Customizing Google Analytics using Advanced Segments

As a continuation of today’s web strategy team meeting, I have discovered how to use Advanced Segments to customize your Google Analytics reports even further. This will help you apply certain features of Google Analytics (such as generating a map overlay) to a specific page or section of the site.

  1. In the left navigation within the Google Analytics dashboard, click “Advanced Segments”.

    Google Analytics: Advanced Segments
    Google Analytics: Advanced Segments
  2. Click “Create new custom segment”.
  3. Drag Content < Page Title into the green “Dimension or Metric” slot.
  4. Google Analytics: Content: Page Title
    Google Analytics: Content: Page Title
  5. Leave the condition as “Matches exactly” and select your Page Title from the Value dropdown menu. Name the segment appropriately and click “Create Segment”.

    Google Analytics: New Segment
    Google Analytics: New Segment
  6. Now you can use the Advanced Segments dropdown menu (top right of the screen as you navigate around the dashboard). Make sure to deselect “All Visits” and select the name of your custom segment before clicking “Apply”.

    Google Analytics: Using a custom segment
    Google Analytics: Using a custom segment

Additional resources

If you’re hungry to learn more about Google Analytics, I found the googleanalytics YouTube channel very useful. Google also has a Google Analytics blog; the “Beginner Topics” category is a great place to start!

Google Analytics: Setting up email reports

  1. Log in to Google Analytics using your Google account credentials. You will see the accounts selection screen (shown below, though yours may differ slightly). Choose “Middlebury College” to continue. (Yes, I know we aren’t Middlebury, but they have centralized Google Analytics for all websites associated with Midd, hence the name.)

    Google Analytics: Accounts Selection
    Google Analytics: Accounts Selection
  2. Once you have logged into Google Analytics and selected the Middlebury College account, you will see these 3 profiles:
    • all = all visitors (everyone who visits miis.edu)
    • midd = visitors from within the 140.233.x.x IP address range (everyone who visits miis.edu from the Middlebury or Monterey Institute campus networks)
    • non-midd = visitors from outside the 140.233.x.x IP address range (everyone who visits miis.edu and is NOT accessing the web via the Midd or MIIS campus networks)

    Google Analytics: Profiles Overview
    Google Analytics: Profiles Overview
  3. Select 1 of the 3 profiles in order to navigate to the Google Analytics dashboard.
  4. Look for the “Email” button throughout the Google Analytics interface in order to set up email reports.

    Google Analytics: Dashboard
    Google Analytics: Dashboard
  5. You can then choose “Send Now” to send a one-time email or choose “Schedule” to have reports sent to you (and/or to others) a regular basis.

    Google Analytics: Set Up Email
    Google Analytics: Set Up Email

What kind of report(s) should I set up?

Create reports that will be useful for you or others in your department. Explore the Google Analytics dashboard to discover which types of information are most pertinent to you. These reports can be simple (ex: the number of visitors to the Admissions section) or more complex (ex: the top referring sites for visitors from each country).

Drop me a line if you have an idea for a report but aren’t quite sure how to make it happen. I will also be detailing some techniques for more complex custom reports in another blog post.

I created a report, now what?

Sit tight and watch your statistics for a few weeks. We can then discuss techniques for improving your section of the site based on these analytics.

Let’s dive in to Google Analytics!

The basics

Okay, so this video is 9 minutes long, but I promise you don’t have to watch all of it in order to get the gist. It’s super helpful if you’ve never looked at the Google Analytics dashboard before (or if you have ventured into Google Analytics but don’t know where to start!).

Dashboard: Settings: Google Analytics
Dashboard: Settings: Google Analytics

Cool, so how do I set up Google Analytics on my blog?

It’s easy to set up Google Analytics if your blog is hosted on Blogs @ MIIS.

First, you’ll need a Google Analytics account. If you already have a Google account, that will work just fine. Head on over to Google Analytics to get started.

You’ll need to create a new account for your blog in order to get a Google Analytics tracking code. It will look something like this: UA-XXXXX-2

From your blog’s dashboard, navigate to the Settings menu and select “Google Analytics”. Enter your tracking code into the box provided and click “Save Changes”.

Voila! You’re done. Note that it may take awhile for any data to show up in your Google Analytics account, but you’re on your way to analyzing your blog’s traffic!

RSS

What Is RSS?

Often represented by the orange icon below, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a popular format for delivering regularly changing web content, such as blogs or news sites. (For the record, Atom is another syndication format that functions very similarly to RSS.)

How Can I Use RSS Feeds?

You should first choose an RSS reader (sometimes called a feed reader or aggregator). RSS readers regularly check websites for updates, creating a unique information space. Think of it as your own digital newspaper, customized to your interests. Take a look around at the different feed readers available and decide which one you like best. Some popular ones:

These are just a few of the web-based RSS readers available. There are also feed readers that can be downloaded to your computer or cell phone. Mashable offers a very comprehensive list of all feed readers.

Once you have chosen a feed reader, you will able to find sites that offer syndicated content and add their RSS feed to your list of feeds. Look for the RSS icon or a text link that says something along the lines of “Subscribe” or “RSS” or “Atom.” After subscribing to a few feeds, when you visit your feed reader, you will be able to view the newest content for the sites you have subscribed to.

For example, here is an example of what my Google Reader looks like:

Kristen's Google Reader

Still Confused?

Watch RSS in Plain English.

Sites DOT MIISThe Middlebury Institute site network.