Comments on: Using Google Analytics to Compare Search Engine Traffic Over Time

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:52:18 +0000

Hi Darren, Is there a way to “Schedule” a year over year comparison? I would like to auto-email a weekly report comparing against traffic from the same week (or month) from the year previous – I can’t find a way to do this?

By: Dubai Web Design

Dubai Web Design — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:02:23 +0000

Great Article! It reminds me of the saying “If you want friends, be friendly”. :)

It seems basic in a sense, and tedious approaching one person at a time but
I’m sure it could snow ball as you get in the mix and meet friends of each
new friend make.

I just found your a blog a couple days ago and signed up to your newsletter
shortly after. It is clear you’re a generous guy that actually wants to help
people make money online, and that you know what you’re talking about.

Keep up the great work!

By: BuSy

BuSy — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:59:25 +0000

Thanks for the details. I started my Google Analytics account few weeks ago and experimenting with that.

By: MoonDog

MoonDog — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:25:08 +0000

I installed GA on my WordPress blog and it threw my site into chaos. There was a problem with the urchin tracker and I found a patch, but it was old and ineffective.

I’m sure there is someone doing this, but it would be nice to find a site with truly useful information regarding WordPress. I’ve had nothing but trouble with it. My old platform wasn’t great but at least it wasn’t finicky.

By: Scott Marlowe

Scott Marlowe — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:47:21 +0000

Good post. Thanks for the tips. I hadn’t seen that particular feature yet.

By: SusanAtLifeskate

SusanAtLifeskate — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:42:48 +0000

I’m a total technophobe so if *I* can navigate through Google Analytics and learn something about my site, that’s saying a lot. I find myself asking all the time, “What makes people link to a particular post and why?” so I look at Analytics – Traffic Sources Overview to see who the referring sites are. I have a figure skating site and recently covered some of the 2008 Adult Figure Skating Championships. I interviewed skaters, featured them on stories and guess what, their skating clubs linked to my stories about their club member/s. I know it’s obvious but it motivates me somehow to think of other creative ways that other sites would find my work interesting.

By: James

James — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:46:24 +0000

Google Analytics is a great and powerful site tracking system. But i prefer to use more than one tools like Site Meter or other system as comparison. So we don’t rely on one system only..

By: strider

strider — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:28:00 +0000

I have been using a wordpress plugin that displays the analytics in the back end, although not as deep as going to your account dashboard, nevertheless it’s a neat tool. As my readership grows I shall be taking more time to dig deeper – nice post

By: blog4net

blog4net — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:36:27 +0000

Many people know that google analytics is a very useful thing but dont know how to use it. even if some one goes to help, it is tedious steps to get what you need.

nice tutorial, darren.

you do know the art of telling with beauty… :-) congrats…

By: Ryan Mac

Ryan Mac — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:05:56 +0000

Wow this is a great post. I use google analytics for my blog and I haven’t tried this yet….but I definately will.
Thanks Darren
Question: Do you only use google analytics or do you use any other tracking software? Is google the best?

By: Rohit

Rohit — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:59:12 +0000

Nice tips !

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:45:27 +0000

Hey Darren, stop rubbing our noses in your stats!

J/K, I consider this a great resource. I did not utilize google analytics to it’s full capacity before, and I’m hoping that will change.

By: Jessica Bond

Jessica Bond — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:28:14 +0000

Google analytics is easy to use and has a vast amount of information. But beware…it is addictive (in a good way of course).

By: Jessica Bond

Jessica Bond — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:27:23 +0000

Google analytics is easy to use and has a vast amount of information. But beware…it is an addictive tool!

By: GettyCash

GettyCash — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:13:59 +0000

Your blog stats are very impressive.

By: iearnmoneywhileisleep

iearnmoneywhileisleep — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:48:38 +0000

Thanks Darren, a very helpful post.

I’m hoping someone can help. I’m struggling with the answers in the Google Analytics help section.

In my traffic report I get 11.97% of traffic from (direct) / (none) What is this?

Also in my adwords campaign 48.59% of clicks are coming from a campaign (not set). I’ve understood this to be a linking problem but when I add a new campaign it reports with no problem. Any ideas?

Cheers Ian

By: Diana Lee

Diana Lee — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:33:56 +0000

What a helpful post! I’ve been using Analytics for some time now, but I get the feeling I’ve barely scratched the surface of the information I can get out of it.

By: sejurturcia

sejurturcia — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:40:06 +0000

i am using analytics but i’m not really satisfied with the information provided … hmm … is it really acurate ?

By: Fitz

Fitz — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:40:44 +0000

Nice and very helpful indeed specially for someone like me that’s new to blogging. I’ve tried a lot of tools to analyze my blog traffic and I must say that Google Analytics is still the best resource. Thanks for this tip!

By: Peter Butler

Peter Butler — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:53:55 +0000

Thanks Darren, and as a new blogger (Just launched this week), I will certainly take your advice to heart and look out for any future posts.