Custom Dimensions
The dimensions in our Roivenue app are a great way to sort and analyze your traffic data. They can help you identify which of your marketing channels are the most effective so you can better target your efforts and get a better ROI. You can also set up your custom dimension to track the influence of different channels on your revenue, costs, and other metrics, giving you the most valuable insights. This article will guide you through the dimensions page in our Roivenue application and show you how to create custom dimensions to optimize your traffic analysis. For more helpful tips and tricks, check out the end of the article.
Dimensions Page Intro
Custom Dimensions
You can use custom dimensions to categorize and shape the data in Roivenue into a format that meets your business needs. For instance, you can use custom dimensions to sort your traffic into specific channels (e. g. paid ads, direct visits, unpaid search, influencers, PR and referral sources, newsletters, SMS, and affiliates) to measure different channels' impact. This helps you gain deeper insights and make better-informed, data-driven decisions tailored to your unique business needs.
How to Create a New Custom Dimension
Once you are on the Dimension Page, click on the button βAdd New Derived Dimensionβ to create your new custom dimension.
Creating a new custom dimension consists of two steps: preparing the custom dimension and adjusting the rules.
Step 1: Prepare your Custom Dimension
Create the dimension name. This is the name of the dimensions that will be visible all around Roivenue (except for Data Exports where you find the custom dimension under the Dimension Code).
In the checkbox, you can determine if the dimension should be hidden in specific places in the Roivenue app.
You will see selected sorting metrics when creating the rule in the next step. These metrics help you sort out the records in the next step of creating the dimension rules. It is advisable to select one metric for cost-related data (cost/clicks) and one for traffic-related data (visits/revenue) to ensure all your data is sorted in the table (more about cost-related and traffic-related data). These settings can be changed at any point and only impact the dimension settings, not how the dimension behaves elsewhere in the app.
Selected source dimensions will serve as the dimensions from which you create the rules out of. You will only be able to build the custom dimension from the rules selected here. You can always change your selection. Also, don't forget that you can only select, as source dimensions, dimensions that have already been created. Even if you want to change your selection after some time, you will be able to select from dimensions that were created before the one you want to change.
Undefined Value aka The Null Case Value is the value assigned to an entity that doesnβt meet the requirements, as defined by your rules, to be included. You can name the Undefined Value (e. g. Others). If you leave the field blank, undefined values will be displayed under the name βUnknownβ.
After you fill in all the fields, you can save your selections and move to the next step.
Step 2: Create the Dimension Rules
A preview of your traffic is what youβll first see. The table is dynamic, so whenever you create or change your rules, the changes will be seen on the table.
Click on "Add a New Rule" to filter your traffic.
Select the dimension based on which records will be filtered. The dimensions that are available for selection here are the dimensions that were previously chosen in the first step when preparing the custom dimension.
Select the rule operator.
Insert the value according to the selected operator.
If you want to add multiple criteria to be met at the same time within the rule, click the plus icon to add the βANDβ condition and create another part of your rule.
If you want to expand the number of records click the βORβ condition.
When the rule is completed and you sorted everything you want under this rule, name the rule (set of filtered records) and click the save button.
You can immediately see changes in the table.
After hitting the save button, the changes will need some time to recalculate. Generally, it takes a few hours to see your new dimension in the Roivenue App.
Tips & Tricks
Operators
Contains / Does not contain - The βcontainsβ operator searches for any specified words or phrases, that you insert in the Value field, within a property. The βdoes not containβ operator excludes records with any of the specified words or phrases. Unlike "equals" and βdoes not equal,β which require an exact match of the insert value and records, these operators look for partial matches.
Equals / Does not equal - The βequalsβ operator searches for records that exactly match the words or phrases specified in the Value field. The βdoes not equalβ operator excludes records that exactly match the specified words or phrases. Unlike other operators that look for partial matches, these require an exact match.
Starts with /Does not start with - The βstarts withβ operator searches for records that start with the words or phrases inserted into the Value field. The βdoes not start withβ operator excludes records where the property starts with the specified words or phrases.
Ends with / Does not end with - The βends withβ operator searches for records that end with the words or phrases inserted into the Value field. The "does not end with" operator excludes records where the property ends with the specified words or phrases.
Is in the following list / Is not in the following list - With these operators, you can insert multiple matches into one line instead of repeating the operator βequalsβ or βdoes not equalβ for each expression separately.
Is empty / Is not empty - These operators search for empty or non-empty values in the selected dimension. Letβs imagine a scenario when your campaign (auto) dimension works perfectly for Google Ads but not for Facebook Ads (because your utm_campaign does not have the exact campaign name in it). The solution: use campaign (auto) for campaigns where we were able to map it and extend it by manual rules for the rest of the data. To do that, first, we need to "copyβ the campaign (auto) dimension. We can utilize the rule like this:
We filter only rows that have some value in the Campaign (auto) dimension by filtering rows where campaign (auto) is not empty.
We set the result to be "the value of the other dimensionβ - the campaign (auto) instead of the typical "Constant" value.
Match Regex - The βmatch regexβ operator searches for records that fit the specified regular expression. This allows for complex search criteria, enabling you to find records with specific formats or sequences of characters. Unlike simple βcontainsβ or βequalsβ operators, βmatch regexβ provides advanced pattern-matching capabilities.
Are you familiar with regexes? Save time by utilizing them! Imagine a scenario where you would like to take a different set of campaigns from Google Ads that contain different keywords. With contains conditions you would have to create multiple OR conditions like this:
You can simplify the rule using regex to this:
βANDβ and βORβ Conditions in Rules
For building custom dimensions in our Roivenue app you create rules using AND/OR conditions. With this feature, you can create complex workflows within a single rule, which makes it easier to manage moving forward.
βANDβ Condition - All conditions associated with "AND" must be met for the rule to be true. The βANDβ condition is selected if you want to specify the resulting data. E. g. you want to make a rule to sort out paid ads from Facebook. You first filter all Facebook records (Platform Name contains Facebook) and then you add βANDβ conditions to filter to exclude referral traffic and traffic caused by influencers.
βORβ Condition - It is sufficient that at least one of the conditions associated with βORβ is met for the rule to be true. The βORβ condition is selected if you want to expand the number of records under the rule. E. g. you want to filter paid ads from Facebook and Google. For Facebook, you repeat the process described in the column about the βANDβ condition. Then you select the βAdd new βORβ conditionβ button to include paid ads from Google.
Traffic-Related vs. Cost-Related Part of the Rule
The rule must include both the traffic aspects of web analytics and the cost aspects of platforms. If you select a source dimension that includes both cost and traffic as the source dimension for the rule (e.g. platform name), that's ideal. However, if you use source dimensions from Google Analytics ( e.g. Campaign from GA), the cost data won't be included.
Likewise, if you create a rule based on the source of the Ad Campaign (from platform), you'll have cost data, but not traffic data. In such cases, you need to create the rule using both types of source dimensions to include both traffic and cost components in the custom dimension.
See more detailed instructions on how to create a rule to include both traffic-related and cost-related data in a dimension when a campaign from GA (containing only traffic-related data) and an ad campaign from the platform (containing only cost-related data) are selected as source dimensions.
Conclusion
Working with dimensions can be challenging, but you've got this! With the right approach, it becomes an essential tool for understanding and analyzing data. Remember, the key to success is careful attention to each step and continuous verification of results. If you encounter any uncertainties or need further assistance, don't hesitate to schedule a consultation. The Roivenue team is here to help you achieve the best possible outcomes.
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