Google Analytics

How to send search data to Google Analytics

There are currently two ways of adding Cludo search data to Google Analytics. This article will describe how to directly send Cludo search data to Google Analytics without the use of Google Tag Manager. When needed, the Cludo search data can also be sent to Google Tag Manager and parse on to Google Analytics. See this article for more info.

Enable the Google Analytics integration to automatically send search events to your Google Analytics each time a search is made through your Cludo search engine.

Enable the integration in MyCludo

1. In the navigation, select Configuration › Data settings.
2. Enable the Send data to Google Analytics toggle.
3. Click the Save button.

Set up Google Analytics to receive search data

Search events that are sent to Google Analytics 4 contain some specific parameters or pieces of information regarding the search. In the Google Analytics account, a custom “dimension” must be created for each parameter to track.

How much data to receive

Each Cludo search event contains a handful of parameters that can be saved as a dimension. While the search_term parameter is highly recommended to add, the rest of the dimensions can be considered optional:

• search_term – the search term entered by the visitor.
• q_cludoPage – the search results page number that a user is on when the search event is sent
• q_cludoResultCount – the number of results returned for the search
• A parameter (or set of parameters) that shows what facets were selected when the search was made. This will vary based on how the search template works. For example, if the template have one “Category” facet, one dimension can be added with the parameter q_cludoCategory.

How to set up a custom definition

• Log into Google Analytics.
• In the left side panel, click the Admin menu.
• In the Data display list, select the Custom definitions option.
• Create as many custom definitions as needed:
  • Click the Create custom dimensions button.
  • Enter a descriptive name in the Dimension name field.
  • Ensure the Scope drop down is set to “Event”.
  • Optional: Enter a description in the Description field.
  • Enter the Cludo parameter in the Event Parameter field.
  • Click the Save button.

View search data in Google Analytics

• Log into Google Analytics.
• In the left menu, select the Reports option.
• Under Life Cycle, click Engagment › Events.
• In the event table, click the view_seach_results event.

A full report on the search event will appear.

How does the Google Analytics integration work?

The Google Analytics 4 integration from Cludo allows search data to seamlessly be sent to Google Analytics in real-time for further analysis and comparison to other website activity. The integration supports a series of different search data values like the search term, number of results found, and event filter values the visitor may have applied during their search.

It is possible for Cludo to send data directly to Google Analytics, or by using Google Tag Manager as a temporary handler of the data. Using Google Tag Manager would allow for the search data to be used to tag visitors with traits, which could be used again in Cludo with the audience feature. From Google Tag Manager, the data can be parsed onto Google Analytics for easy-to-read analytics reports.

Why are the Cludo analytics different from Google Analytics?

When a visitor searches, it triggers CludoJS. CludoJS sends the analytics to Google Analytics and to Cludo.

If the user has any adblockers activated on their browser, all requests to Google Analytics will likely be blocked, which can cause differences in the analytics,

Additionally, if for any reason a request to Cludo analytics has not been served, we can still provide some analytics about the search because Cludo uses a combination of client-sent analytics and server logs.