Now that you are an expert at setting your date ranges the next thing you will notice is the graph at the top of each report.  This is an overview graph of the report you are viewing.

The date range of the data will match the range you have set (see Google Analytics – Setting Date Ranges) and is plotted with daily data points by default.

Daily Data Points

But you never have to accept the defaults with Google Analytics.  You have the option to change this to either weekly or monthly data points using the “Graph By” buttons.

Weekly Data Points

Monthly Data Points

Once you have the date data points just how you like them there are several options for the graphed metric.  The available metrics will vary depending on the report you are working with.  Select the tab to the upper left of the graph and your options window will open.

Now you can set up a variety of metrics to be plotted out on the graph.  Single metrics, such as those shown above; compare two metrics; or compare the segment against site averages.

Comparing Two Metrics

Comparing to Site Average

Up Next: What can be found in the Overview Reports

Google offers several ways to select your report date ranges.  By default the date range is set to the last 30 days worth of data (starting with yesterday and going back 30 days – the current day is excluded so as not to skew data).  But in many case you will want to change that.  Google gives you lots of choices.  Maybe to the current day, the last week, the last 6 months…you get the point.  Here are your options for selecting date ranges.

1) Stick with the 30 day default.

2) Select an entire calendar month.
Just click on the month name.  To select months beyond the current three month view use the arrows to the left and right.

3) Select an entire week (Monday – Sunday).
Click the half moon to the left of the week you wish to view.

4) Select a range of days.
Click the first and last date in the range you wish to view.

5) If you prefer, you can also use the timeline slider option to pick your date range.  Click the timeline tab next to the calendar tab and adjust the date range window by sliding it to the left and right so that the range you want is within the window.

6) Finally you have the option to compare date ranges.  Select the “Compare to Past” box and then use any of the methods above to set the date ranges for comparison.  Your graph will show both sets of data for easy comparison.

Up Next: The Overview Graph

After you get past the Dashboard you will notice some features in your Google Analytics reports that are always present regardless of which report you are viewing.  These common interface features will become very familiar to you as you begin to review and analyze your site’s data.

Here are some of the things you will see on each report page.

1) Date Ranges – As you saw on the dashboard the date range defaults to last 30 days – but you can change that and set up comparisons to meet your needs.
2) Overview Graph – A quick view of the report you are working with.
3) Add to Dashboard – Click this button to make the present graph one of the 12 featured on your dashboard.
4) Sharing Options – Email the report to colleagues or clients as needed or set up a schedule to have the reports emailed for those that need to see the them regularly.  In addition reports can be exported to one of four formats; PDF, XML, CSV or TSV.

Up Next: Setting Date Ranges

Like the dashboard of your car, your Google Analytics Dashboard is going to give you a high level overview of what is going on with your site.  The check engine light on your car dashboard will alert you that something is up, but unless you’re in a car that self diagnoses and talks to  you, it probably won’t give you all the details you need.  It is necessary to dig a little deeper to get the specifics.

The GA dashboard has a similar intention; to give you a high level snapshot of what’s happening with your website.  But for all the particulars you will have to explore a little deeper.  We will get to those particulars in future posts.

Until then, here are a few of the things of note that you’ll see on your dashboard:

1) Date Ranges – Defaults to last 30 days; but you can change that and can set up comparison date ranges.
2) Main Menu – Quick links to your reports, expandable and present throughout Google Analytics
3) Help Resources – Common to all reports – if you forget what you’re looking at these offer some quick reminders as well as help point you in the right direction for how to use the data you’re looking at.
4) Overview Graph – Several metrics are offered to choose from and comparison options are available.
5) Site Usage Statistics – A high level view of the visitors that came to your site, how many pages they saw, how long they stayed, how many left from the same page they landed on (bounced), and how many had been there before.
6) Widgets – Select up to 12 graphical overviews of reports that you’d like to see at a glance.  Move them around, remove them from the dashboard, or add new ones as needed.

Up Next: Common Interface Features

Google Analytics has taken the task of getting useful information out of countless bits of raw data and transformed it into a simplified process and user interface.  They do this through a drill-down report interface (think of it like a funnel).  We start out at a 30,000 foot level with the Dashboard view.  You can customize your dashboard with up to 12 report snapshots that can be changed at any time, and get a high level snapshot of what’s happening with your website.

Then the information is separated out a bit in the
Overview Reports.  With an overview you are getting more details than what the dashboard offers for the major report categories: Visitors, Traffic Sources, Content, Goals, and Ecommerce (if you’ve installed and enabled this module).

We can get down still further to the finer points with Specific Reports.  Our specific reports show us the details of the visitors to our sites, where they’re coming from, what they’re looking at,  and the actions they’re taking.  Note that for some specific reports, you’ll see them grouped together – this is denoted with an arrow to the left of the group name (see “Visitor Trending” at left – this is an example of a “group” of specific reports).

Once you’re comfortable navigating through Google Analytics to get at the reports you’ll rely on, you can react quicker, improve your visitors’ experience sooner and increase your ROI.

Up Next:  Getting to Know Your Dashboard

As we learned in the Getting Started Measuring Success post, Google Analytics is a tool for measuring your website’s performance.  As with many tools, you need to do a little setting up to get it ready for the job.  Setting up your Analytics account is relatively simple.

You can sign in to Google Analytics from your Google account.  One good thing to point out is that if you plan on having multiple Analytics accounts they can all be managed from one Google account.

Once you have your account set up you will need to establish your profile(s) and add some code to the pages of your site.  You need at least one profile in order to view your visitor data.  But each Analytics account can have up to 50 profiles.  Google will walk you through setting up the first profile and give you the code to copy into your web pages.  Once that’s done you should be seeing data in your reports within just a few hours.

Your main settings page also has features that allow you to add additional profiles, and typically you’ll want to have at least a few that have some standard filters in place (more on that in a future post).  This is also very handy for tracking the visitors of multiple sites within the same Google Analytics account.

You might also use profiles to collect data from certain segments of your visitors. Maybe you want to separate out your reports by country,  UK vs. US visitors perhaps. Or maybe have a profile that only shows you traffic from Adwords or other PPC / CPC sources.

As you can see the possibilities are near limitless.  You will also find user and filter managers just to the right of your profile manager.  More useful tools.

Up Next: The Good Stuff – Reports

Although it is often done, if you just throw something up on the web and cross your fingers, your chances of success are pretty limited.  The key to any website’s success is being able to measure success or failure, and having the data to make good decisions.

In order to provide a positive user experience on your site, you need to understand your visitors and what they’re doing so that you can constantly improve upon it.  This is where Google Analytics comes into play.  The Google Analytics tool is available free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it, and if you have a website, now you have no excuse for not having website analytics.  GA (as it is known) is the tool to “improving your site and increasing your marketing ROI.”  And ask any financial guru, knowing ROI is important.  Knowing how to increase it is even better.

So you want to get started, right?  First things first, where do you go to jump on board Google Analytics?  Simple enough; www.google.com/analytics.  Besides a computer and access to the Internet all you need is an email address to get started.  And it doesn’t even have to be a Gmail address (but it does have to be associated with a Google account).  Complete a few simple registration steps and voila, you are now part of the GA world and ready to start measuring how your visitors get to your site, who they are, what they’re doing while on your pages, and how and from where they leave.  Even better, you are on the road to improving your visitors’ experience and increasing the likelihood that they do what you want them to!

Up Next: Account Features