Google Analytics allows you to easily configure, filter, and focus your site's traffic data in powerful ways. And we want you to avoid the few pitfalls that we have seen around configuration of filters, goals, and e-commerce. For example, when a filter is accidentally implemented incorrectly in a profile, important data can get excluded from that profile's reports. Another example relates to goals: creating a goal in a profile and then changing it is common, but the historical data in that profile will always reflect the first goal, which may not be desirable. For the dates they were implemented, these configurations will unfortunately modify data for that time period permanently.When you duplicate profiles, the new data you collect appears in several profiles at once, letting you manipulate the duplicate data in different ways. You can then keep the original profile unaltered so it can contain every piece of data collected by the tracking code on your site.particular subdirectory here for more information about creating duplicate profiles in your account.Posted by Eliah Gilfenbaum, Google Analytics Team
A few people at the Emetrics Summit told us they'd like to learn more tips and tricks for implementing Google Analytics. So in the next few weeks we will begin including tips straight from various members of the Google Analytics team. And we'll kick it off with a tip for bloggers, though anyone can use it.domain. You can't see what comes after the domain -- the rest of the referring link -- to see the exact page on the site that contained the link to your blog. There is a way to see this data however: by cross-segmenting a referring source by Content. Choose "Cross Segment Performance" and then you will see a drop down menu. Choose to cross segment the entry by "Content." find out what posts readers liked the most by looking at daily visits and popularity of permalinks. (Knowing this can influence what you write about.) see if you're keeping your readers by comparing new vs. returning visitors find out how people exit your blog, as well as measure subscriptions to your feed using UrchinTracker on your links see how long readers spend looking at your content by looking at average length of visits monitor visitor activity after you make a post to see when daily visit levels taper off. (That means it's time to post again.) Analytics Forum .Posted by Gauri Deshmukh and Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team
There are some pretty fantastic resources on the web for people who use Google Analytics, and those interested in learning more. We want to mention a few blogs on web analytics generally and on Google Analytics that we've been reading. We highly recommend these to all of you who use data to back up your online decisions.ROI Revolution Blog Google Analytics Authorized Consultant (GAAC). This frequently updated blog contains interviews with web analytics experts, as well as Google Analytics tips and in-depth explanations of reports with screenshots. Great reading. Take a look at these two recent posts:Start at the Beginning: Making Sense of the Google Analytics Toolbox by Meredith SmithUnderstanding Google Analytics' Data Over Time Report by Michael HarrisonGA Experts Blog Omega Digital Media and a very informative Google Analytics-focused blog addressing practical questions and offering some pretty ingenious solutions. Learn about a new filter called "Override Bid Term Filter" that will show you the actual search keywords that brought a visitor to your site, not just the keyword that you bid on in your PPC account, in the recent post How to Get Detailed PPC Keyword Data from Google Analytics This Just In EpikOne , a one-stop, do-it-all GAAC on the east coast, which has its own informative blog . Justin posts helpful, troubleshooting articles that help clarify Google Analytics and make it even more understandable, useful, and accessible. Check out Justin's recent posts:Google Analytics: How to Tell When Something is Wrong Google Analytics Configuration Mistake #3: Third Party Domains Occam's Razor Seven Steps to Creating a Data Driven Decision Making Culture Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team
Do you use both Google Analytics and Google AdSense? If so, we'd like to get your feedback on two questions: Which Google Analytics reports do you use most often in conjunction with your AdSense account? And which reports or metrics would you most like to see added to Google Analytics to help you succeed with AdSense?Tell us your opinions in the Google Group "Analytics Help" which is a forum for Google Analytics users. We've created a topic thread to specifically hear this feedback.here .Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team
Today, in a speech to the entire Emetrics Summit audience, Brett Crosby from Google announced the beta launch of a new tool, Website Optimizer .Website Optimizer is a free tool that helps AdWords advertisers test different landing pages and determine which one drives the most conversions. A true multivariate testing tool, Website Optmizer allows you to test variations of headlines, promotional copy, and images. The tool allows you to update your site with the winning test combination and continue to experiment.sign-up basis.Google AdWords Blog post .Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
Big news today for e-commerce site owners: you can now use Google Analytics with Google Checkout. Simply add a JavaScript call and a hidden field to each page that displays the Google Checkout button and you'll be able to see conversions and revenue metrics for your Checkout transactions. Here are the complete instructions .here or read the post on the Google Checkout blog .Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
Google Analytics , by Mary E. Tyler and Jerri L. Ledford (Wiley Publishing) has just come out, the first of what we hope will be many helpful titles on Google Analytics. It walks through the whys and hows of most of the Google Analytics reports and provides some good hypothetical and real-world cases of how you can use the information. If you have been trying to avoid using filters and regular expressions, you may find the chapter on "Filtering Your Data" to be particularly helpful. However, there have been some important developments since this book went to press: the book does not discuss the new AdWords Analysis and AdWords Keyword Positions reports and you no longer need an invitation to create a Google Analytics account. Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
