2. Under the Conversion Goals and Funnel section, click Edit next to Goal 1.
Here's how you fill out the form:
Active Goal: On
Match Type: Head Match
Goal URL: This URL does not have to actually exist, we are only going to use it for tracking purposes. You can name it anything you want, although I suggest using a name that resembles the goal to make your reports easier to read. I used /goal/rss.html. Make sure it doesn't point to an actual page on your site, because that could mess up your data. Whatever you call it, write it down as you'll need it in the next step.
Goal name: Describe your goal as simply as possible.
Case sensitive: Unchecked, don't worry about this.
Goal value: This is the monetary value of your goal. If you're tracking email list sign ups and know that each person on your list is worth $10 to you, then you would enter 10.0. For our purposes, we are tracking an RSS subscription that doesn't have a concrete dollar value. In this case, I recommend setting this at 1.0. This allows you to take a quick glance at future reports and know that each conversion equals a single instance of your goal being accomplished.
3. Scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes.
4. Now you have to get your hands dirty and make a quick edit to your site's HTML. Open the HTML file containing code for the link(s) you want to track. For example, here is the HTML for my RSS subscription via feed reader link:
<a rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternetMegaphone">Subscribe in a RSS reader</a>To tell Google Analytics to trigger my goal any time this link is clicked, I add this piece of code:
onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/goal/rss.html');"
The final product looks like this:
<a onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/goal/rss.html');" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/InternetMegaphone">Subscribe in a RSS reader</a>
You can also add the code to any button on your site. Here's what it looks like when I add the same goal code to the Subscribe button to track RSS email subscriptions:
<input onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/goal/rss.html');" type="submit" value="Subscribe" />
Simply replace /goal/rss.html with the code for your goal. You can repeat this process as many times as you'd like (without exceeding Google Analytics' maximum of 4 goals per profile).
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments and I'll get back to you!
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I'm an internet marketing consultant / geek living in Manhattan Beach, California. I also grill a mean steak. Have an online marketing question? Contact me.