URL condition.
• Repeat the steps for the third step of the "Product" and click the "Publish" button.

Setting goals in Yandex.Metrics for a single page

The main task of Lending is to increase the conversion and increase traffic. Here it is necessary to track any actions of visitors on the site: entry, viewing, clicking on buttons, sending an application, so it's important to set up goals in Yandex.Metrics. "Sending a form" is the main goal for a single page, so it should be considered in detail.

• Create a target with a condition type JavaScript event.
• Specify the unique identifier "ANKETA".
• Add the onsubmit event to the page code that is responsible for submitting the form:

Tracking "Yandex.Metrica" through Google Tag Manager

To use all available promotion tools and analytics it is convenient when they are located in one place. Therefore, it is worth considering how the goals are set up in Yandex.Metrics via GTM.

The first step is to add the counter code to GTM:

• Open GTM, go to "Tags" and click "Create".
• At the top fill the title, and at the bottom select the "Custom HTML tag".
• In the HTML field, paste the copied code of the "Yandex.Metrica" counter.
• In the "Activation Terms" select "All Pages".
• Click the Publish button.

At this stage, the configuration of the code "Yandex.Metrica" using Google Tag Manager is completed. Now you need to configure the fixation of events on the pages of the site and the transfer of data to the Metric.

For example, configure the commit for submitting the form:

• Create an additional tag, specify the type "Custom HTML tag".
• In the HTML field, enter the code:

• In the activation conditions, specify the "Form" trigger.
• In the trigger settings, specify the conditions that correspond to the parameters on the site.
• Click the Publish button.

Using the capabilities of Google Tag Manager allows you to customize the purpose of the "Event" without making changes to the source code of the pages. This is a safer way. It is convenient when the source code of the site is inaccessible.

The result

Setting goals in Yandex.Metrica requires an understanding of what exactly the goals are being pursued by the site and what statistics are needed. It helps to monitor the effectiveness of advertising, it is easier to control the budget with it. In addition, the setting displays which campaigns should be invested and which increase the conversion. A visual demonstration of the indicators in the reports generates a clear picture of the user behavior. Goals in Metric can be used to set up retargeting in Yandex.Direct. This will increase the conversion with the already prepared visitors and increase the brand recognition.