Evaluate Your Content
with Google Analytics
Ben MacNeill
User Interface Designer, eXtension
October 22, 2009

Google
Analytics
• Traffic analysis tool
• Free (Need a Google
account. No public
view unfortunately*.)
• Who (Visitors),
What (Content),
Where (Traffic)
How (Bounces)

What's
the most
popular
content?

Where
are your
visitors
coming
from?
*82% from search

How are
your
readers
finding
your
content?

boiiiiiiing How many
boiiiiiiiiiiiing
boiiiiiiiiiiiiing visit your
bo– page and
boing
boiiiiiiiing leave?
boiiiing (and is
boiiiiiiiing that good
boiiiing or bad?)
boiiiiing

What about my content?
• the Public site GA data is aggregated
• No way to look at a single category of content
(until recently!)

Top-Level Categories in GA
• Available in content reports
• Top Content (Most Popular)
• Top Landing Pages (Arrivals)
• Top Exit Pages (Departures)
• Look at all content or limit to specific types
(Articles, FAQs, Learning Lessons, Events)

What Does it Look Like?

How it works
• Actual url: http://www.extension.org/faq/824
• We pass an extra parameter to GA when the
visit is recorded
• Extra parameter = Top-level categories

Using the 'Find Page' Filter
• Select a report: Content > Top Content
• Choose any CoP resource area tag
• No spaces. "beef_cattle" not "beef cattle"
• View all content: fire_ants
• View only FAQs: (faq).*(fire_ants)
• View only Articles: (pages).*(fire_ants)

Let's Go to
the Browser

Analysis: Bounce rate
• the percentage of visitors to a page who leave
without visiting any other page

Bounce rate: 41%

Bounce rate: 91%

Bounce rate: 41%

Under-performers?
• Don't unpublish a piece of content
• Destroys all the Google page rank built up
for that page
• Generates a "Page not found" for all new
visitors coming from search
• Damages the reputation of the site
• Breaks all links that point to your page

Content, check.
What about my visitors?

Let's Go to
the Browser

Set up a Category Segment
1 3 4
2
5

Advanced Segments
• A slice of all traffic
• Great for Visitor-based reports
(Visits, geography, traffic sources)
• Page-level metrics will be skewed
(Pageviews, Average Pageviews, Time on Site)
Because the segment includes all pages the
visitor viewed – not just your pages.

Get Reports by Email

Schedule Email Reports

Getting Access to GA
• If you need access to eXtension GA, send me
your gmail address or the email associated
with your Google user ID.
• ben.macneill@extension.org
• thanks!