Overwhelmed by Google Analytics dashboard
December 5, 2016 9:46 AM Subscribe
Goal: Having one Google Analytics bucket handle both YouTube and web hits. Confused about whether I am doing this right...
A client wants to consolidate his traffic stats. He's got a Google Analytics embed on his website, but also a YouTube channel. He wants both of them to share the same GA code.
I think you can do this, right? So, seeking to make sure both places shared the same GA code, I followed these directions . But I am confused by the concept of a Google Analytics "property" and how to verify for my client that the pings from both sources are going to the same place.
It seems like it should be working because on the soon-to-be-simplified Google Analytics admin page, I have created a Property and filled in the URL of the YouTube channel, as advised on that page. I've also checked that the GA tracking ID number is the same.
It does seem like the YouTube end of things is showing video-viewing stats, such as "average view duration: 10:51." But I don't know where to look for any pings from the website (as opposed to the YouTube.)
Adding to my confusion, Analytics is now warning me that the channel page -- the one at YouTube that I don't think I can modify because it's YouTube -- "is missing valid tracking code."
Are we just barking up the wrong tree by trying to use the same GA for both? Or is there a place where I can confirm that hits are coming in from both the video and the Wordpress site? Any help much appreciated.
A client wants to consolidate his traffic stats. He's got a Google Analytics embed on his website, but also a YouTube channel. He wants both of them to share the same GA code.
I think you can do this, right? So, seeking to make sure both places shared the same GA code, I followed these directions . But I am confused by the concept of a Google Analytics "property" and how to verify for my client that the pings from both sources are going to the same place.
It seems like it should be working because on the soon-to-be-simplified Google Analytics admin page, I have created a Property and filled in the URL of the YouTube channel, as advised on that page. I've also checked that the GA tracking ID number is the same.
It does seem like the YouTube end of things is showing video-viewing stats, such as "average view duration: 10:51." But I don't know where to look for any pings from the website (as opposed to the YouTube.)
Adding to my confusion, Analytics is now warning me that the channel page -- the one at YouTube that I don't think I can modify because it's YouTube -- "is missing valid tracking code."
Are we just barking up the wrong tree by trying to use the same GA for both? Or is there a place where I can confirm that hits are coming in from both the video and the Wordpress site? Any help much appreciated.
They'll have to get acquainted with filtered views anyway once referral spam starts clogging things up.
posted by rhizome at 1:06 PM on December 5, 2016
posted by rhizome at 1:06 PM on December 5, 2016
Response by poster: Much appreciated, this helped me convince the client to just use two separate IDs. What's the deal with referral spam by the way?
posted by johngoren at 2:19 PM on December 5, 2016
posted by johngoren at 2:19 PM on December 5, 2016
Dumb internet people will snag your Google Analytics code from your page and just submit clicks directly to Google so their URLs show up on your analytics. They don't hit your web page, and that's really the whole goal: their clickable URL on the thing you're looking at.
How to fix (involves filtered views).
posted by rhizome at 6:31 PM on December 5, 2016
How to fix (involves filtered views).
posted by rhizome at 6:31 PM on December 5, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks. That's so dumb!!! But I can see why they might claim this is a great thing in order to charge dumb spammers for their services.
posted by johngoren at 5:21 AM on December 7, 2016
posted by johngoren at 5:21 AM on December 7, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd just set up two seperate properties.
If your client absolutely insists on one property for some reason, you'll need to get acquainted with filtered views.
posted by jourman2 at 9:52 AM on December 5, 2016 [3 favorites]