Google Analytics Access for Bentley Employees 1. Google Analytics Login Google Analytics URL: http://www.google.com/analytics User name: bentleyshared@gmail.com Password: 2015analytics 2. Google Analytics Main Profile The shared account gives you access to the main profile which includes all pages in the www.bentley.edu domain. 3. Google Analytics Cookie the key to tracking visitors Definition The Bentley Google Analytics cookie is a small text file stored on the user s local hard drive and is set for a specific browser to keep track of the user s activity on the Bentley website. The cookie is used to determine whether or the user is a returning visitor, how long the visit lasts, the source of the visit (organic search, e- mail, a banner ad). Google Analytics only sets first party cookies (created in the same name as the Bentley domain and can only be read by Bentley). First vs. Third Party Cookies First- party cookies are cookies set with the same domain (or its subdomain) in your browser's address bar. Third- party cookies are cookies being set with different domains from the one shown on the address bar (i.e. the web pages on that domain may feature content from a third- party domain - e.g. an advertisement run by www.advexample.com showing advert banners). (Privacy setting options in most modern browsers allow you to block third- party tracking cookies). 4. Basic Web Analytics Terminology Pageview A pageview records each time a web page is loaded. A unique pageview is the number of visits that viewed a specific page. Visit Activity on a site from a single visitor, times out after 30 minutes of inactivity or if the user returns from a different campaign source Unique Visitor UV s are identified by the Google Analytics cookie (browser- based), they are not people although it s OK to assume it s the number of unique people who visit the site Session - A period of interaction between a visitor's browser and a particular website, ending when the browser is closed or shut down, or when the user has been inactive on that site for a specified period of time. For purposes of Google Analytics reports, a session ends after a user has been inactive on the site for 30 minutes. Page 1 of
Entrances Most helpful when looking at traffic to a particular page, you can understand how often that page is the entrance page for a single session Bounce Helpful when looking at traffic to a particular entrance page, you can understand how often visitors also bounce or immediately leave the entrance page (also known as a single page visit ) Exit Helpful when looking at traffic to pages or set of page, exits include you can understand how often sessions end from that page When a visitor leaves the site (shuts down browser or goes to another domain), helpful to look at in terms of pages Segment - A segment filters the data, based on the definition at the visit level, to better understand site traffic 5. Metrics to Measure These are the baseline metrics you should track on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly) for your site: Pageviews Unique pageviews Avg time on page Entrances Bounce rate % exit 6. Step-by-Step: Creating a report for your site in 10 steps! 1. Log in and arrive at this screen 2. Expand the view and click on MAIN PROFILE BU Page 2 of
3. You ll arrive at a Standard Reporting page defaulted to past 30 days see below 4. From left navigation, select Behavior > Site Content > All Pages 5. The Pages report lists top pages by pageviews with additional metrics (avg time on page, entrances, etc.) Page 3 of
6. Using the advanced search bar (circled below), enter the directory where your site pages live. For example, all HR content lives in www.bentley.edu/offices/human- resources so you d enter human- resources (if your site has a subdomain like cbe.bentley.edu, enter cbe ) 7. To grab all the content, change the # of rows from 10 to 100 (to be safe) in bottom right hand corner of report. 8. To change the date range or run a comparison, click the date at the top right corner of the page to expand and use the date fields. 9. To export the data, select the Export drop down from the top menu and choose CSV (for Excel) or PDF for high- level view (no data manipulation). Page 4 of
10. If choosing CSV, open your file and expand columns to view. a. Tip: Delete Page Value column as we don t have any ecommerce on our site. 7. Advanced: Viewing Traffic by Segments (or Filters) If you only want to view traffic by an advanced segment (ie, filter), you can view traffic from a wide variety of filters but the most common include: New visitors: First time to the Bentley site (we drop a first- party cookie) Returning visitors: Have been to the Bentley site in the past (based on first- party cookies) Direct traffic: Visits from users who know us (they used a bookmark or typed in the URL) Mobile devices (includes tablets, smartphones, etc.) Page 5 of
Beneath the tool bar that includes email, export, etc, there should be an arrow. Click this arrow to expand the advanced filters and choose built in filters to see the options listed above. 8. Context: Compare your site to www.bentley.edu A report for your site will also include how it performs relative to www.bentley.edu in terms of: Total pageviews Unique pageviews Avg time on page Entrances Bounce rate 9. Additional Training Kaushik, Avinash, Web Analytics an Hour a Day Online Google Analytics Training (Conversion University): http://www.google.com/analytics/iq.html Page 6 of