Santa Clara University

Web Publishing @ SCU

Using Google Analytics

Requirements

A Gmail account is needed to access Google Analytics. To secure an account, go to www.google.com and click the Gmail link at the top of the page.

Once your Gmail account has been established, contact either Russ Morris or Brian Washburn to complete the process.

The basics

Open a browser window.

Go to www.google.com/analytics.

Login using your Gmail ID and password.

Click the View Reports drop-down menu (it reads “click to select Website Profile”) near the top of the page, and select www.scu.edu

View Reports drop-down

In the left hand column, under the title Dashboard, click the Content link.

In the left hand column, under the title Dashboard, click the Content link.

After the navigation menu expands, click the Top Content link and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Locate the Find Page section. If not already visible, select containing from the dropdown menu. In the field to the right of the dropdown menu, type in the sub-site you're interested in viewing (example: /subsite-name/) and click the Go button.

After the navigation menu expands, click the Top Content link and scroll to the bottom of the page.

The resulting page will contain:

  • A graph showing total views for all URLs containing "/subsite-name/"
  • A table listing content performance for each URL found. There are 10 displayed by default. The number can be changed by clicking the Show rows dropdown menu in the lower right corner of the table.

To find statistics related to your sub-site, look through the list. Be aware, your sub-site may not be at the top of the list.

Once you've located the URL for your site, click the link.

The resulting page will load Content details for your sub-site:

  • A chart showing total pageviews for a month before the current day.
  • A list containing results for Unique Pageviews, Time on Page, Bounce Rate, % Exit and $ Index (see definitions below).

Changing the date range

Click the down arrow in the date box area at upper right, located just above the chart. A view with three calendar months will appear that will allow you to change the range of dates for the report and then display updated statistics.

Click the down arrow in the date box area at upper right, located just above the chart.

Exporting a Content detail report for printing

Just below the page title is an Export button that when clicked reveals output options for PDF, XML, CSV (comma separated values), and TSV (tab separated values). PDF works extremely well for printing.

Just below the page title is an Export button.

Definitions

Pageviews

GA definition: The total number of pages viewed. Repeated views of a single page are counted.

A pageview is simply a viewed page.

Unique Pageviews

GA definition: The number of visits during which one or more of these pages was viewed.

A unique pageview aggregates pageviews that are generated by the same user during the same half-hour session.

Average time on page

GA definition: The average amount of time visitors spent viewing a page or set of pages.

Bounce Rate

GA Definition: The percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.

A high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors.

% Exit

GA definition: The percentage of site exits that occurred from this page or set of pages.

$ Index

GA definition: The average value of this page or set of pages. $Index is (Ecommerce revenue + Total Goal Value) divided by Pageviews for the page(s).

The $Index calculates the value of each page, based on the number and value of conversions occurring after a visit to that page.

Google Analytics resources

Google Info
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