Asynchronous Tracking in Google Analytics
Many users are using a synchronous implementation of Google Analytics and aren’t aware that there is another way to go about leveraging GA with some more added flexibility. Asynchronous tracking allows the browser to fully load the content on the page (i.e render) while the main reference file (ga.js) loads up in the background.This method specifically tracks how browsers load and handle the ga.js file so that it minimizes the impact felt by end users. It also allows you to move the code from the footer file to a higher spot within the source code.Asynchronous tracking works by utilizing HTML 5 and the browser’s ability to load files up while the page continues to render for the end user. Now you don’t need to bury the analytics code within the footer to ensure that the page will completely render prior to the code firing off.I think any end user who is concerned with page load time (especially since Google will now be counting this in their equation for SERP rankings), should take advantage of the asynchronous ga.js implementation.I was going to write up a detailed posting on this but I believe that google themselves did an outstanding job on this:http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/asyncTracking.htmlPlease note:
- this method of tracking temporarily stores information into a queue so if you are doing any advanced tracking on your site (i.e. virtual page views, custom variables, goals/events, etc) you will need to review the documentation provided by Google on how to code specifically for this.
Written by:
Dorian D. Regester
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