The User Defined report in Google Analytics is a custom segmentation feature allowing you to expand the standard scope of analytics. With this report you can, as the name implies, define your own visitor segments and then compare those segments with each other. This feature requires adding a bit of code to your site.  If you’re using ga.js, you’ll simply call the _setVar method of your pageTracker to set this variable. There are numerous situations where it could be beneficial to “bucketize” your visitors based on your specific needs.

One useful example would be to track registered members versus other visitors. If your site has an option to register as a member you may want to see what registered member visitors are doing compared to those that browse as an unregistered guest. After setting your setvar to segment members you can access the User Defined reports under the Visitors section on the left of your Google Analytics screen. Each segment you set up will show in this report for comparison.

This example is just one of the many situations where setting up visitor segments can be valuable. Language preferences, repeat buyers, and testing purposes are just some of the other “buckets” you might find useful for segmenting and analyzing your visitors.

One side note, this will not apply to the current session, but will set the cookie during the session where you call setVar.  Then, any session after that will reflect the segment.  That makes this particularly good for repeat buyers.  Set the setVar on the thank you page and the next time they come to your site they’re identified as a “repeat buyer” segment.

Up Next: Traffic Sources – Overview

What connection speeds are your visitors using and why does it matter?  It matters because the more you know about your visitor the more you can do to enhance their experience on your site.  The Connection Speeds report is going to give you a breakdown of visits by their Internet connection speed.

You can use this data to optimize your site so that it loads at a speed that is fast and efficient for most of your users.  I say most because there is no way your site can be all things to all people and as with all analytics reports you are not going to capture every user’s connection speed.  The data will provide you with information for a good sampling of users that are representative of the whole on which you can make your business decisions.

When considering technologies and content to add to your site you want to make sure your users can support what you are providing them.  If 40% of your users are coming to you from a dial up connection and you have just installed the latest and greatest animated RIA (Rich Internet Applications) those users are likely to leave your site without having had the experience you intended.  And potentially take their conversion elsewhere.

Use the Connection Report to get a feel for the capabilities of your visitors before adding technologies such as Flash videos.  Or if you already have such content and it is not getting you the conversion results you intended use this report to verify if the majority of your users can support it.

Up Next: Visitor Reports – User Defined