Question re Google Analytics and its more accurate alternatives
-
Hi guys
There are two main issues we have with Google Analytics, and I'd really appreciate if anyone has the time to give an answer to that.
-
We completely miss organic traffic data before 7/22/2013 although our account is active since 2005. Any thoughts on that? Is it the not provided move that swiped out all data or something else?
-
Even for the data we do have there is lots of inaccuracies, and we are thinking on switching or at least adding a new analytics software, any recommendations? (FYI, it turns out we do not keep access logs on the server for more than 2 months, and we might fix that for future references, but now we are looking for external solution).
Any help will be much appreciated
Thanks
Lily
-
-
July 25, 2013 is when Analytics started using "Channels" as a dimension, so that is why it appears that there is no data before that--it doesn't mean there actually isn't any organic data.
As has already been mentioned, you can use a segment to see organic traffic before then--or you can choose "medium" as your primary dimension and select organic from there.
-
The major downside to Google Analytics is that it relies solely on Javascript. In other words, your clients' browsers have to load the JS, parse it and send the appropriate data back to Analytics. While this works for most visitors, it certainly doesn't work for all.
Log parsing is always the best solution because your server, by definition, gets all the traffic and can tell you with 100% accuracy your actual traffic. Most of the log parsers don't require you to keep your logs. Instead, they parse the logs and store relevant data in a database. The downside here is that you will have to have direct access to your server logs, which not all people have.
Some open source solutions include GoAccess and AWStats. There's also Cloudflare, which is more of a proxy but it can also feed you true numbers (although with less granular data, much like GA). There are numerous paid solutions as well.
-
Hi Lily,
For question 1 are you trying to see keyword related data or just organic traffic levels in general? If the latter you can use a segment to view organic traffic only. This would allow you to see organic traffic levels prior to 2013.
To do this click add segment located just below the top of the page (screenshot attached) and select "Organic Traffic" (second screenshot).
Give me a shout if you have anymore questions on this
Tim
109a77b3dc7befd3454e6103f8102277 ecaec5f322faefac26ea147aa3849dc9
-
Hi Lily,
1> You can still go to Acquisition >>Campaigns >> Organic Keywords to see historical data.***
For referral & direct traffic please check below URL once may be helpful for you.
============================
2>You can try Kissmetrics. (https://www.kissmetrics.com/)
Thanks
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
-
Modify Google Analytics Script To Only Cookie U.S. Sessions
I know I can filter sessions from outside the US, but is there a way to modify the GA script so that it doesn't cookie visitors to a site if they are from outside the US? Note, this is separate from having a cookie consent opt-in. Thanks in advance,
Reporting & Analytics | | FitzSWC
Fitz0 -
No-indexed pages are still showing up as landing pages in Google Analytics
Hello, My website is a local job board. I de-indexed all of the job listing pages on my site (anything that starts with http://www.localwisejobs.com/job/). When I search site:localwisejobs.com/job/, nothing shows up. So I think that means the pages are not being indexed. When I look in Google Analytics at Acquisition > Search Engine Optimization > Landing Pages, none of the job listing pages show up. But when I look at Acquisition > Channels > Organic and then click Landing Page as the primary dimension, the /job pages show up in there. Why am I seeing this discrepency in Organic Landing pages? And why would the /job pages be showing up as landing pages even though they aren't indexed?
Reporting & Analytics | | mztobias0 -
Some goal conversion in Google analytics showing under referral
Yesterday I have created Google analytics account for a new website but few goal conversions comes from payment gateway site (paypal.com, epdq.co.uk) and showing under referral. How to fix this issue so I can know the real source of Goal conversion. *Note - utm_nooverride=1 on thank you page applied, payment gateway URL is already placed in Referral Exclusion List. So please don't suggest either of them. Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | Alick3000 -
Why my WMT is showing more clicks than my Google Analytics Organic Search Traffic?
Hello Everybody, Can somebody help me figure out this puzzle: My WMT is showing 6000 clicks, while my Organic Traffic in Google Analytics is showing only 3500 daily ... how is that possible? Best Regards
Reporting & Analytics | | Muhammad_Jabali0 -
Google Making all searches secure - "Not provided" data to increase in Analytics
A lot of you might already be aware of the recent Google change at encrypting all search activity except for clicks on ads. Rand did a whiteboard session on this recently. How is everyone planning to adjust their research data to accommodate for this change?
Reporting & Analytics | | SEO5Team0 -
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 -
What is s.ytimg.com in google analytics?
My clients GA reports 273 visits from s.ytimg.com. I go to the site, it doesn't exist. I googled it, there were some code with s.ytimg.com in it, but nothing I could understand. Anybody have an idea where this comes from?
Reporting & Analytics | | endlessrange0 -
Google Analytics Customer filters & the correct syntax
Good afternoon from torential rain and thunder Wetherby UK 😞 Ive been delving into the world of custom filters in Google analytics and Ive hit a problem. Apart from Googles advice being out of date (wont get into that one) I wanted to set up clone a profile of an existing site and set up a filter that would exclde USA traffic. But a country can be called many things e.g. United Sates USA America so how do you know what is the correct name to put in the filter pattern box? Here is a screen shot of my efforts :http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc53/zymurgy_bucket/filter-toexclude-usatrafficcopy.jpg (I chaned it to United States) So my question is where is there a list of the correct syntax for the filter pattern box? Taker for example you wnated to set up a custom filter to include just Palm OS traffic apprently from reading this the correct filter patter is Palm OS, i only know that from this http://www.e-nor.com/blog/web-analytics/tracking-mobile-devices-in-google-analytics Whilst Google has lots of documentation about filed patterns as documented here http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1034380&topic=1034830&ctx=topic Where in the name of flying spacial jockstraps is there documentation for the correct filter pattern syntax. Help my head hurts 😞
Reporting & Analytics | | Nightwing0