[Web4lib] Google Analytics

[Chester D. Mealer]

Hello,

This is a quick run down. 
The quick answers first.
Profiles & accounts: you probably only *need* one of each. We use two profiles because we wanted to filter out IP addresses from inside the library, so we could look at strictly external activity, therefore 1 profile catches everything and 1 profile filters out "internal" IP addresses. You can set it up where all the relevant people can access reports on their own. However, my experience is that I'm going to have to explain the terms anyway, so I just export pdf's of the reports we use, and e-mail them along with a summary.

And now for the less convenient part...
The short statement is that google will only track what happens on your site for you. By the time they've left your site to go to off site content, you've lost them. However, you can add an "onClick" javascript event to the links you want to track, which will let you track the clicks on those links before they leave your site. The information on how to do this is in the help section under "event tracking".

This isn't a complete answer, but at least it might point you in the right direction. If I can find the time, I'll work on something more substantial to help.

Chester Mealer
Webmaster
Rapides Parish Library
chester at rpl.org

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Laura Harris
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 8:18 AM
To: Web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Google Analytics

Hello, all -

I must admit to being utterly baffled by Google Analytics, specifically how
to set them up for my library's website. I daresay we're not unusual, in
that we have a lot of content that's hosted somewhere other than our main
website (gvsu.edu/library) - we've got databases, LibGuides, the catalog,
Summon, ContentDM...I'm really at a loss as to how to set up the accounts
and website profiles in a way that makes sense.

Would anyone be willing to give me access to your own analytics so I can see
how it looks, or to take screenshots, or otherwise explain your set-up?

Thanks in advance,

Laura Harris
Web Services Librarian
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI
616-331-3577
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