This document provides an overview of advanced Google Analytics features such as filters, advanced segments, goals and funnels, event tracking, tracking outbound links, and alerts. It includes step-by-step instructions for setting up filters to exclude IP addresses, creating advanced segments, setting up conversion goals and funnels, using event tracking for non-HTML files and outbound links, and setting up alerts. Examples are provided throughout to illustrate how these features can be applied in a library context.

1. Advanced Google
Analytics
Jeff Wisniewski
Darlene Fichter
October 27, 2013

2. Welcome!
Greetings Earthlings

3. Everyone have a GA account?
Login or buddy up!

4. Your experience with GA?
I set up a GA account

5. Game plan
• Filters and advanced segments
• Goals and funnels
• Tracking non-HTML files
• Events
• Tracking outbound links
• Alerts (intelligence events)
SEE THEN DO

6. Filters and advanced segments
Important distinction:
Filters are destructive,
advanced segments are not
TIP: Create a backup, non filtered profile
(view) of your data for safekeeping

7. Create backup profile (view)
Admin > View Settings > Copy View

8. Filter example: IP addresses
• Why might you want to exclude IPs from
your analytics? You want to see, or need to
report on, traffic that excludes devices from
within your libraries.
• This could include staff devices, publicly
accessible devices, or both.

9. How to exclude a single IP
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Go to Admin
Click Filters
Click New filter button
Choose create new
Filter type: predefined
Name the filter
Choose Exclude traffic from the IP addresses
Enter IP
Save

10. Click New Filter

11. Create New Filter
Exclude traffic

12. How to exclude IP range(s)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Go to Admin
Click Filters
Click New filter button
Choose create new
Name the filter
Filter type: custom, exclude
Filter field: IP address
Filter pattern??
Save

13. Filters: Exclude IP ranges
Enter using “regular expressions”
Stand back.
I know regular expressions.

14. Filters: Regular expressions
"In computing, regular expression provides a
concise and flexible means for "matching"
(specifying and recognizing) strings of numbers or
text, such as particular characters, words, or
patterns of characters." -Wikipedia
Think Boolean searching meets
wildcards, on steroids.

15. Example
^136.142.(1.([2-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([04][0-9]|5[0-5]))|(([2-9]|[1-2][0-9]|3[0-4]).([09]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[05])))|35.([0-9]|1[0-2]))$

16. Filters: Regular expressions
Google has a form-based tool for
generating regular expressions for ranges
of IPs ! Yay Google!
http://support.google.com/bin/answer.py?hl=e
n&answer=1034771&rd=1
Use this:
http://www.analyticsmarket.com/freetools/iprege
x

17. Filters: Exclude IP range(s)
Have multiple ranges?
Rerun the tool with the additional range(s),
put them all together
separate each expression it
generates with the pipe symbol |
and paste into your filter

18. Advanced segments
Advanced segments are non-destructive; they create distinct
VIEWS of your data

19. Advanced segments
Several predefined advanced segments are
available out of the box
Can create custom advanced segment
You can work with up to a total of four
segments at a time

20. Advanced segments
Example:
Create an advanced segment that easily shows
how many users access your site remotely
versus onsite

21. Advanced segments
Advanced segments apply throughout a
profile.
If you keep the segment(s) active,
they’re visible in all of the different
reports available to you in GA.

22. Advanced segments how to
1. Define segment
2. Create statement
3. Combine statements

23. Advanced segments how to
Once you’re in your website’s profile go to:
Admin > Advanced Segments > New Segment

24. Admin > Advanced Segments > New Segment Name

25. Domain name contains verison OR comcast

26. Second segment for visits from pitt.edu

27. Advanced Segments > Choose 2 custom segments
Pitt & Remote Access

28. Report on visits from
Pitt
Remote
Access

29. Goals and funnels
Admin > Goals > Create a Goal

30. Goals: Setting up goals and funnels
Name the goal something intuitive, “Class Registration”
2. Choose whether the goal is active (ON) now
3. Choose a type of goal.
1.
•
Most library scenario goals will be “URL Destination”. This
means the goal is to get the user to a specific place, such as
“thank you for registering” page
Enter the URL for the goal page
5. Under “Goal Funnel” click ON
6. Enter the URL(s) of the page(s) along the path a user would
take from the homepage all the way to the |thank you” page.
4.

31. TIP
“Exact match” has to be EXACTLY the same as the URL….even
leading or trailing spaces will cause it to fail

32. Goal Name
Goal Type - Destination

33. Destination URL
thankyou.html

35. Tracking non HTML files
Use event tracking to track:
• Any Flash-driven element, like a Flash
website, or a Flash Movie player
• Embedded AJAX page elements
• Page gadgets
• File downloads, like PDFs

36. Tracking non HTML files
Two ways:
1. Virtual pageviews
Downside - artificially inflates pageview
numbers
2. Event tracking

37. Event tracking
Five components:
•
•
•
•
•
categories
actions
labels
values
implicit count

38. Event tracking
Category: A category is the root level of Event Tracking Some
sample categories are "Videos" and ”PDFs".
Action: An action is a descriptor for a particular event.

39. Event tracking
Label: A label is an optional
Value: A value is a numerical variable that you can
assign to any event that you've assigned to a category.
Implicit Count: The implicit count is a count of the
number of interactions with an event category.

40. Event tracking code
<a href=“geneaology.pdf"
onClick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', ’Guides', ’Download',
’Intro to Genealogy Research]);”>Download the
guide</a>
Category = Guides
Action = Download
Label = Intro to Genealogy Research

41. Event reports
Appear under Content > Events

42. Events

43. Event reports by event name

44. Tracking outbound links
Insert this code into the <head> of the page(s) on
which you want to track outbound links:
<script type="text/javascript">
function trackOutboundLink(link, category, action) {
try {
_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', category , action]);
} catch(err){}
setTimeout(function() {
document.location.href = link.href;
}, 100);
}
</script>

45. Tracking outbound links
Tag the link(s) you want to track by using a javascript
onClick statement:
your link: www.example.com
<a href="http://www.example.com"
onClick="recordOutboundLink(this,
'Outbound Links', 'example.com');return false;">
the category
the link label

46. Alerts
Google calls these “Intelligence Events”
Alert me when 5 camels cross the road.

47. Examples
Any referrals from a local news site that recently wrote about your
library?
A class confirmation page has been generated X times, class nearly
full
Pageviews of your 404 page go up by X %...what’s wrong?

48. Alerts
Admin > Custom Alerts > Create New Alert

49. How to create an alert
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Alert name
Apply to?
Period? (Day, Week, Month)
Send me an email?
Set up your mobile phone (optional)
Alert applies to?
Alert me when?
Click Create Alert

50. New alert applies to
www.library.pitt.edu

51. Alert name – facebook referrals
Referral path
contains “facebook”
Increases by 10%

52. This event applies to PITTClassic profile

53. Word cloud (bonus!)
Acquisition > Keywords > Organic

54. Keyword
Display as:

56. Questions? Comments?

57. Internet Librarian 2013
Thanks!

58. Photo Credits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Slide 2 JD Hancock
Slide 3 Women's eNews
Slide 4 cambodia4kidsorg
Slide 4 brett jordan
Slide 5 LifeSupercharger adapted, new image license CC BY-SA 2
Slide 6 Patrick Hoesly
Slide 13 Jenn and Tony Bot
Slide 14 SuziJane
Slide 20 santheo adapted, new image license CC BY-SA 2
Slide 37 ajstarks
Slide 47 Åndrey
Slide 48 mkhmarketing
Slide 57 __MaRiNa__