Re-branding with Google Analytics
-
GM Mozzers,
I apologize in advance if my description of this issue is confusing, but I'm doing my best here.
Anyway, due to legal reasons, one of the publications I manage was forced to change their name. We set-up a 301 redirect from the previous domain and have also set-up an analytics profile for the new domain, however, as it stands, visits to the old domain outnumber those to the new domain 12:1.
Is there anyway to set-up my analytics profile to the new URL so that this traffic is being attributed to the new domain and the new site, since, after all, it is a redirect.
I hope that I explained this sufficiently. Any and all insight will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
-
You can either 1) update current analytics profile with new url and use the compare feature in analytics or 2) export all of the old data in excel for data comparison and create a new analytics profile.
The 301 concept remains the same in both scenarios.
-
Travis,
Would this assist me with the redirect issue. How would I be able to assimilate all of the traffic that's currently redirecting from the old domain onto the new domain?
Likewise, am I making sense here?
-
You can export all your data to csv/google docs? Then just run comparisons through excel or however you see fit w/ that data.
-
Oleg,
Well, here's the problem:
We want to keep the old profile (the URL we are redirecting from) so that if needed, we can compare current/future numbers against previous years.
So are you saying that it would be better for me to update the 'old' analytics profile and simply update the information in the 'profile settings', i.e. the new URL?
Is there a way I can set it up so that we can keep the old account and 'deactivate it', for lack of a better word, so we can archive all of that old data and again, be able to compare it to the new data.
Likewise, is there anyway to set it up so that the domain we're redirecting from can somehow be included in the new profile.
-
If you properly set up a 301 redirect, the old site shouldn't be sending any tracking information as the page's content shouldn't be loading.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
Rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]Make sure you change the URL inside Google Analytics settings as well (Load account > Admin > select profile > Profile settings)
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Referral Traffic vs. Campaign Traffic in Google Analytics
I have two sites: a blog and an ecommerce site. The blog funnels people to the ecommerce site. In Analytics I'm seeing declines in referral traffic from the blog to the ecommerce site. During the same time I'm seeing an increase in campaign traffic to the ecommerce site, with most campaign traffic coming from the blog. I believe the increase in campaign traffic is largely a result of simply having installed more tracking links. This leads me to believe that the declines I'm seeing in referral traffic is simply a result of the increase in campaign traffic. In other words, what was once counted and reported as being referral traffic is now being counted and reported as campaign traffic. So my question is this: In Google Analytics is campaign traffic ALSO reported as referral traffic, or is campaign traffic reported separately and not duplicated in referral traffic reports? I'll provide a concrete example to make this more clear in case it isn't: Say site X sends 1000 visits each month to site Y. Say 50 of those visits come from a single link on X. If that link is changed so that campaign Z data info added (via the Google URL Builder), would you expect to then see 950 referral visits each month from site X to site Y plus 50 campaign visits to site Y via new campaign Z, or would you continue to see 1000 referral visits plus the new 50 campaign visits? Many thanks in advance to anyone that can shed some light on this.
Reporting & Analytics | | aaronprimal0 -
Google Analytics: Trackbacks & Network Referrals?
Buon Pormeriggio from 15 degrees C mostly cloudy Wetherby UK 🙂
Reporting & Analytics | | Nightwing
Whats the difference between Trackbacks & Network referrals within Google analytics social media reporting? I'd like to specifically understand why a link to site i'm working on withing this post:
http://huddled.co.uk/huddled-interviews-nicola-schaefer-from-liverpool-fc-e-l-i-t-e-s-8335/ is classed as Trackback & not a Network refferral 😞 Illustrated here is the link thats being recorded as a track back:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/track-back-query_zpsbab2679b.jpg And here is the data:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/google-trackbacks-2_zps2861fa17.jpg But why is not showing up in Network referrals? Thanks in advance,
David0 -
What's the final word on Image Search tracking in Google Analytics?
Sorry if this has been answered but I can't seem to get a straight answer to my questions by searching around. How is traffic referred by Google Images counted in Google Analytics? I know it used to be referral traffic from google.com/imgres. A lot of things I have read say that it should all be under google/organic now, but my site still gets referral traffic from google.com/imgres, so that can't be. However I also get traffic as google/organic that I am pretty sure is from image search, because we don't rank for the keyword normally, but we do for image search. What's the deal? How is traffic from an embedded image in a regular result page counted? How can I segment my image search traffic better? It would be great to see image search traffic as it's own medium. I found a script here -- http://jrom.net/google-images-in-google-analytics -- that looks promising, has anyone used it or can recommend another way? I haven't used the GA API very much so I want to make sure the script is kosher and won't screw up my numbers.
Reporting & Analytics | | tact0 -
Google Analytics Campaigns
I need the help of a smart Mozzer. In Google Analytics: Traffic Sources>Sources>Campaigns all the results shown are from RSS. Can anyone help me with why RSS results would be displayed in Campaigns?
Reporting & Analytics | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Google Analytics Tracking Code Queries
Hello, I have taken on a new client who has Google Analytics installed. The tracking code is set to 'single domain'. Recently they added a mobile site using a sub-domain (m.website.com) which means that Google Analytics is not picking up this traffic. I want to revise the account so that I have a master account (raw data) and then profiles for the mobile site, main domain (www.website.com) and one other for a sub-domain that they are using. I am aware that there is mobile specific tracking code however I thought it would be easier (re conversions/goals/eCommerce tracking) to not use this and by changing the account to 'multiple domains' we could also get data for another sub-domain that they are using . My questions are: Am I right to want to use individual profiles over web properties. If not please explain why. When installing the tracking code (where the profile number is changing) I believe that I need to add that code with the changing profile number to the sub-domain sections. So my question is a) is that correct, and b) if I use a profile number on a sub-domain section will the master account still gather the data for the main URL as well as all sub-domains. If I change the master account from using 'single domain' tracking code to 'multiple domain' tracking code will this affect historical data? Will I lose the data? When changing from 'single domain' tracking to 'multiple domain' tracking does this affect eCommerce tracking? Or do we only need to be adding the additional lines of tracking code that allow sub-domains to be tracked? The web developers are using asynchronous code however half is in the and the other half is at the bottom of the source code. Given that traffic is being reported in the Google Analytics account should I have any concerns that the code is split? I have done a lot of reading but seem to be going around in circles, so your help is much appreciated! Thanks,
Reporting & Analytics | | Unity
Dinny0 -
Why is Webmaster Tools not Linking Correctly Google Analytics?
I have a global site with .com as the US site and then /country for all other markets i.e. .com/uk .com/de etc. Each site has it's own WMT profile. Each site has it's own GA profile. Since Google added Search Engine Optimization to the GA interface, I can't track these sites separately under this new feature. It seems to me that it can only be associated with a single WMT profile at a time or rather that WMT can only be associated with a single GA profile at a time. The numbers for the UK and US site are identical, but when I try and link the UK WMT account with GA it removes it from the US profile and vice versa.
Reporting & Analytics | | Red_Mud_Rookie0 -
Google Analytics Alternatives
I am getting really fed up with how unreliable Google Analytics data is. Also, because I have several large sites I can't use the goal tracking or conversion funnel reports. What are the best alternatives to Google Analytics?
Reporting & Analytics | | mascotmike0 -
Setting up Goals in Google Analytics that involve a 3rd party site
I've set up several goals for one of my clients in Google Analytics. The ones that relate to things on the site -- such as clicking on the "Contact Us" button -- work just fine. However, I set up one that is tracking when someone clicks on a purchase button, which sends the user to a third party site (PayPal). This one doesn't seem to work. (I purchased and item and the goal was not recorded). Looking to see if I have to do anything different when setting up the goal.
Reporting & Analytics | | EricVallee340