Understanding Google Analytics reports and capabilities requires an understanding of the basic principles. Knowing what data Google Analytics can capture and how it interprets it is key to making sense of the software.
At its most basic level, Google Analytics consists of
- JavaScript code on each page of a website,
- A data collection service on Google’s servers
- A processing engine that creates report data
Did you know that you can keep a backup copy of your Google Analytics data? If your company doesn’t already do this, start today.
1. Google Analytics JavaScript Code
When a visitor arrives at a page with tracking code, the code is executed by the browser. It collects information about the visitor’s browser and computer settings, like screen resolution, operating system, etc. The script’s visibility is pretty limited. It can typically only see what it’s told.
The script then sets a few cookies containing some basic visit information. These cookies determine whether it is a new or returning visitor, among other things.
2. Google Analytics Data Collection Service
Next, all of this information must be sent to the Google Analytics servers so it can be processed. The GA tracking code sends the information by requesting a very small file, /collect. It appends all the cookie data and information it just collected to the query string for /collect. This way, Google’s servers have a record of when a file was requested and all of the visitor information about that pageview.
Many organizations store a backup copy of every tracking request sent to Google’s data collection service. Once you have a local copy of Google Analytics tracking requests, you can process them with Angelfish Software and turn them into interactive reports.
3. Processing Visit Information
In the last step, Google Analytics processes all of the __utm.gif requests, applies filters and config settings, and makes the data available to your account.
Visit data is typically processed every few hours, although this frequency has been increasing over time. Google rolled out a set of Real Time data reports in 2011 although the data available in these reports is not comprehensive.
Pros and cons to Google Analytics
There are a few important points to consider with this approach.
The Tracking Request is Critical
Any visitors to your site that don’t execute the JavaScript file won’t get counted. If the code doesn’t run, then /collect never gets requested from the GA servers and Google Analytics will never know about the session. Likewise, if you take the code off your site or misconfigure it so that it’s not working properly, the sessions during that period won’t be counted.
Track Cached Pages
Google Analytics will track visits to a page even if it’s been cached (i.e. stored in your browser’s memory). Each individual /collect request contains unique information, which means it won’t be served by the browser cache. A new request for the file will be made every time a page is viewed, including when a visitor refreshes the page or hits the back button.
Cookie Manipulation
If a visitor deletes the Google Analytics cookies, s/he will be seen as a new user in the next visit, and all information from previous sessions will be lost.
This also means that multiple users on a computer will be seen as the same visitor. Also, a user using two computers or devices will be seen as two different users.
This is one of many reasons that web analytics reports ought to be viewed as a survey sample and not as concrete fact.
No Reprocessing
It’s important to remember that Google Analytics data is processed remotely. GA customers don’t control when data is processed. That means that once data is in the account, it’s there for good. Mistakes in historical data can’t be reprocessed.
To avoid mixing good data with bad, we recommend creating a duplicate profile to use as a sandbox. Apply filters to the sandbox to see what impact they will have before applying them to your production profile.
Google Analytics on Different Servers
All of the Google Analytics code is client-side, so it doesn’t matter where the website is hosted. Different browsers might treat the code a little bit differently, but as long as the HTML references the JavaScript code correctly, the code never has to interact with the server.
Next Steps
Check out our Recommended Tools to learn about products that complement Google Analytics.
Google Analytics for Intranets
Does your company use Google Analytics to track Intranet websites? If so, there’s a slight problem: