This document provides an overview of Google Analytics for NCSU Libraries' staff. It outlines the agenda, learning objectives, and what Google Analytics is and isn't. It then covers getting access, the reporting interface including dimensions, metrics, filtering, and saving reports. Sample reports are discussed like audience, traffic sources, content, and custom reports. Recommendations are made to explore the data, analyze questions, monitor changes, and take action.

1. Google Analytics Basics for
NCSU Libraries' Staff
with Charlie Morris on November 7
and November 8, 2012

2. Agenda
1. What Google Analytics is and isn’t
2. Getting access
3. The reporting interface
4. Dimensions and metrics
5. Filtering
6. Saving
7. Sample reports
8. Actionable Questions

3. Learning Objectives
• Know what the software is capable of and
how it works
• Know how you might be able to make
efficient use of the software
• Know where you can go to get help with it

4. What is Google Analytics?
• Free software we've installed on all of our
web pages that tracks the usage of our site
and reports it back to us.

5. <script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-17138302-1']);
_gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'lib.ncsu.edu']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async =
true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') +
'.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga,
s);
})();
</script>

6. What Google Analytics isn’t
• A 100% complete picture of web traffic
– Only tracks if JavaScript is enabled
– JavaScript needs to communicate with server
– Anonymizes IP addresses
– Protects Google searchers privacy
– Not quite “unique”
– Doesn’t track every click out of the box

7. How data should be interpreted
• trend data
• in context

8. Access
• In order to view what Google Analytics is
reporting, you will need to be given access:
– send your non-NCSU GMail account in an email
to libwebteam@ncsu.edu
– go to google.com/analytics
(see Confluence)

9. The Interface

10. Photo%credit:%MICHAEL%&%PATRICIA%FOGDEN%

12. Main Menu
Menu%Item% Sub%menu% What%it%is%
Home% Intelligence%events,% Think%of%as%“My%
Dashboards,% Google%AnalyJcs”%
Shortcuts%
Standard%ReporJng% Audience,% The%default%set%of%
AdverJsing,%Traffic% reports%
Sources,%Content,%
Conversions%
Custom%ReporJng% Custom%Reports% Place%to%design%your%
own%reports%

14. Fundamentals of Reports
Dimensions and Metrics

15. Dimensions and Metrics
• Dimensions: The item that you’re measuring
• Metrics: The measurement that you’ll apply
to the thing you are measuring

16. Very Basic Example
• Metric: Pageviews
• Dimension: Pages
1.1 M

17. Dates
• Every report must have a specified window
of dates
• Example: September 2012

18. Example
• Metric: Pageviews
• Dimension: Pages
• Dates: The month of September 2012
1.1 M

19. Text Filters
• Narrow your Dimension for the report you’re
viewing.
• Example: “/search/”
/search/%

20. Filtering Example
• Metric: Pageviews
• Dimension: Pages
• Dates: The month of September 2012
• Text Filter: Pages contain “/search/”
116k

21. Filtering Example
• Metric: Pageviews
• Dimension: Pages
• Dates: The month of September 2012
• Text Filter: Pages begin with “/search/”
113k

22. Advanced Segments
• To add a condition based on a where your
user came from or what they did during a
visit
• “User Filters”
• Example: “Returning Visitors”

23. Filtering Example
• Metric: Pageviews
• Dimension: Pages
• Dates: The month of September 2012
• Text Filter: Pages start with “/search/”
• Segment: Visits during the midnight hour
3k

24. Other ones
• Metrics: • Dimensions
– Pageview – Page
• Entrance – Landing Page
• Exit – Start Page
• Bounce
– Source
– Visit
– Referral Path
– Pages/Visit
– Browser, OS
– Unique Visit (or other)
– Domain (user’s ISP)
– Durations: Time on
Page, Time for Visit, – Visitor Type
Averages – Month of Year, Week of
– Load Time year, Day of week, Hour
– Hour of day

25. Review
• Generate a report by applying a dimension
to a metric over a span of days
• Narrow by:
– Filter
– Advanced Segments
Image%source:%hPp://strivetosimplify.com/coffeeSfiltersS15Suses/%

26. Save/Export/Bookmark
Menu%item% Ac2on%
Email% Generate%a%oneSJme%or%recurring%email%of%
the%report%
Export% Save%the%report%as%a%PDF%or%other%file%
format%
Add%to%Dashboard% Save%the%report%in%your%custom%dashboard%
(in%the%Home%secJon)%
Shortcut% Save%a%link%shortcut%to%the%report%in%your%
shortcuts%page%(in%the%Home%secJon)%

27. Sample Reports
Overview Reports
Monitoring a Set of Pages
Examining Traffic Spikes
Keywords

28. Standard Reports
Why: Easy pre-baked reports for vital statistics
and general understanding.
Highlights:
1. Visitors Overview (Audience > Overview)
2. Traffic Sources Overview (Traffic Sources >
Overview)
3. Content Overview (Content > Overview)

29. Monitoring a Set of Pages
Why: Pay attention to the part of the site you
are responsible for
Content > Site Content > All Pages
• Filter by name of page.
• Advanced Filtering

31. Examining Traffic Spikes
Why: Learn what resonates with users, what’s
working?
• Hover over spike to find the day
• Change time to that day (start and end)
• Choose Secondary Dimension: Source

32. Keywords
Why: Understand what your users are looking for
in their own words
1. Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Organic
2. Secondary dimension: Landing Page
3. Advanced Filter:
1. exclude Keywords: (not provided) and (not set)
2. Include Landing Page: “page/area of interest here”
4. Apply and Export as CSV

34. Some recommendations

35. Explore%
Act% *QuesJon%
Analyze% Configure%
Monitor%

36. An “Actionable” Question
1. Have a specific question that
can be definitively answered
by GA
2. Determine your action based
on the answer to the question
before monitoring
3. Setup a recurring report/alert

37. Example
Question: Are Visitors viewing the Naming
Opportunities page on the Hunt Library
website?
Decision:
• Yes (Pagviews increase by 10% or more) Do
nothing.
• No (Pageviews decrease by 10% or more)
advertise on Twitter/Facebook or Artbox.
Monitor, Analyze, Act... Refine question as
needed.

38. Stuff I didn’t mention
• Intelligence Alerts
• “Trendalyzer” Visualizations (Gapminder)
– Another one if there’s time
• Events
• Campaigns
• Experiments (“A/B Testing”)
• Webmaster Tools
• Annotations
• Profile Filters

39. Questions?
Charlie Morris
NCSU Libraries
charlie_morris@ncsu.edu
libwebteam@ncsu.edu
http://go.ncsu.edu/googleanalytics
Thank you to Cory Lown and Mike Nutt for
feedback and support.