Entries tagged "Google Analytics"
Deactivate Code Automatically on a Test Server
When fixing a bug or adding a new feature to a website, it may be beneficial to test the changes on a development server before going live. The problem is that some aspects of the code probably shouldn't be active on the development server. For example, we probably don't Google Analytics tracking any of those visits. The code could be manually disabled during the test phase, but are we going to remember? Instead let's look into automating the process. [Continue reading]
Using Google Analytics to Determine Which Browsers Are Used Most for Accessing Your Website
When designing websites, it's important to have a general idea of which browsers your audience prefers. Knowing this helps identify which browsers to use for testing your website. Some coding solutions may also need to be altered. For example, if 60% of visitors are still using Internet Explorer 6, you might need to rethink some of those fancy CSS techniques. So let's look into utilizing Google Analytics to figure out which browsers are being used. [Continue reading]
Excluding Website Traffic Based on an IP Address in Google Analytics
Tracking the usage of your website can be very insightful. It helps identify which pages are the most popular, shows where your visitors are from, what browsers they use, etc. However, if you're visiting the website all the time to verify things are working, updating pages, etc. it can throw off the stats. So unless you're trying to pad the numbers, let's look at filtering out results by IP address in Google Analytics. [Continue reading]
Why You Should Utilize Separate Accounts when Managing Multiple Websites
When setting up accounts for your job with services like web hosting, Google Analytics, etc., don't be tempted by the "it will be convenient for me now" argument. If you manage multiple websites, it may be easier to have all your Google Analytics reports under one Google account for example, but what if you need to split those websites up for some reason? If another developer takes over a website, will it be easy to turn over the keys? As in turning over the source files and account information…not emotionally. For that, you might need counseling. [Continue reading]
Problems with Google Analytics Code for Tracking PDFs
After struggling for nearly a week to install the asynchronous code for Google Analytics, I thought it would be good to share what I've learned. Hopefully this will save you a few sleepless nights. When I switched to the asynchronous tracking code, everything appeared to be working correctly. But for some reason PDF downloads and visits to external websites weren't showing up in the analytics. [Continue reading]
Future Proofing Your Google Analytics Code for Tracking PDFs
A few years back, I started using Google Analytics to get a better idea of what people are viewing on our websites. To be prepared for future revisions of the tracking code, I thought all I needed to do was store the code in a file called "GoogleAnalytics.html" and import it into the pages we wanted to track. Then as Google releases new versions of the tracking code, I would only need to update the GoogleAnalytic.html file for each website. [Continue reading]
