This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Google Analytics Profiles and Filters. Part 1: The Must-Haves, covered what I consider to be the basics. Now we’ll get into some of the more advanced, and interesting, GA filter techniques.

Note: Since I posted Part 1, Google Analytics has released their beta versions of Advanced Segments and Custom Reports. These tools are pretty incredible, and can potentially be used in place of many filters. The decision to use profiles and filters vs. advanced segments will depend on each company’s logistics. It will be a case-by-case basis and is something I will cover in a future post.

Advanced Filters Defined

Advanced filters let you extract data from any of the fields in Google Analytics and manipulate that data.

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View related topics: google analytics, google filters, google profiles

Google Analytics (GA) is quickly becoming the analytics package of choice for many companies.

This is not surprising. I mean, it’s FREE!

But that aside, some of the more intricate functionality and customizable components of GA hold real value, and should be utilized. This article is part 1 of a two-part series on Google Analytics Profiles and Filters.

GA filters do just what their name implies. They filter out data so you can more easily find the pertinent information.

Profiles allow you to create different data sets with varying filters for separate reporting. Incorporating these separate profiles and filters into your GA setup can help you analyze data more accurately and efficiently.

Then, if you actually act on your analyses, you can potentially increase your site’s conversion rate.

Profiles and Filters Work Together

An important concept in GA is the idea of separate profiles. You should create a separate profile for each set of data you want to analyze, and then apply the appropriate filter(s) for each profile. It is easier to explain by example, so the rest of this post is a list of what I consider to be must-have profiles & filters, and how to enable them.

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View related topics: google analytics, google filters, google profiles