If a client was ever to say to us that they were willing only to invest in one area related to the ongoing upkeep of their digital presence (beyond its technical maintenance) it would be reporting. This is because it unlocks so many doors as to understanding your website and therefore understanding where exactly future investment would be best served.

However, we’ve also in our time seen how reporting can be, put simply, done wrong. Inaccurate or uninformed reporting can lead to the exact opposite of what was mentioned above in seeing funds wasted in areas either which have no need or no hope of success.

One of the leading causes of this issue is a preoccupation with what are called ‘vanity metrics’. The name gives a clue as to what they entail; metrics which look and sound important but can actually give no deeper insight or bear any relation on their own to how your business is actually performing beyond a surface level.

We have gathered some of these metrics together which hopefully will give you food for thought on their usage in your own reports and how they should be considered;

Sessions - This seems like it should be one of the founding elements of any report and indeed it should be, but crucially sessions on their own should rarely be the defining factor of the success of your website. Sessions may go up and down throughout the year but how do they relate to your KPIs and can you determine trends from these movements? That’s where the real value lies.

Bounce Rate - A term which is often claimed as a ‘buzzword’ when it comes to reporting but on many occasions has no bearing as to the performance of a website. Of course you want a user to be engaged with your site, so a user immediately leaving a website with no onward action seems like bad news, but there are instances where this may be misleading. As an example, for an informational site a user lands on a page from a Google search where their questions are satisfactorily answered and they have no need to visit further pages of the site. This would in fact be a success for that site but also registered as a bounce at the same time. For this also see ‘average engagement time/session duration’ and ‘average pages viewed/views per session’ which have similar caveats, all grouped as ‘user engagement’ metrics.

Impressions - Now we would caveat this by saying that of course if the goal of your website/campaign is to drive brand awareness then yes, impressions would indeed be an important standalone metric. However, for a website designed for a user to actually engage with it in some form (i.e. lead, sale etc), impressions on their own should not be seen as a barometer of success. In much the same way as sessions, they can sometimes blind you to the ‘quality’ of the traffic you are attracting to the site in the search for ‘quantity’. Yes you have eyes on the site/brand, but who’s eyes?

Cost Per Click - A paid advertising specific example for you here and, in truth, there’s lots of examples we could take from this traffic source - clicks, clickthrough rate, impression share. But we thought we’d highlight cost per click because it has the word ‘cost’ in it which always draws attention. Although monitoring cost per click is important as part of a holistic PPC reporting strategy it must always tie into your KPI. Sometimes that converting traffic is unfortunately always going to cost you that bit more!

Average Position - “I can get you to number 1 in Google?” has been the most common refrain from a large number of different digital marketing organisations over the years. To which the answer should really be “Yeah, but for what?”. It’s crucial that the terms/queries you’re seeking to rank well for are for traffic which has a high level of ‘intent’ behind it - whether that’s an intent to book, buy or even just browse, if that’s what your website goals are. Also more specifically it’s important to note the Average Position metric you can find in Google Search Console includes all search queries picked up by the tool. So ironically you could be ranking for more terms (and still maintaining or even improving rankings for key terms) while your average position dips because those new terms you are ranking for in positions 72, 84 & 93 (etc) are dragging your average down.

Now what we’d never want to do is tell you to ignore these metrics, it’s important to be aware of them and monitor (where appropriate) as part of a holistic reporting strategy. The key aspect here is that these metrics on their own in the majority of instances will not give you a reliable indicator as to the performance of your website. 

So by chasing your tail in seeking to improve a metric or resting on your laurels with a metric riding high, you may be missing the bigger picture.

Where these ‘vanity’ metrics come into their own is when you do see issues with your KPI activity - can you determine any relationship between the trendlines of these metrics with your KPIs? As an example if conversions have gone down at the same time as sessions you may be looking at an acquisition issue or if bounce rate has increased you could be looking at a user engagement or UX/UI issue. These metrics will make triage of your wider performance problems that much easier.

If you’ve been looking for a helping hand with sorting your KPIs from your ‘vanity metrics’ as you seek to establish a tried and trusted reporting strategy for your digital presence, drop us a line or @ us on our socials.

We’ve often said at CORE that reporting should be the cornerstone of any ‘digital marketing’ activity.

With the rise of AI (or perhaps ‘machine learning’ as it more correctly could be termed as) as an ever increasing feature of the digital landscape, its introduction into the very tools we use to market in this environment has been an inevitability. So is it the time to go ‘all in’ on AI in paid advertising or is there some way to go yet before we hand over the keys to our keen digital friend?

What inspired us to really sit down and get down in words what we’ve been discussing for some time around the water cooler was the revelation that ‘broad match’ keywords have become the default for new search campaigns across Google Ads - however, there are dozens of examples we could have picked as the spark to ignite a discussion. The launch of Performance Max campaigns in November 2021? Responsive Search Ads in July 2018? Looking a bit further back we’re actually not too far off the ten year anniversary of the introduction of Smart Bidding even.

A common thread which runs through each of the above is the lessening of the control afforded to campaign managers in favour of the platform itself running the ads. And if you were following the recent antitrust trial brought against Google over the last year or so you might be minded to think that was not such a fantastic thing.

It’s important to emphasise at this point this is definitely not just a ‘Google thing’, it’s a staple of the setup for all major advertising platforms. Only recently we were tasked with an audit of an existing Meta Ads account for a British-based holiday company which had an ad running with the music of Tarantella Napoletana (a classic Italian folk song) overlaying it. A curious choice indeed. The cause of which was the toggle switched on for the AI-driven ‘Music’ enhancements within the Meta dashboard, whereby Meta had deemed the song a good match ‘based on its content’. How, we’re not so sure.

I think what makes digital marketers such as myself a little cautious when it comes to the rise of the default use of artificial intelligence across paid advertising is how much we’re relying on these particular platforms in understanding the nuances of your business.


We all know you’re the experts in your business but what we believe is crucial in providing CORE’s true value as your digital partner is that we immerse ourselves to the greatest extent possible in your world. Only by understanding your pain points, your USPs, your short term desires and your long term vision can we provide a service truly tailored to your success. Does Google or Meta or Microsoft understand your business like that? Could they ever? A debate for the long term but we believe a ‘no’ in the here and now.

The easy option not always the right option


What we certainly don’t want to pour scorn on is the definite advantages artificial intelligence can bring to the building, maintenance and promotion of your digital presence. We at CORE use it every day to assist us in our working practices and we are dedicated to remaining at the cutting edge of this digital frontier. However, the key word perhaps to dwell on is ‘assist’ - it is certainly not a replacement for all of our working practices.

It is this perception that using AI is the ‘easy’ option in creating and managing digital advertising campaigns that we perhaps baulk at. It is in the combination of using AI - to either provide data-leveraged suggestions (which we then have the final say in utilising) or to speed up our processes - with the knowledge of a business which can only be acquired through a holistic understanding is where the sweet spot lies.

With all of the above in mind we’ve pulled a short list of key points together to consider regarding use of AI in PPC campaigns you may wish to consult:

No AI-driven campaign should just be ‘set and left’. Many ad providers will tell you they only need your website and budget to create a campaign which will deliver results for you - as they can generate ad text, target keywords and bidding strategy from those basic inputs. Regardless of this claim, we strongly recommend you check in regularly on any campaign and review the data available in order to steer it in a better direction if they have gone off course.

Negative keywords are your best friend for broad match campaigns. By its very nature ‘broad match’ target keywords will put your ads out there across a wider set of users. This can indeed lead to your ads being seen by relevant users you would not have thought to have targeted as they were unknown to you previously but it also means they can be seen by completely irrelevant users. The only way to stay on top of reducing the latter is by regularly viewing the search terms report within your advertising platform and marking those irrelevant searches as negative keywords to prevent budget being wasted on them in the future.

Avoid auto apply recommendations in Google Ads. A subject of a previous insights post, allowing Google to automatically apply recommendations to your campaigns is a potentially dangerous move. At a minimum it can lead to inefficient campaign running while at worst prevent your ads from running at all.

Review the ‘Advantage+ creative enhancements’ in Meta Ads when creating an ad. Aside from the ‘creative’ music choices mentioned earlier in this article, Meta also suggests such features as juggling the order of image/video assets in ads depending on their popularity with users within its ‘creative enhancements’ section. Although this sounds logical, for many advertisers their ad creative has been structured to tell a story through their ads so carefully consider if that story continues to make sense with all the assets jumbled up.

Ensure you have enough conversion data before accepting Google’s suggested ‘maximise conversions’ bidding strategy. Again, ‘maximise conversions’ sounds like a no brainer in how you want to bid for users. However, the truth is in order for Google to understand how to maximise bidding for conversions they need to understand what a converting user actually looks to you. If they have no (or little) conversion data to fall back on they are going to struggle to understand what these preferred users look like. We recommend campaigns should be at a conversion activity level whereby they are achieving 30 conversions in 30 days prior to switching to a ‘maximise conversions’ strategy.


Of course the above is just a flavour of how artificial intelligence is utilised across PPC. If you’d like to have a discussion about whether AI is currently helping or hindering your digital advertising and what can be done to weight it towards the former, we’d be delighted to carry on the conversation. Drop us a message or @ us on our socials.

Control - or the lack of it - is an important consideration to any digital marketer when approaching a campaign. 

In our previous insights post we took a look at the effects of cookie control on traffic and how to claw some of that potentially lost data back by encouraging interaction on the cookie banner.

However, that doesn’t really solve the root issue when it comes to understanding the relationship between cookies and users and their likelihood to accept or reject. To get to grips with that it might first be useful to consider how a user thinks when it comes to cookies.

Of course everyone is different when it comes to their understanding of their digital footprint and indeed their levels of interest in it. So we’ve collated a few common responses to the question ‘Why do you reject cookies when asked?’ and looked to uncover some learnings you can take from each to better encourage a user to click ‘Accept’.

“I don’t know what cookies are so I’ll reject them as the safe choice”

This is a very common thought process. Users don’t trust that they understand the concept of cookies enough (or at all) in order for them to accept them. Saying ‘no’ is always the safe choice and indeed perhaps the wisest choice in the majority of cases when it comes to your digital security.

However, perhaps through educating users (without lecturing or fearmongering) we can look to build that trust. This could be achieved through clear and easy to understand information in the cookie banner itself plus an easily accessible link to more information on cookies (including basic information on what they actually are).

“This website looks dodgy, I don’t trust them with my data”

Trust was mentioned when we were discussing the general user’s lack of knowledge around what a cookie is, now trust comes into play when considering a user’s belief that a website will handle their data properly.

The remedy for this is simple - be a trustworthy website. OK, simple without perhaps being scientific. Of course, trustworthiness is not a defined metric but there are many things that can be implemented on a website which go a long way in convincing users; engaging design, quality content, responsive across device types (and many more).

“I’d be happy to give my consent for some types of cookies but not others, but the cookie controls don’t give me that ability to choose”

We have covered the potential thought processes of those users who are perhaps less familiar with cookies as a concept but there are of course also those that are very aware and mindful as to the purpose of cookies across the web. For these users, more detail and, crucially, choice is required.

To match this mindset we need to ensure that a user has the ability to accept and reject various logical groupings of cookies (e.g. analytical cookies, marketing cookies) rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. There also needs to be a level of detail to adjoining text - even listing the exact cookies affected - with signposts to wider cookie policy.

“This banner/pop up is annoying me so I’m going to reject to punish them”

We’ve all been there. You’re rushed, stressed and you need to make an enquiry or buy an item online and you’re met with a cookie banner that stops you in your tracks and seems impossible to get rid of - in those circumstances three seconds trying to find the ‘X’ button is a lifetime.

This is a little trickier to address as we’re dealing with a somewhat unpredictable foe - the human mind on any given day. However, applying strong UX/UI principles to the banner will ensure the user experience will be as intuitive as possible and prevent the need for a cookie-inspired ‘rage quit’. This also extends to general site performance - for example improving site speeds and reducing cumulative layout shift.

Sometimes there’s nothing we can do when it comes to a user in convincing them to click yes in accepting cookies - habit and natural response is a hard nut to crack. However, just as when we adopt personas to get a better understanding of our users during site planning or in generating content, fully appreciating the various thought processes of our users when presented with a cookie banner will help us to maximise those users willing to give us their data and potential insights.

If you’d like any help in ensuring your cookie banner is as user friendly as possible or if you had any questions around cookie management in general (including an appraisal of your current set up)...

The reasons why users reject cookies and what they can teach us

Many site owners are now getting to grips with cookie management and all of its potential impacts on both the quantity and quality of data moving forwards - so what can we do to help save your data?

Cookies and their management have truly become one of, if not the, most important considerations of website development in recent years. From the launch of GDPR back in 2018 to Google’s intended phasing out of third party cookies later in 2024 (update: now pushed back to 2025...maybe), wider understanding and appreciation of cookies has developed rapidly in the last five years or so. 

This awareness extends to the general web browsing public, who are now consistently asked when landing on a website whether they want to accept or reject cookies (regardless of whether they understand what they are).

This simple decision to accept or reject can have a massive impact on a website’s reported traffic via tools such as Google Analytics - with one response potentially unlocking invaluable insights into both how your website is performing and how to improve it, while the other response is lost in the great digital abyss.


We have performed a deep dive into the data we have collected from a range of sites where we have helped manage the transition from a pre-cookie managed state to a post-cookie managed state and the numbers are quite stark.


The average amount of traffic ‘lost’ following cookie management implementation was 28%. For one particular site this figure was as high as 50%.

We understand this can make site owners potentially nervous in making the switch to a cookie management solution for their site. Fundamentally though it is a move which has to be made if you want to remain legally compliant and there have been some high profile cases to serve as a warning to this.

Here’s the good news however, there are ways to mitigate this potential loss.

The potential remedy addresses an issue which is often overlooked in that the simple choice we mentioned earlier to accept or reject isn’t quite binary, there is a third option for the user - do nothing. In many standard cookie banner implementations, the banner will appear but the user can still browse the website and interact with all other elements on page. Indeed a user could complete their entire journey through the site without ever interacting with the banner, particularly if not obtrusively designed.

Although in many ways that sounds great in that a user was able to perform their intended actions onsite without being impeded by the banner it does mean you’ve lost all that fantastic data. So what we want to do here is compel the user to interact with the banner, without irritating the user into abandoning their onsite action.

We have found through implementation across a wide range of sites that by decreasing the opacity of the background and removing the ability to engage with those background elements, the proportion of users accepting cookies has increased notably.

For one particular site we found that traffic was returned to the levels experienced prior to cookie management being implemented onsite. While for others, although maybe only experiencing a ≈10% increase in data compared to the figures post cookie management drop, that additional 10% could be crucial in providing insights into your site that might have been otherwise lost.

A problem solved but a more fundamental one remains

The solution discussed above is perhaps not appropriate for everyone but does seeks to solve the problem of indecision from a user. However, what remains is that even by encouraging a user to interact with the banner they can (and many will) still reject cookies - but why? 

As a follow up to this post we’ll take a look at the reasons why a user may want to reject cookies and provide some potential solutions as to how these concerns can be addressed.

How cookie control affects 'traffic' and what you can do about it

Be that in the evolution of AI as a helpful assistant for search queries or in Google Home’s understanding of your morning routine simply by greeting it ‘good morning’, its presence as an overarching theme is felt everywhere.

Its advertising functionality is not ignored by this trend either. Anyone who has logged into Google Ads over the past few years may have noticed the push towards ‘Recommendations’ - either through the navigation item or in the notifications bell. Clicking either will take you to a page which lists recommendations suggested by Google to improve your account in addition to a percentage ‘optimisation score' it has calculated.

It’s very easy to apply the recommendations Google has listed, you just click the big blue ‘Apply’ button and it’s sorted, and why wouldn’t you apply recommendations the platform has suggested? They must know what they are talking about, right? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The issue is context. Like everything in life, context is key. Google’s ad recommendations may be driven by best practice and may well be effective for a good proportion of the accounts it suggests the recommendation to. However, it might not be right for you.

An example: Google recommends you switch your bidding strategy from ‘maximise clicks’ to ‘maximise conversions’. Great, everyone wants more conversions. Well, yes, but this switch might not necessarily lead to more conversions. What is also advised (but doesn’t seem to play a part in its decision to push this recommendation) is you should have at least 30 conversions recorded in the past 30 days to get the most from the 'maximise conversions' bidding strategy type. Otherwise Google isn’t very clear about what a ‘converting user’ looks like for your particular campaign due to a lack of data and therefore might perform suboptimally by getting your ads in front of the wrong types of users. A human Google Ads strategist might in this instance suggest retaining a ‘maximise clicks’ strategy on a temporary basis until the levels of conversions have been increased enough to make ‘maximise conversions’ a better bidding strategy option.

It is in these differences between what an automated recommendation might suggest versus what a human strategist might suggest which means we would strongly recommend all recommendations are reviewed with a definite amount of thought before implementation.

Stronger still is our recommendation that great care is taken with auto apply recommendations. Having recommendations apply automatically is potentially very dangerous to the performance of your account - with instances we’ve seen first hand where clients have used auto apply recommendations and activity has ground to a complete halt in their campaigns because Google has set a Target CPA in their bidding strategy which was highly unrealistic and meant they were ineligible for almost all ad auctions. This occurred without the client being aware this was happening as they had simply set the account to auto apply and left it to run.

Simply put we’re still some way off Google being able to automatically understand the nuances of what your unique marketing plan might be and fundamentally who you are as a business. 

Now we’re definitely not deriding recommendations as a concept. Certainly for business owners who manage their own account it can be very useful in prompting changes you might not have thought of or introducing new Google features you may have been unaware of. 

But approach them maybe a bit more as you would when dealing with a salesman rather than a policeman!

Of course if you do feel you'd benefit from help in sorting the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Google Ads recommendations, we'd be delighted to lend a hand.

Automation is at the core of Google’s vision and planning for the web.

Google Ads & Recommendations: Think Before You Implement

Demographic data is often an invaluable tool in understanding who it is exactly who is browsing your website. Details around age, gender and interests can be vital in a number of respects, from remarketing lists to persona development, and for some is simply a fundamental feature of reporting on their website.

So we think it is therefore important to point out how opting in to the GA4 equivalent in demographic data, ‘Google Signals’, may lead to some unintended consequences for other aspects of your precious data.

First of all, a brief introduction to Google Signals. Google Signals is a feature first launched in 2018 which allows Google Analytics users to understand how site users interact with your website across multiple devices and sessions. However, it has recently gained increased prominence given the sunsetting of UA in favour of GA4 and now fundamentally if you require audiences in Google Ads or to see demographic data in your GA4 reports, you must have Google Signals activated.

No big deal right? Well yes and no. It’s certainly a simple enough task (just flicking a switch) but that simple task could have rather drastic implications on your data elsewhere.

In short, it can cause quite severe thresholding in your account. This means rows of data throughout your GA4 reports which contain relatively small figures will be hidden. Now the argument is if you’re only missing out on small portions of your data these can’t be that significant surely? Well if you’re anything like us from a data nerd perspective you’ll know that sometimes the most interesting insights can be gleaned from those grains of sand within your data. 

The biggest issue we’ve seen is the effect it’s had on event data and custom parameters. A client of ours with a relatively sophisticated set up of event tracking saw its figures decimated by the reduction to the point of uselessness.

As mentioned, if you require Google Ads audiences or demographic data you’ll have no choice but to turn on Google Signals. However, there is something which you can do to prevent this from permanently altering your data and it involves something called ‘reporting identity’.

Reporting identities in GA4 have a distinct effect on the results in data you will see in your account as they each provide different combinations of methods of data gathering. There are a wide number of resources available which can provide further details around the methods themselves, however for our purposes there is only one identity that can really solve our issues - ‘Device-based’.

‘Device-based’ only utilises the ‘device-id’ method of data gathering and although is the least sophisticated in concept it provides the best alignment with Universal Analytics. To make the switch, access the admin dashboard of your GA4 account, click ‘Reporting Identity’, then ‘Show All’ and select ‘Device-based’. Your thresholding concerns should hopefully then be a thing of the past!

What’s also great about reporting identities is you can seamlessly switch between each option - you don’t have to make a choice and stick to it forever! In fact we recommend you do try out each reporting identity and see what effect it has on your data before perhaps looking to settle on a view in order to provide accurate benchmarks.

If you require any assistance with navigating this new GA4 landscape please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’d be delighted to help get digital working for you.

With the rush to implement GA4 before the final curtain fell for Universal Analytics in the summer, it's perhaps easy to miss or underestimate certain changes to your data which may have occurred following migration. Fear not however, CORE are here to shine a light!

Do you start on content? Paid advertising? Link outreach? Social media? We’re often asked “yes we know it’s all important, but what should we definitely be doing?”. Our answer often goes along the lines of “yes it IS important (and it is) but if you really want to lay the foundations for future digital marketing success, reporting is the answer”.

They say ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.’ We couldn’t agree more.

Simply put reporting will (or should) inform everything else you embark on from a digital marketing perspective. For example, you note that you are receiving a good amount of quality traffic from referring websites while your non-brand organic traffic is pretty minimal, this might indicate a focus on organic search over linkbuilding might be more appropriate.

Another reason why reporting is so useful is that it acts as a springboard for discussions on how to make the site better for users - resulting in more bottom line conversions achieved from the website. We can point out particular things we find noteworthy from the report, while clients can ask questions on areas they’d like to know more about. Keeping that dialogue open and you as a client engaged with your data is a huge part of driving iterative improvements onsite.

However perhaps the most remarkable feature of reporting is how flexible it is - the sky really is the limit!*

Reports can contain the data you want, in the format you want, at a time you want. Whether it’s an Excel spreadsheet delivered in the first week of the month ahead of your monthly board meeting or it’s an online dashboard which can be viewed at any time, it can be achieved.

What’s most important is the metrics provided are those you are interested in and it's in a format which is accessible to you. The times when we see reporting fall down we often get a response of “we didn’t really get any value from the data we got”. So it’s important this is discussed extensively in the brief for the report and then maintained throughout its lifecycle.

With all of the above in mind, we hope we’ve given a good overview of why reporting truly is a fundamental aspect of proper website maintenance. So please don’t ignore this vital building block in the construction of your digital marketing plan. Of course you’re not alone in this, we’ve got experience for creating and maintaining almost every kind of report possible (if you’ve got a unique idea for one please get in touch, we love a challenge!), but most importantly we’re experts in listening to your wants from a report and delivering a framework tailored exactly to your requirements. 

You might be thinking “but I don’t know what I want?”, the good news is that’s fine too. We'll listen to your needs and discuss the business goals during the briefing stage and together we will find a reporting template which delivers on your key aims for the business. While we can also make edits to that template at any time from the start or moving forwards as it evolves to find the form most useful to you. Nothing is set in stone!

So take that first step and let’s start the conversation.

You’ve decided to invest in your website via digital marketing (good decision!), but where to begin or where to focus efforts?

Why reporting should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy

The GA account itself may be operating perfectly and laden with interesting, actionable insights which could serve to improve site performance. However, if no one in the business has access to the account then these insights are left to drift unseen into the vast ocean of the internet.

To stop your Google Analytics account becoming the reporting equivalent of the Mary Celeste, lash your tether to safe harbour (to torture the boat analogy even further) by ensuring a plan is in place for account ownership.

Just by following a few basic principles you are likely to save yourself a lot of potential pain in the future:

Use a group email address - instead of using an individual team member’s email address as the only login for an account, ensure at least one group email address is associated with the account (e.g. reporting@yourbusiness.co.uk) with admin access. This will ensure that even when individual team members leave the business, your access does not disappear with them.

Document credentials & associated updates - credentials for any group email accounts which have Google Analytics access should be easily available to those who require it and then maintained e.g. when passwords change (of course using a secure documentation platform).

Ensure access is regularly maintained & updated - review user access on the account regularly to ensure only authorised users have access e.g. removing those who have left the business or external agencies who are no longer engaged.

If the above advice has come a little too late for you and your account is already lost to the high seas, get in touch and we’d be happy to discuss possible solutions.

However, it’s certainly true in this case that the ease of prevention far outweighs the pain of recovery - so take note before your account becomes the latest ‘ghost’ Google Analytics account to be set loose.

Too often the situation seems to arise whereby site owners are unable to access their Google Analytics account as they’re unaware as to who holds the account credentials.

Stop your Google Analytics account from going 'ghost' by following these basic tips on good account management maintenance.

If you are a business of any shape, size or sector with an online presence, cookies will (or should) have become a key consideration in recent years. Online privacy and data protection has become a prime concern (and rightly so), with users far more savvy as to how their data is or isn’t being stored and utilised.

We strongly suggest a level of cookie control is implemented as a standard on all sites (e.g. OneTrust, Civic etc) which safeguards businesses against potential cookie breaches. With such tools cookies are separated into categories - including ‘necessary’ (cookies that simply have to be created for the website to function), ‘analytics’ (cookies that are used to collect data as regards website performance e.g. Google Analytics), ‘marketing’ (cookies that collect user information in order to fuel marketing campaigns e.g. remarketing). Users are then able to select or deselect each cookie category and only those cookies which have been selected will be created.

Although it sounds relatively straightforward, the trouble comes when merging this concept with any tracking or tagging you might have already created or wish to create in the future (certainly if there is a degree of complexity to it). For example if you were to implement cookie control on a site which already had hundreds of tags attached to fire onsite via a number of different ways (e.g. page load, user interaction), that’s a lot of rewiring you’re going to have to do to get your site up to code!

It is with this backdrop of site owners wrestling with both these enhanced expectations when it comes to user privacy and desire to holistically monitor website performance that Google launched Consent Mode as a beta offering in September 2020. In its own words it:

‘…lets you adjust how your Google tags behave based on the consent status of your users. You can indicate whether consent has been granted for Analytics and Ads cookies. Google's tags will dynamically adapt, only utilizing measurement tools for the specified purposes when consent has been given by the user.’

What this means in effect is that Google will do the ‘heavy lifting’ in deciding what tags should fire (and where the data is sent to) based off a user’s consent settings.

Implementation is achieved through configuration of your Google Tag Manager and your Consent Management Platform. This process is far slicker than a host of other alternatives to Consent Mode (such as trigger groups) and also takes up far less space in your GTM container (with one such client we implemented Consent Mode on saving around 42% worth of container space!). However to emphasise this point, as it’s an important one, Consent Mode does not replace a Consent Management Platform. You will still need a OneTrust or a Civic or another CMP in order for Consent Mode to function.

A fundamental difference between how Consent Mode works and other cookie control methods is that Consent Mode doesn’t prevent data from being collected even if consent is denied, it simply anonymises the data and prevents you from viewing it (Google still receives the data).

This is where somewhat of a grey area comes into play, so as to answering the question; ‘is Google Consent Mode privacy law compliant?’ The answer really is ‘according to Google, yes’. Now is that good enough?

It’s fair to say the combination of Google and privacy law has been a topic of increased discussion in recent years, with rulings in 2022 by both Austria & France deeming GA’s implementation a breach of GDPR & EU privacy laws. Indeed although GA4, the newest iteration of Google Analytics, does have more of an accent on privacy, it certainly can’t be said that Google is seen as wholly privacy law-compliant by ruling bodies.

It is in this environment to which Consent Mode has been introduced. This has made some naturally more than a little sceptical, leaning more towards a judgement that any data collected by Google after a user has selected ‘no’ in tracking a breach of GDPR (even if no cookie is created). This is an argument which certainly could be argued.

Cookies - formerly only known as a snack now comes to represent something far more complex in the digital world. Is Consent Mode the answer?

Cookies and privacy are massively hot topics in the digital space at the moment, can Google Consent Mode be both a safe and effective solution?

Unsure if your site is cookie compliant? Get in touch to ensure your good to go with the latest security standards.

A common word which might feature in discussions around Consent Mode may be ‘interpretation’ - a word which could make some a little nervous when it comes to legality. However, we would also emphasise that, at this point, we cannot find legal precedent either way as regards to Consent Mode and you would also like to believe that given Google’s heightened awareness around privacy laws they would not be launching a new feature which would apparently flagrantly disregard these rules.

We would suggest implementation of Google Consent Mode will depend on which half of the above paragraph your sentiment is drawn to. We have witnessed first hand how much easier Consent Mode can make wiring up user consent to user tracking and how much it can optimise your Google Tag Manager container. However, there are still lingering privacy concerns which make it difficult to embrace fully as the future without a more definitive legal ruling. With this in mind it may indeed be useful to consult legal advice (if available to you) in order to gain that all-round perspective you might be seeking. 

If you’re in the UK, you may also be awaiting the progress through parliament of the new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (completed its second reading at time of writing). The UK government seems to be adopting a slightly softer approach to cookies than their EU counterparts and it will be interesting to see how any amendments or subsequent adoption of this bill will affect data gathering generally or Consent Mode specifically here.

Let us know if you have any thoughts around Google Consent Mode and we’d be delighted to take the conversation further, we think it’s a topic primed for a debate! Find us on Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram or give us a shout at hello@wearecore.co.uk.

I don’t want to alarm you too much but this time next year you could be seeing this when you login to your Google Analytics account.

In this article we discuss the upcoming arrival of the much-discussed GA4 reporting iteration of Google Analytics and what it could mean for your data.

Google Analytics is the reporting behemoth that changed the game. Owners of sites of all sizes and sectors can today accurately judge the performance of their online presence with this free bit of software. Its popularity reflects its value, with over 60% of all the top 100,000 sites with the highest traffic volume on the web utilising it.

However, note the graph below and its drop off in recent years.

While there are other reasons this dip may have occurred (namely the cookie quandary as regards EU law discussed later in this article), we do also wonder whether another bit of news has caused some to question their reporting choices.

GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics, launched in October 2020 and is now the default version when setting up a website with GA reporting. Since launch, however, you have still been able to both continue to utilise Universal Analytics*, the previous iteration, and set up new accounts with UA if you desired. 

That has now changed. In March 2022, Google announced that from July 2023 it would stop processing hits for Universal Analytics properties and GA4 will become the only option in Google Analytics tracking.

But that’s no big deal right? It's the same company providing the service, it’s just a new iteration of reporting tool surely? The change from GA2 (Classic) to GA3 (Universal Analytics) in 2012 wasn’t a huge change at all, I’ll just swap out the code and job done.

We have to emphasise GA4 is a fundamentally different entity to Universal Analytics. It reflects Google’s move to an events-based system of measurement as opposed to Universal Analytics’ recording of page hits, event hits, ecommerce hits & social interaction hits which we have been used to for a long time.

Put simply this means there are a number of metrics which we know are currently key reporting points for many of our clients which will no longer be available in GA4. This includes (but is not limited to):

We’d be surprised if in your current reporting set up you don’t use any of the above metrics!

If that’s caused a bead of sweat to form on your brow then let’s get started on what should be done to tackle this. There are two options we would consider:

This move is happening, so we really want to gain as much time as possible in acclimatising your reporting requirements within this new system. This will allow for as seamless a transition as possible in July of next year, while we can also compare data between Universal Analytics and GA4 accounts in the meantime to get a sense of perspective between the two data sets.

Additionally we’re not really sure how Google is going to be dealing with historical Universal Analytics data once the switchover occurs (although they have said they will allow us to view historical UA data for six months after July 1st), so as much historical data as possible in GA4 is going to give us more data period in which to work with in the future.

Option 2 - Move to a different reporting solution

As referenced earlier on in this article, Google has come under a fair bit of heat in recent years as regards to how it complies with EU privacy law & GDPR, with Austria at the beginning of 2022 ruling that the use of Google Analytics itself was illegal! 

So perhaps with Google now no longer able to show you the data you are used to and with its very presence deemed illegal to some, now is the time to consider alternatives?

There are plenty of reporting platforms out there which can provide similar data points to what you might require. However, to clarify these will be paid solutions which might be difficult to stomach after so many years of previously free reporting.  

No matter which option you might be leaning towards we’d be happy to provide our own opinion on what might be right for you and your business.

The important takeaway from this article is that you need to be proactive. Data provides the backbone on both how your site (and by extension a proportion of your business) is performing and how you can improve it. Don’t be left behind on the big switchover July 1st and be prepared!

*Just a note if you’re wondering whether you use Universal Analytics currently (you’re very likely to be doing so!) if you quickly hop on a Google Tag Assistant extension for your website and you note a Google Analytics tag which has a code starting with ‘UA’ (e.g. UA-12345678-9) then you are indeed a UA user.

**Update 14/07/22 - Google has now announced they are introducing bounce rate into GA4 although it is calculated slightly differently to that of UA. It'll be interesting to see how this different way of measuring bounce rate will affect benchmarks!

It’s true to say we’re approaching a potentially vital turning point in the reporting of your website and you might not even know it.

What does the move to GA4 actually look like and what should you do to safeguard your ability to accurately monitor website performance moving forwards?

Let’s say you’ve built a website (hooray!). It looks great, is developed using the very latest thinking in web technology and you’ve chucked loads of money at a massive social media campaign to promote it. Can’t fail right? Wrong, I’m afraid. The truth is if you haven’t done your research on your users, there’s no way you can build your site with the proper care and attention your specific user base requires. 

The answer to this is a crucial stage at the very start of the website development process; persona development.

A persona is a representation of a particular audience type which may be interested in your site. It can be as brief as a short list of their key details (e.g. age, gender, job title) or more complex with the inclusion of insights such as buying behaviours and related interests.

It would be quite rare for a site to simply have one type of user visiting the site. If you believe that may be you, have a think to see if that one user you are thinking about could actually be multiple types of people (they might be different job roles, different ages or different nationalities). Conversely it’s wise not to create too many persona types as this may result in you getting muddled and losing sight of your key users. We would advise ultimately around 5-10 are fully fleshed out as actionable personas.

Due to the wide ranging nature of personas, you can really grab your data from anywhere you have knowledge of your customers. If that’s a little too vague then a good starter for ten would be your Google Analytics account (and if you don’t have a Google Analytics account, you really should have a Google Analytics account!). The Demographics section is a minefield of data which can give you insights on age, gender, interests, browser preference and device type.

Another tip is to ask your sales team or whoever deals with your customers on a regular basis. They will be able to tell you more about the human side of your customers, dealing with them on an emotional level and therefore adding a further dimension to your personas.

In any way that is easily consumable for the reader. Ideally it would be visual in nature and succinct in its wording as what we’re really looking for is for a vast range of people to be able to dip in and out of these personas. This means we want to stay clear of jargon as much as possible and waffly descriptors.

Now that you have created physical representations of your target audiences you can really try and put yourselves in their position. What do they want from your site? How may they find your site? Is the site easily navigable considering the level of digital experience of your audience? (e.g. different considerations for those in their 20s/30s to those in their 60s/70s)

If these questions are asked from a pre-build stage, the answers can help inform site structure and even future marketing, preventing you from playing catch up while on the back foot post-launch.

No! The shelf life of your personas last long after your site is launched. They should help you in every iteration you want to make to the site. Whether that is a new feature or a piece of content, having your site personas to hand will give the update in question a focus and remind you of overall site goals.

That is not to say that they should be left untouched. Of course, your user base may change or evolve, so it’s always a good idea to revisit your personas from time to time. Even if no changes occur it will help to reinforce your user to you, enabling you to make smarter decisions based on the user’s preferences and not yours.

If you are interested in finding out more about persona development, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help get digital working for you.

In developing a great website, your users have to be the primary focus. Here we discuss how personas can help you gain a stronger understanding of your audience.

They can be useful in progressing and creating a community of people who will engage with your posts. While it’s exceptionally important to get your point across and to direct the right people to your site and your content it’s also important to treat these people with courtesy. 

We’ve become so accustomed to hashtags that, sometimes, we don’t even notice they’re there. 

That is, unless, they’re completely bombarding you. 

This article is a quick guide to utilising hashtags while maintaining hashtag etiquette. 

Your use of hashtags depends heavily on which social media platform you’re using. There are some stark differences between various platforms. 

Something that Instagram generously includes in its posting options is the ability to hide your hashtags.

If you’d like to hide the hashtags, all you need to do is the following:

“It’s an Instagram post! Look at that photo. That’s a good photo. I should have studied photography!” 

You can then comment beneath the image using as many hashtags as you think are required. Use the following structure to obscure your hashtags and make sure they’re not bothering anyone:

#photo #photography #photographer #lookatmylovelyphoto #etc”

Adding ellipses will ensure that Instagram will make the comment collapse and ensure the hashtags are not visible to users while the main thrust of your message remains front and centre. 

Be careful not to go too over the top with your hashtags though because any more than 30 hashtags will wipe your caption. Despite your followers not being able to see them, Instagram sees everything. 

You can also follow any hashtags you might be interested in. You’ll never miss out on any photos of #catsinboxes again.

That also means you can follow your own hashtag and see who mentions you in a post. Fantastic!

This is where we have to rein ourselves in. Instagram is a haven of hidden hashtags compared to Twitter and Facebook. On these social media platforms we must wear our hashtags on our sleeves. 

That’s why, when using them, it’s best to stick with one or two hashtags. That’s it. If you use more than that user engagement will actually drop. 

This is because an overload of hashtags just looks like spam to a casual observer. If you add a link into the mix then you’ve got what, to social media conditioned minds, looks like spam central. It’s not a good look. 

When incorporating your hashtags, try to make them fit naturally into the post. For example:

“Check out our latest #blog post on improving your social media engagement.”

Hashtags are extremely useful when it comes to getting your content noticed on LinkedIn. When it comes to posting articles on LinkedIn you can add hashtags at the bottom of the article before it's published.

It’s also a good idea to have hashtags worked into your profile on LinkedIn so that you can easily be found. When mentioning your skills or your company’s skills, why not hashtag it for findability? 

There’s a right and wrong way to do this, however. For example...

“We are CORE. Connecting #creativity, #strategy and #technology. We work across all areas of #digital: #websitedesign, mobile and app development, #searchengineoptimisation, #socialmedia, and #digitalmarketing, to name a few. Our reach extends across the UK and internationally, in partnership with communications agencies and a wide range of industry clients.” 

Something more like this would work though: 

“We are CORE. Connecting creativity, strategy and technology. We work across all areas of digital: website design, mobile and app development, search engine optimisation, social media, and digital marketing, to name a few. Our reach extends across the UK and internationally, in partnership with communications agencies and a wide range of industry clients. What We’re Good At: #digitalmarketing, #socialmedia, #seo, #usinghashtags”

As a general rule, between 4 and 5 hashtags on LinkedIn is optimal. 

Here’s hoping that this guide to hashtagging was helpful to you. However, if you need more help understanding the nuances of social media then we at CORE would be more than happy to assist.

Hashtags are essential in building a following of the right people who are interested in what you and your business have to say.

Not sure how to use your hashtags? Well, we’re here to help. Here’s a quick guide to utilising hashtags. 

Strategy insights

The pitfalls of 'vanity metrics'

AI in PPC - are we there yet?

The reasons why users reject cookies and what they can teach us

How cookie control affects 'traffic' and what you can do about it

Google Ads & Recommendations: Think Before You Implement

Google Signals - where's my data gone?

Why reporting should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy

'Ghost' Google Analytics Accounts

Introducing Google Consent Mode

GA4: revolution not evolution

Personas - keeping your users in mind

Hashtag Etiquette