Google Analytics - Private Blog

Site Search Now Available

2007-11-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

We recently announced several new features. Beginning today, all Google Analytics accounts have access to the first of these features to be released: Site Search. It's currently only available if your language preference is set to English; it will be available in all languages soon.

Google Analytics has always shown you how people search to find your site. With Site Search, you can now see how people search your site once they are already on it. This is a goldmine of information because every time visitors search, they literally tell you in their own words what they are looking for. You'll not only see their initial searches, but how they attempted to refine searches when they didn't find what they were looking for. You'll see which pages they searched from and where they ended up. And you'll see how site search correlates with conversion andecommerce activity. As we beta tested this feature, we became even more convinced of the value of having a search box on a site. (Read more...)

Upcoming Website Optimizer online seminars

2007-10-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

It is a multivariate testing platform that is both free and pretty easy to use. If you haven't tried Website Optimizer yet, now is a great chance to get your feet wet. Product Manager Tom Leung will be hosting two free online seminars next week. He knows this product inside and out and is a great presenter, so this will be worth your time.

The first online seminar, Introduction to Website Optimizer, will be geared towards those who are unfamiliar with website content testing and optimization. Tom will discuss the importance and benefits of optimizing your website design and content, and he'll provide a detailed introduction to Website Optimizer and review the product's latest features (including A/B Split testing and the ability to delete experiments). (Read more...)

Exciting Announcements at eMetrics Today

2007-10-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

Today at the eMetrics Summit in Washington, D.C. Brett Crosby announced several Google Analytics features that will be rolled out over the coming weeks. Here's a rundown.

First, you'll be able to use Google Analytics to track site search activity. Simply edit any of your Google Analytics profiles to enable "Site Search" and you can find out what people search for on your site and where these searches lead. Located in the Content section of your Google Analytics reporting interface, Site Search reports show you the keywords and search refinement keywords people use, the pages from which people begin and end their searches. You can also see how search on your site affects site usage, conversion rates, and e-commerce activity. (BTW, if you don't have a search box on your site, you might want to try the free and newly launched Google Custom Search Engine.) (Read more...)

Your next coffee table e-book

2007-10-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Learning about Google Analytics just got easier with the recent release of Justin Cutroni's new e-book, Google Analytics Shortcut published by O'Reilly Media. The downloadable e-book is separated into sections and offers advice for users of all skill levels, starting with "Getting Setup Correct," and moving on to more advanced tips and advice on avoiding configuration mistakes. (Read more...)

Google Analytics Videos On YouTube

2007-09-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

We have put a tremendous amount of effort into making Google Analytics more intuitive and easy to use. The hard part is teaching people how to use their insights to drive action. We hope to change that with the introduction of our very own Google Analytics Playlist on YouTube. Here you can check out full-length presentations on advanced analytics implementation, best practices, how to create a data driven culture and more.

We have a solid lineup of videos to start with taken on August 1st when we held our first ever Google Conversion University event. It was attended by 100+ representatives from major companies across all major verticals. (Read more...)

Reverting Back to Original "Average Time on Site" Calculation Today

2007-09-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

We recently introduced a new way of calculating "Average Time on Site" that removed visitors who "bounce" from your website (people who hit one page of your site and then leave). This updated calculation attempted to give you a better idea of how long engaged visitors spend on your website. However, many of you prefer the original calculation: the total time on site for all visits divided by the total number of visits. So today we are changing it back.

Effective immediately, all current and historical Average Time on Site metrics are calculated using the original methodology. This ensures that your data-set is consistent. So if you compare data from today or tomorrow with data from two weeks ago, it will be an apples to apples comparison. (Read more...)

Website Optimizer Gets an Update

2007-09-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today, we are happy to announce the first major update to Website Optimizer. (For those who are unfamiliar with Website Optimizer, we've blogged about it before here and here.)

The first feature that we've added is a wizard for creating A/B split experiments. A/B tests are ideal for testing how well different page layouts perform and for pages that don't get a lot of traffic. Although you can perform A/B testing in Google Analytics, using Website Optimizer simplifies the process and makes it really easy to set up experiments and view results. Watch this demo to learn how to set up an A/B experiment. (Read more...)

It's that time - SES San Jose

2007-08-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

We love the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, which happens next week from August 20th to 23rd. It's a cutting edge conference about all things online and it's right in our backyard. Lots of Googlers will be in attendance, from engineers to product managers to client services, representing a wide variety of products including search, AdWords, AdSense, Webmaster Tools, Feedburner, and of course, Google Analytics and Website Optimizer. Many of us will be on panels or presenting, but we're most looking forward to the idea exchange and conversations that take place during the week. (Read more...)

Your success stories wanted

2007-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

We have several case studies on the Google Analytics website that show varied real world examples of Google Analytics use. And recently, the AdWords team put together a great new case study video (below) with furniture and accessories company Carolina Rustica which touches on their use of Google Analytics. (Read more...)

Google Conversion University Attendees: Thank You!

2007-08-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, we hosted our first ever Google Conversion University event. Over 100 participants from across the country visited the Googleplex for a day to gain insights into using Google Analytics, Website Optimizer, and AdWords. To everyone who attended: Thank you for making the event so much fun and for sharing your ideas and experiences with us. (Read more...)

Google Analytics Artistes

2007-07-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

We have not yet established a certification for reaching the master level of Google Analytics, but ROI Revolution, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, is definitely the equivalent, and they want to pass on some actionable wisdom with a six-week online Google Analytics training course (Read more...)

Hoş geldiniz and Witamy!

2007-07-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

We're pleased to announce that we now offer and support Google Analytics in two additional languages: Turkish and Polish. You can use Google Analytics, receive email support, get technical information from the Help Center, browse our website and learn marketing techniques from Conversion University in any of the 19 languages (Read more...)

More features. One interface.

2007-07-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

Last month, we added the first batch of feature enhancements to the new Google Analytics. Today, we're excited to announce that we're adding a few more of your most requested features. The following improvements are available in your account now:

- We've added a "Go to:" box to all reports that have tables so you can jump directly to a specific row. If you have 5,000 referring sources and you want to see row 3,456, you can jump right to it. (Read more...)

Tip: Print Your Favorite Reports By First Viewing in PDF

2007-07-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Many of our users like to print their Google Analytics reporting interface to include in presentations, handouts or company reports. We added the ability to export to PDF in the new interface so printed reports would look perfect. These PDF reports are vector based (Read more...)

Limited Reporting Delays, Data Now Updated

2007-07-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend a small percentage of our users experienced processing delays. For several hours affected users were not able to view updated traffic for a large portion of the day. (Read more...)

Reminder: Google Analytics to complete transition to new interface on July 18th

2007-07-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's been about two months since we launched the new Google Analytics interface and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. And since then, we've updated the new Google Analytics with the most requested features. We'll continue updating the new Google Analytics going forward, of course, but here's your reminder that the earlier version of Google Analytics will be removed on Wednesday, July 18th. (Read more...)

Weekend Server Outage

2007-07-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend, many of you had trouble creating and logging into your new Google Analytics Account. This was due to a temporary server outage which has now been resolved. If your account was (Read more...)

Tip: Evaluate your sources and your site with Bounce Rate

2007-06-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

Of all web analytics metrics, Bounce Rate is perhaps the most universally applicable. Why? Because, unlike the widely-quoted Conversion Rate metric, Bounce Rate doesn't require you to have defined conversion goals. This means you can use it to understand how well virtually any kind of site performs from a marketing standpoint.

If your site conversion rates are low, Bounce Rate can help you understand why. (Read more...)

Join us at Searchnomics Tomorrow

2007-06-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

If you are anywhere near the San Francisco/San Jose bay area, please join our team at Searchnomics tomorrow, June 27th. The organizers have offered Google Analytics customers passes at a cost of only $100, (Read more...)

Thanks for the Webware 100 Award

2007-06-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

We'd like to thank Webware, the users who cast 489,467 votes in this year's Webware 100 Awards, and everyone who helped make Google Analytics a winner! Google was recognized as a winner in 10 categories. Other products in our family that received an award are Google Reader, (Read more...)

You Asked For it, You Got It. New Features Added to Google Analytics

2007-06-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

Since releasing the new Google Analytics, we've received repeated requests for specific features. We felt strongly that these features deserved to be incorporated into the product immediately so, as of today, everyone has access to the most requested improvements. We are also removing the beta tag from the new interface and we'd like to remind everyone that the previous version of Google Analytics will be (Read more...)