Posted 1 year ago #
My bounce rate as been consistently low as long as I can remember (under 6% on average). I've been reading that this can be caused by analytics tracking code entered twice but I do not know how to verify this. I tried utm.gif request through HTTP headers but not sure what it all means? If anybody knows how to check this and consequently fix it if that is indeed the case, your help would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
My site: http://www.babycouponsandstuff.com
Posted 1 year ago #
You do have analytics code appearing twice.
You appear to use Yoast's plugin to insert the tracking code in the header
But it also appears in the footer of your code.... have you manually pasted the tracking code into footer.php, or are you using 2 analytics plugins?
Posted 1 year ago #
I have not manually pasted it there nor am I using 2 analytics plugins. How do I fix it? And thank you!
Posted 1 year ago #
I'm not sure.... we would need to figure out where the second instance of the analytics code is coming from.
DO you have an SEO plugin maybe that you entered your analytics info into? Or maybe a theme setting? I can't tell from your source code where it is coming from
Posted 1 year ago #
I have installed other tracking plugins but they are set inactive now. I also was getting the low bounce rate before those were installed. I'll have to go through each plugin and see which one might have asked for analytics code. I don't recall any. I have xml sitemaps installed.
I have the Thesis theme. Don't know if it automatically installs it, but I found this... http://www.ehow.com/how_8434043_remove-analytics-code-wordpress-footer.html, however, the footer.php does not show up for me under "Templates." So I am basically clueless as to how to remove this code and whether I can just delete it.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
Posted 1 year ago #
the theme wouldn't automatically insert analytics stuff unless you put in some sort of info, and it definitely wouldn't be in the code unless you put it there... so you won't have to worry about either of those options .. it's gotta be a plugin then
Posted 1 year ago #
Any suggestions as to how I might figure this out? I went through each plugin and can't seem to figure it out at this point. Not sure what to do.
Posted 1 year ago #
do you know how to view your source code from in the browser? Depending on what browser you use... for instance IE you click view -> page source. You can view your page's source output html through each browser
If you view your source code you will see code that looks like this
<script type="text/javascript">//<![CDATA[
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount','UA-xxxxxxxxx-2']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
//]]></script>One near the top of your code (that has a comment in it that tells you it's done by Yoast's plugin) and another at the very bottom that doesn't tell you where it's from
Basically, I would kill all plugins and view the source code to make sure they are both gone. Then turn on Yoast's analytics plugin and reload the page and view source to see if only the top analytics code comes back.
Then repeat this process over and over repeating the process to see when that bottom analytics code comes back.
Maybe start off by just deactivating Yoast's plugin, to see if it is accidentally loading the code twice. Basically if you can't tell what is inserting the code, it's all manual testing.
Posted 1 year ago #
Yikes, okay so I uninstalled the Yoast plugin and the bottom code is still there. Now I'm having a reality check as my true stats are starting to show. Bounce rate going up. So can I just leave that plugin off as it seems GA is working fine without it rather than going through every plugin? Would that be problem solved?
Posted 1 year ago #
Well, if that gets rid of the second iteration of the code.... its up to you!
I'd like to figure out where that second code is coming from, but if you can't figure it out, as long as the bottom code is still there, you will be fine!
So basically yeah, it's entirely up to you!
Posted 1 year ago #
I can try and work on it tonight after kiddos are asleep and I get some posts done today. I got nothing done yesterday in trying to figure out this little problem so playing catch up today. But I'm pretty curious to know where it came from too so I'll see what I can figure out. Thank you for all your help! If I'm not able to get to this I'll come back and mark it resolved but if I get it figured out I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks again!
Posted 1 year ago #
But I'm pretty curious to know where it came from too so I'll see what I can figure out.
Check your other plugins, but also any theme specific settings you may have.
Posted 1 year ago #
Oh gosh, thanks Ipstenu! Looks like I entered it under Thesis Site Options - Stats Software/Scripts. Holy cow! I've been getting false stats for as long as I can remember. What a dummy!
So then I can reinstall the plugin and delete the extra code from the Thesis site options and be good right? I can't believe I thought I had near perfect bounce rate and pageviews for nearly a year. That's a newbie blogger for you! At least my income shouldn't be affected but what a wake up call!
Posted 1 year ago #
So then I can reinstall the plugin and delete the extra code from the Thesis site options and be good right?
Yes :) You can do that and be fine.
Don't worry, we've all done silly things like that before!
Posted 1 year ago #
Perfect! Thanks again to both of you for your help! Looks like I have a new reality check. Will just have to strive to do better now. :)
Posted 1 year ago #
To quote me:
Or maybe a theme setting?
Lol!! We had that discussion a couple of days ago!! ;)
No matter, I"m glad Ipstenu was able to get you there!!
As Ipstenu stated, we've all done it before! Especially when your site gets to be a couple of years old... it can be really hard to remember just what you set up, how, and where!
Posted 1 year ago #
Yes, Rev Voodoo! Didn't click when you mentioned it but I caught that too. Whoops! Well, problem solved now. I just have to get used to these new stats now. Lol! Thanks again!
Posted 1 year ago #
Sometimes it helps to have it asked in a different way :D
(Okay, we were really ignoring the Right Honorable Rev Voodoo ;) )
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