Wordpress + Google Analytics = Pulling My Hair Out
-
Hey Mozzers,
Quick question for you-
I have analytics set-up for a personal site I run and I know, verifiably it's receiving traffic, however, whenever I access my Google Analytics dashboard, it says I've had zero visits.
Interestingly, today I had a colleague check the site from a foreign country and I could see the page views (within 15 minutes), however, I could not get any information about the site viewer.
I have verified that the Analytics profile is 'receiving data' (which it is) and my Google Webmaster Tools is not reporting any issues?
Finally, I went ahead and updated my profile so that it is pulling from 'www.mydomain.com' instead of 'mydomain.com', I don't know if that'll make any difference, but likewise, I didn't want to go and create the 'little kid in the elevator' analogy, where I'm just pressing a bunch of buttons just because they're there.
So the only changes I've made thus far were deactivating Yoast's SEO plug-in and manually placing the GA code in the header and updating the 'Website's URL' in the profile settings tab of GA from 'mydomain.com' to 'www.mydomain.com'.
With that, I am stumped and praying another one of the esteemed Mozzers out there may be able to help me resolve this. Any thoughts?
-
You'll definitely want to have the non-www version 301 redirecting to the www version, otherwise you're inviting ranking issues with the search engines.
Done correctly, you shouldn't encounter any 404s as a result, and there's nothing needed to do as far as "re-writes to update all the site pages URLs". That's precisely what the 301 redirect is designed to handle.
That said, if you have created links on your own website that point to the non-www version (in navigation or in post content for example) it would be a good idea to change them to what's called the Fully Qualified Domain Name or FQN. 301 redirects are suspected not to pass absolutely all their link juice through, so it's best to link directly to what you've decided will be the FQN for your site - i.e. the www.yoursite.com version.
Does the traffic seem to be flowing into Analytics now as expected?
Paul
-
Paul,
The non-www version was not 301 redirected, however, when I updated the 'default URL' in the property settings from 'mydomain.com' to 'www.mydomain.com' I started seeing traffic stats again for that profile.
I previously re-wrote the .htaccess file to redirect accordingly, however, was having problems finding pages on my site after I implemented the changes.
Even though I can see the traffic stats now, do you think I should still try and implement the redirect? Likewise, would implementing the 301 create navigation problems (i.e. 404s, pages not being found) if I don't implement some sort of dynamic URL re-writes to update all the site pages URLs?
-
Another thought - if you had set the domain's URL as website.com, but in fact nearly all traffic was going to www.website.com and you didn't have a 301 redirect in place to point the non-www version to the www version, that could cause the data issue as well, I think.
Was the non-www version 301 redirected to the www version?
Paul
-
Have you checked to see if you have any filters or custom segments running in the Analytics profile? This really sounds like a filter is distorting/blocking the data.
Try creating a clean profile of the website in the same account and see if it records data.
Also, when checking, keep in mind the GA is typically 24 hrs behind when reporting data (except for the Real Time section of course)
Paul
-
Oleg,
Thanks for getting back to me, I am using the asynchronous code and changing the date range, but it didn't help. Nevertheless, thank you for your suggestion!
-
Make sure you are using the asynchronous analytics code. Once you've added it to the site, view the source and make sure it appears exactly as you input it. Make sure you select today's date in the analytics range (default is yesterday).
-
What do you mean by 'putting the code on'? I would be happy to send you an example, just tell me what you'd like me to include in that?
-
hmm, pretty strange - you can always test it by putting the code on, and then viewing it in real time - you should see visits happening, especially if you open the site in a different browser.
You can send through an example and I'll be happy to take a look.
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
-
Google Analytics & Google Sheets
Hi guys, I'm looking to use google analytics google sheets extension to pull data into a google sheet with metrics from other tools e.g. semrush, moz, etc. From my understanding with google analytics google sheet extension its designed to run reports and doesn't really allow you to add other metrics. Basically what i'm trying to do is this: https://www.useloom.com/share/c1e42bfa60bd46fca2b1120018969ce8 Any suggestions/advice on how to do this would be great. Cheers.
Reporting & Analytics | | jayoliverwright0 -
How to Configure & Tracking Images in Google Analytic?
Hello Experts, Can anyone tell me for my eCommerce site how to configure images tracking in google analytic? And where can I see the image traffic in google analytic? Not sure I am asking correct question but confuse about image traffic. Thanks! Wrights!
Reporting & Analytics | | wright3350 -
How can I get the Google Analytics advanced segments beta?
Is there a way that I can get access to the Google Analytics new segmenting features? I've been reading about them for some months now, but still nothing in my GA account. Thank you in advance.
Reporting & Analytics | | LinusB0 -
Need help setting up a Google analytics goal.
I'm just now getting my feet wet with the goals in GA. I'm trying to figure out how many visitors to a certain page, click on a certain link (which takes them no a certain page on my site.) What's the best way to go about this? Thanks.
Reporting & Analytics | | NoahsDad0 -
Google Analytics help - exporting reports
Hey mozzers, A little help if you will. I am in traffic sources > sources > search > organic I am view keywords and comparing 1 month with another. Now I see what 1 keyword sends 1st month, 2nd month and % Change. I want to export this data to an .xls file. When I do, I end up with a file that shows what 1 keyword sends 1st month and 2nd month, but no % Change! I really need to include this in exported document.... Summary: Analytics hates me. 🙂
Reporting & Analytics | | MirandaP0 -
How do I unlink my Google Analytics Account from SEOmoz?
Hi, I am new to the community and have a very basic question concerning the internal settings for SEOmoz. How do I unlink the Google Analytics Account from SEOmoz. I am sure there is an easy answer to this. Thanks for helping!
Reporting & Analytics | | sandoery0 -
Editing Google Analytics eCommerce Javascript for Volusion
Does anyone know how to edit the ecommerce javascript with Volusion dynamic variables? I thought I did it correctly but none of the information got recorded in GA. It recorded that there was a transaction made but not info on the purchase price, order #, etc. This is the current code I am using: NOTE: In Volusions customer support center they provided this information: Where Order-Specific Information is Generated Order-specific information can be generated by JavaScript on the OrderFinished.asp page within Volusion. On this page, two JavaScript arrays will be initialized that advanced users may need to be aware of. The arrays and their contents are as follow:
Reporting & Analytics | | jhooley
Order Array Contents Order[0] = Order ID
Order[1] = Unused
Order[2] = Payment Amount
Order[3] = Affiliate Commisionable Value
Order[4] = Sales Tax
Order[5] = Total Shipping Cost
Order[6] = Billing City
Order[7] = Billing State
Order[8] = Billing Country OrderDetails Array Contents OrderDetails[X][0] = Order ID
OrderDetails[X][1] = Order Detail ID
OrderDetails[X][2] = Product Code
OrderDetails[X][3] = Product Name
OrderDetails[X][4] = (unused)
OrderDetails[X][5] = Product Price
OrderDetails[X][6] = Quantity Note that in the above example, X refers to a line item number (beginning from zero). Note that there can be multiple Order Details arrays - one for each item contained within an order. I'm a newbie at Analytics installation and could really use any help. Thanks!1 -
Google Analytics - April Search Report Data Gone For All Clients - Anyone Else Seeing This?
Hey everyone, In the last hour I was doing some SEO referral reportingin Google Analytics and discovered that my April data was completely gone (flat lined to zero). Specifically, if i select a date range for any point in april and select search from the advanced segments area I am seeing this issue. This is happening for ALL of my active clients... anyone else seeing this?
Reporting & Analytics | | dpeddle0