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I just thought I would fire off a quick post and share my experiences with "Advanced Segments" functionality in Google Analytics.
Imagine this scenario, you are granted "read" access to a client's GA account. Yes, "Read" access will allow you to view all reports. Missing within "read" access (amongst a several other capabilities) is the ability to filter data - in this case, traffic associated with your physical location as well as your client's location. You're stuck, and must ask the admin of this account to grant you "admin" access, ehh?
Enter "Advanced Segments". Using this functionality it is extremely simple to segment (or in this case, parse) out unneeded metrics.
At the left, you will notice "dimensions" and "metrics". If you are not familiar with the two data types, "dimensions" are the types of data you are looking to analyze while "metrics" are the values you would find within these dimensions.
 For this example, assuming you are met with the same situation I have mentioned above, log into your account and click "advanced segments" within the navigation on the left.
First, choose a dimension or metric to segement. For this example, choose Visitors > City. Drag the green "City graphic" into the dotted line area that says "dimension or metric".
Next, choose a condition. Since we are looking to segment out test data derived from a particular location or locations, our condition needs to be set to "Does not match exactly". The "Value" drop down will then be equal to whichever City you do not wish to record within your reports.
Repeat this with as many cities that you are wishing to remove from your reports. Just make you you follow the above-mentioned instructions and do not drop your metric/dimension within the "or" but rather the "and" location on the list.
Lastly, choose a name for this custom segment and click "Save Segment". That's it!
Back on the main page of your GA profile, you simply need to enable the segment. Click on the "Advanced Segments" button in the upper right of your screen. Next select the segment's name. Lastly, click "Apply."
Pretty simple, huh?Labels: Advanced Segmentation, Google Analytics, metrics, web analytics
The team responsible for the development of Google Analytics (GA) has developed an extremely robust application and it's always improving. With the recent addition of it's custom reporting and advanced segment reporting, it even meets many of my needs.) That being said, there are several items that I would like to see implemented in the near future.
#1: Customizable dashboard metrics:
I am familiar with Coremetrics and feel it's dashboard customization capabilities are a wonderful complement to the application as a whole. Collected data can be viewed in any number of customizable outputs so it can provide a snapshot to the user.
With regards to GA, some enhancements would allow persistent views of customized data reports to be built in as well. Imagine having the ability to compile a series of customized metrics and view these within the dashboard.
Additionally, I would imagine that within various reports, a new button could be added globally called "add this view to my dashboard". By clicking on this hypothetical button, a snapshot of the particular report would then be saved to a user's dashboard.
Ideally, these customized dashboards would be attributed to an individual's account regardless of user type (administrator vs. user). I would imagine that various users would have separate preferences on snapshots of data, much like Coremetrics' allows as well. Much like the sharing capabilities found within "Advanced Segment" reports, these custom dashboards could also be shared.
Lastly, whereas GA only allows a maximum of (4) dashboards to appear, users could display an infinite number of dashboards modules (assuming performance issues would not be a factor). All dashboards, whether standard or custom, could then be sorted through a drag and drop mechanism, as is currently provided within the application.
#2: Compare metrics from other profiles:
Various profiles can share (1) account, primarily for administrative reasons. GA allows the notion of comparing various metrics as long as the data resides within (1) profile. It would be useful to be able to compare metrics from (2) or more profiles. As a result, individuals would then be able to compare data from subdomains, microsites, even filters.
Naturally, comparisons would be constrained to profiles within (1) GA account as all profiles within an account share the same Account ID. Only administrators of a given account would be able to set up this comparison. Users would be able to view this comparison report only if they have access to each compared domain within a particular account.
#3: Comparing non-sequential date ranges:
Currently GA allows you to choose a sequential date range and even compare it to another date range in the past. Another wonderful enhancement would allow a user the ability to select non-sequential days in a month or times within a given day. This is currently only possible through the "Custom Reporting" tool. I would imagine this sort of within the calendar selection tool (top-right of the application) as an "advanced date selection".
#4: Account migration and/or removal: 
This enhancement is more or less utilitarian in nature. If a user is an "administrator" they are, in essence, the owner of an account. An administrator can add other administrators or users however they can not transfer or remove access rights for themselves under an account they have created.
Imagine an administrator sets up a GA account through their own account. They then leave a job or are no longer responsible for administering an account. They can not "pass the baton" to another administrator if they so choose - they are in essence "stuck" with an account unless the account is deleted altogether.
Another related scenario, lies within a "user's" inability to be removed from an account. "Administrators" can grant account access to users and can delete them. Why can't user's delete their own access to a given account?
#5: Integration of Greasemonkey's "Business Notes" Feature:
Routinely, more than one individual reviews metric data. Since the creation of GA's Custom Reports feature, I have found that a little bit of explanation can go a long way in terms of deciphering a report. By merely providing a notes feature (bonus points for integrating this feature with Google Docs), individuals can review customized reports and make sense of the data by reading any explanation I provide for them.
Additional Recommendations:
- Integration of "Google Website Optimizer"
- Integration of Heatmaps
- Enhancements with Real-time data collection
- Enhanced support for off-site data collection
- Collection of offline data
Labels: A/B Testing, Coremetrics, Google Analytics, Link Tracking, Omniture, web analytics, Website Analysis
Google Analytics (GA) allows the ability to segment traffic rather easily using their new "Advanced Segments" tool (currently in Beta). Log into your GA account and on the lower left portion of the side nav, notice "Advanced Segments". It's small text and if you blinked you may have missed it.
After you click on the link you will come to a landing page with some common, pre-determined traffic segments. For the purposes of this post, disregard these and click "Create new custom segment" located on the top right-portion of the screen.
Now you will see a tool that I can best describe as a visual boolean operator tool. This tool allows you to create custom reports using a series of dimensions and metrics combined with various and/or statements.
For the purposes of this post, click on "dimensions" > "traffic sources". Now click and drag "source" into the first "dimension or metric" area to the right.
If performed correctly you will now see a condition drop down menu and a value text input field. Click within the condition drop down and choose "contains". Within the value text field, type in "facebook.com" it may even auto-populate for you. You can then click "test segment" to ensure this segmentation worked correctly.
Assuming all worked as planned, name and save your traffic segment so that you can analyze it later. I named mine "Facebook Visitor Segment". Now repeat this process using any additional domains that you wish to monitor (Twitter, MySpace, etc).
To view this report go back to your main dashboard. Click on "Traffic Sources", choose the date range that you would like to analyze this data. Above the right-hand side date range selector you should see a drop down menu that says "Advanced Segments". Select this. Once expanded, you will see your newly created custom segment within the options. Select the segment you wish to analyze. You can additionally compare this custom segment to other data sources.Labels: Data Segmentation, Google Analytics, social media
Obviously social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are newcomers to the online marketing world. Their core focus is clearly evolving. Being that they are so new, it is easy to understand that most marketers are simply not experienced in marketing to these type of communities.
Unlike web analytic software (Google Analytics, ClickTracks, Omniture, etc) there is currently no widely accepted standard dashboard in existence that is able to monitor all forms of social media and in effect determine ROI. This process is left almost entirely to the marketer. There are many attempts to monitor conversations and measure overall buzz (Buzzlogic, TruCast). I have spoken with and demo'd the material of these two firms and they both measure conversations fairly well.
It seems to me that in order to measure success and inevitably ROI, you need to first establish your own objectives and determine which KPI's you wish to follow. I think it’s reasonable to believe that without indicators such as revenue growth and conversion metrics it is hard to determine overall ROI.
In the business world, ROI is typically determined by taking the amount of the total investment and dividing that by the amount of the return. Since social media marketing is based almost entirely on trust and dialogue, how can you measure this?
I believe that the metrics used in calculating the success of a social media marketing campaign area going to be unique. In short, a focus on lead generation and driving sales is going to have a different set of ideal metrics than a general focus on user engagement.
I am finding out in my own research, there are several ways to determine an individual's likelihood that they are providing influence to others - a common determinant in the success of a social media marketing campaign.
Metrics to consider: Do they have a blog? How many posts are within this blog? Do they have social network profiles? How many 'friends' do they have? How long have they been a member of a particular social network? How long has it been since their last login? Additionally, what kind of digital footprint are they leaving across the web?
Again, certain campaigns are going to follow a different set of parameters though it's a starting point.Labels: Buzzlogic, ClickTracks, Facebook, Google Analytics, KPI, LinkedIn, MySpace, Omniture, ROI, social media, TruCast, web marketing
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