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Mass.gov events reporting
Overview
Google Analytics captures interactions under the Events reports (which you can find under the Behavior report).
An event could represent any interaction a user has with your content – clicking a link, pushing a button, watching a video, etc.
You can analyze and report on events based on the metadata associated with them. For example, each link click is associated with the page it happened on, the content type of the page, and the organization that owns that content. In addition, we keep track of the text that the user clicked, the URL they clicked, and the Mass.gov component they clicked (e.g. if the link click was a Mosaic image click, an inline link, a footer link, etc.)
You can find this information most easily if you’re familiar with these 4 technical terms: event category, event action, event label, and custom dimension.
Terms
Event category shows the website the event took place on and the service family (a service page & all its child pages) it took place in. For Mass.gov’s analytics, you will always see “massgov” for the website. If you’ve implemented cross domain tracking and have access to another Google Analytics property, you may see your site’s name instead.
Event action describes the type of interaction and provides additional contextual data. For example, a link click event would begin with “Link click:” and also provide the actual text that the visitor clicked.
Event label usually shows a click URL.
Reference
Dimension
Definition
What it looks like in GA
Event Category
The website the event took place on and the service family it took place in.
massgov Department of Public Health
Event Action
The type of interaction and provides additional contextual data.
Link Click: Apply Online for WIC
Event Label
If applicable: shows the URL that was clicked.
https://www.mass.gov/forms/apply-for-wic-online
We have also added a number of custom dimensions to Google Analytics that you can use to look up other interesting data about your events. For example, you can add “organization” or “hit timestamp” to your events reports to see what state organization(s) they’re associated with or the exact times they occurred.
Custom dimensions
Dimension name
Definition
What it looks like
Organization
All organizations associated with a page. You can add or remove these in the CMS.
departmentofunemploymentassistance,executiveofficeoflaborandworkforcedevelopment
Hit Timestamp
The time down to the millisecond the event occurred.
2020-06-12T08:10:46.593-04:00
sessionId
The unique identifier of the session that the event occurred in.
591809676497.lvbn5kbv
Node Id
The unique ID of the page that the event occurred on. (Matches the ID in the CMS.)
13811
Event target
The Mass.gov component the visitor interacted with.
Mosaic image
Page type
The content type of the page the event occurred on.
how_to_page
In-out-dl
Whether a click was to an inbound, outbound, or download link.
Out
Service families
Shows the full list of service families the page that the event happened on is associated with.
Vehicle registration, RMV services at aaa, disability plates and placards
Event targets
"Event target" is a custom dimension that indicates the component that a user interacts with, such as a “Callout button,” “Header logo,” or “inline link.” Here is a list of event targets and descriptions of what components they refer to.
Event target
Description
Footer link
Links in the site's footer (not including the logo)
Footer logo
The logo in the site’s footer
Header logo
The logo in the site’s header
Mosaic image
Image or associated text for the smaller mosaic components on Organization Page mosaics
Mosaic image (tall)
Image or associated text for the largest mosaic component on Organization page mosaics
Social media icon
Sidebar social media links (e.g. on the Service and Organization Pages)
Social media icon (footer)
Social media links in the site’s footer
Google translate widget
Google translate link in upper right navigation
State organizations
State organizations link in upper right navigation
Utility nav login
Log-in links in upper right navigation
Org page sub-navigation
Org nav links.
Relationship indicator
Relationship indicators that connect pages to parents (e.g. "Part of:" & "Offered by: " above main content area)
Table link
Links in table data cells
Rich text link
Links in rich text sections (e.g. inline links)
Related link
Links in the Related section at the bottom and in sidebars
Related services
Links in the Related services section on Service Pages
Additional resources & downloads
Links in the Additional resources & Download sections
Related organization link
Links in the Related Organization section of Organization Pages
Our organizations
Links in Our Organization section of Organization Pages
Last modified 1yr ago
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