Using Google Analytics to Detect Website Errors

Web sites sometimes crash without their owners being aware. This can include errors when customers are browsing or checking, which can lead to serious abandonment. Identifying and correcting errors encountered by buyers is essential to maintain conversions.

In this article, I will explain how to use Google Analytics to identify breaks and errors on websites.

Configuration of Reporting

Event Tracking ( Behavior> Events ) in Google Analytics lists website errors, such as:

• 400, 401, 403 and 404 and 500 pages of error;
• Form validation errors.

We processed reports on the error pages, in section ” Localization of 404 with Google Analytics “.

The key is to make sure that the error pages have Google Analytics tracking code so that you can monitor how often they are occurring in Google Analytics.

Form validation errors

Validation errors occur when a form on a page (usually a login, registration, or retrieval) encounters an entry that is not valid or a required field is empty . Examples include:

• Missing e-mail address or incorrect e-mail format;
• Username or password incorrect
• Missing or incorrect shipping or billing address;
• Missing or incorrect telephone number
• The credit card information is missing or incorrectly formatted.
• Payment processing errors.

To detect validation errors, insert the following JavaScript code on the form page:

 ga (send & # 39 ;,
hitType: 'event',
eventCategory: " Website ",
eventAction: "Form validation error",
eventLabel: # {Enter error text here} & # 39;
}); 

Replace {Enter the text of the error here} with the error message displayed on the website.

After JavaScript is inserted, use Google Realtime Reporting in Google Analytics to test it. Deliberately create form errors and then display the reports in real time ( Real-Time> Events ), to confirm the detection.

Use of data

Once you have confirmed in real time, review the actual errors by accessing Behavior> Events> Best Events and filter by the event tag you have used. The label of the event should be the message that users see on the front-end of the site.

• Click on the ” Ecommerce tab ” to report ” Ecommerce conversion rate ” by mistake. Pages that are deeply in the payment process usually have very high conversion rates – almost 100 percent. Thus, conversion rates on error pages that are, say, 80% or 60%, represent a high dropout rate, since conversions would normally be much higher.

• Secondary dimension by ” Page ” If you have multiple payment pages, to identify which pages are experiencing errors. Look for the latest payment pages, such as the checkout page or checkout page. If there are many errors on these pages, examine the root causes and correct them. They could be real problems with the site or just poor communication with buyers, causing them to give up.

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• Secondary dimension by ” Device category ” to determine if errors appear on desktops, tablets, or mobile devices.

Error data in Google Analytics can be very powerful. Use it to identify quick fixes or opportunities to improve communication, which will increase conversions. After several weeks of debugging website errors, add error reports to Google Analytics dashboards or Data Studio reports for daily or weekly viewing.