Diagnose Your SiteCatalyst Problems

Here is the situation: someone on your team (in the best case it was you, in the worst case it was a client) has noticed that your SiteCatalyst data doesn't make sense. Your main campaign isn't showing any traffic, or your conversion rates have gone down the toilet. Either way, you are now flying blind without the data to inform your marketing efforts. So, how do you figure out what went wrong?

Demonstrating competence in troubleshooting these types of data issues is one of the quickest ways to establish credibility and expertise as an Analyst, but it is something that I have repeatedly seen younger practitioners struggle with. They are fluent in the reporting interface, and have mastered the art of slicing and dicing the data, but when it comes to diagnosing these technical issues, they just don't know where to begin.

I am a big advocate of formal training for our Analysts, so we recently held a seminar to walk through the steps needed to identify the root cause of SiteCatalyst data problems. There are two things that came out of this training that are worth sharing. The first is the case study method that was used. It made the material relevant, fun, and forced our Analysts to find the solution on their own rather than simply sit through a presentation. This is a great format for managers who are trying to educate their teams. The second is the step by step SiteCatalyst troubleshooting guide that was created as a takeaway from the training. This is a handy cheat sheet for all Analysts to follow as they encounter similar issues.

The Case Study Method:

We used a current example from one of our largest clients to make the training feel relevant.

Instead of giving another boring presentation, we guided our Analysts through the process, and forced them to come to a solution on their own, as a team.

We started with the actual email from a member of our Paid Search team that initially brought the problem to our attention. Each of the Analysts was asked to make a list of potential causes, and then we went around the room sharing ideas. We then used multiple data sources, debugger outputs, and source code screenshots to investigate the issues one by one. When it finally came time to reach out to the client, we discussed in depth everything that needed to be included in that email (the things we had already investigated, when the problem first appeared, what we thought the likely causes could have been, and what information we were hoping to obtain from them).

The Analysts were very engaged, took turns driving the conversation, and gave extremely positive feedback on the training. Most importantly, I have noticed a major improvement in their abilities since we held the training. I would highly recommend this method be used as Managers look for ways to build out the skill set of their teams.


Guide to Diagnosing SiteCatalyst Data Issues

Step 1: Find out what the problem is/if there is a problem

A lot of times, members of our teams come to us with "data errors", but they have just misinterpreted what they are seeing or have pulled the data incorrectly. Make sure you are clear on their assumptions and think critically about whether or not an issue truly exists.

Step 2: When did the problem begin?

Once we have determined there is a problem, the first thing we usually do is look at a trended view of the data to see when things started to go wrong. This will tell us whether the issue has always been present, or if there is a date where something changed. If we can isolate a date, we can then check to see what changes were made to our site or our campaigns that could have caused it.

Step 3: Identify the scope of the issue

Is this isolated to a specific campaign/page, or is this a site-wide issue? If we find that the issue is site-wide, it is likely an issue with the SiteCatalyst s_code, so that is a good place to look. If it is isolated to a page or campaign, then you should investigate changes made locally on the page or to the trafficking of the campaigns.

Step 4A: Check the landing page (for page-specific issues only)

Does the landing page have SiteCatalyst code? Does it look correct? Does a debugger pick up the tracking you would expect to see, including campaign codes? Does the page functionality work? (sometimes it is a functionality issue rather than a tracking issue).

Step 4B: Check the campaigns (for campaign issues only)

Are the campaigns trafficked with proper codes appended to the URLs? Is there a question mark after the destination URL and before the tracking code(good)? Are there two question marks (not good)?

Step 5: Find out what changed

Now that you have identified when your problem occurred, and what the likely sources of the problem are, you can involve other parties to understand what changes were made and how they can be fixed. Bring in your technical or web development team for s_code or page issues, and bring in your media teams for campaign related problems.



That's that. Hope you've found it helpful!