Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
"index.htm" for all url's in google analytics
-
I don't have this issue with other wordpress websites, only this one website, and I don't know what's causing the issue:
Google Analytics is adding an "index.htm" to every single page on the website. So it is tracking the pages, I see no errors - is it tracking the right page? When I click on the page link in a report, I naturally go to a "404 page not found" since the website address isn't "www.example.com/rewards/index.htm" - but instead the actual address would be:
"www.example.com/rewards/".I have navigated to View Settings in GA to insure "default page" is empty. Although adding anything else to this field does not effect the page url in analytics reports either.
Could it be htaccess file - or a plugin effecting the htaccess file?_Cindy
-
Hi _Cindy,
Please do update about the results, it might help us all learn something new.
Regards,
Vijay
-
Vijay,
Thank you for sending the link. I did read google's info about the default setting and thought adding index.htm(l) would actually remove it, as say permalinks feature does, not add it.
My default page setting is clear now and I'm just wondering how long it will take to get clean urls, since this does seem to be the issue.
I guess I could create a filter in GA, but lunametrics provides examples to add the index.htm(l) or .php and I would want to remove it, if possible, and my regex is not up to speed here.
But I do believe this default page is the issue and will get back to you.
thanks again! _Cindy
-
Hi Cindy,
I did some research and found a solution here, it looks like a settings issue in google analytics and not any plugin. Let me know if this works for you.
http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2010/12/17/cleaning-urls-google-analytics/
If it doesn't then, I would like to dig further.
Looking forward to your response.
Regards,
Vijay
-
I am still grappling with this "index.htm" issue - appended on all urls, and sometimes the correct url is listed along with it, ex:
/about-us and also /about-us/index.htm
I've manually added the UA code to my header file in wordpress. I removed the plugin that was previously configuring the GA account.
In GA for such Acquisition reports as 'Adwords|Final URLs' and 'Search Console|Landing Pages' and 'Social|Landing Pages' the urls are listed properly with NO index.htm.
But all urls listed within the Behavior reports, mostly that would be 'Site Content' all append the index.htm.
Could it be the Inbound Landing Page plugin, which I can not turn off for how long to see results? Is there something in the .htaccess file I should look for?
Additionally I am setting up a ghost spam filter in GA (through the hostname dimension in the Network report - article by Carlos Escalera in the Moz Blog) and I see the UA code for the property listed there - why would this be in that report? Related in any way?
Still in search mode and any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
site in question: dupontservicecenter.com
_Cindy
-
I have used google tag assistant - showing no issues.
I deleted the WordPress plugin (monster insights) and manually inserted GA code in header file.
Still I am getting "index.htm" appended to end of all urls in Google Analytics.
It doesn't seem to be effecting the metrics in GA, but still would like to know why this is happening on this one client site and not other client sites where I have those sites setup the same.
could it be another plugin?
Can I filter out the "index.htm" for the entire property so that the urls read correctly? If so, is this an acceptable solution?
in GA admin | view | view settings | default page I have inserted "index.htm" but this has no effect.
any help again would be greatly appreciated.
the site in question: dupontservicecenter
-
Hi _Cindy,
It seems to be resolved, at least at the collection level. It could be a filter in GA though.
If you ever see values in GA that look unusual, a great tool to debug GA data collection is the Google Chrome extensions, Google Tag Assistant.
Just click the extension icon and it will display what data is being sent to Google Analytics. In this case, just click "1 Pageview Request" and then click "URLs," then display the data as a table to see exactly what is being sent to Google Analytics.
Hope that helps this time and in the future.
-
Thank you Martijn. I was going to use filters to eliminate the "index.htm" - but I need to understand what's different here; my other sites are not experiencing this issue, without adding a filter in GA, so why then is this one site, and will it effect the metrics?
The only difference between this site setup is that the client was using, and wanted to continue using, Yoast Google Analytics... (now monster insights plugin) - so maybe that's it, my trackers?
here's the site dupontservicecenter.com
Very much appreciate your help.
_Cindy
-
Hi
Have you checked your filters in Google Analytics? Otherwise are you able to share the site so I can take a look by debugging your trackers?
M.
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
-
Tasks for Google Analytics training
Hi Mozzers, I'm delivering some Google Analytics (Fundamentals level) training, and trying to make it was fun and as interesting as possible... which is quite a challenge when it comes to GA. I was just wondering if you're aware of training tasks, or interactions, I could bring into this kind of training session? The group are particularly interested in user journeys and the effectiveness of content. Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | A_Q0 -
% Change - Google analytics - how to calculate?
Hi All,
Reporting & Analytics | | JohnPalmer
I have two dates with two different numbers I want to calculate the "% Change" like google analytics, The numbers of June 2015 - 127,931 sessions
The numbers of June 2014 - 90914 sessions please tell me what is the %Change. Best. J0 -
Is there a way to find out who the admin of a Google Analytics account is?
We have a client who has been searching high and low to gain access to the GA account that is tied to their website, but previous agencies keep stating they don't have access. Is there a way to find out who the admins are on a GA account with the tracking number so we can reach out to that person and ask them to admin the client?
Reporting & Analytics | | marketingmediamanagement0 -
Google Analytics shows most referrers as "Direct" -- What are some better tools?
Very often Google Analytics will show 50-90% of our referrers as (direct) which is not very helpful. Are there other tools out there that will provide a clearer breakdown of what other websites are sending us our traffic? Specifically, I want to be able to be able to tell who are the top traffic referrers to my top performing pages on my site for the last 30 days. (I want to be able to study this on a per-page basis.) Thanks in advance!
Reporting & Analytics | | Brand_Psychic0 -
Inurl:login.aspx + "register" "retrieve password" + intext:employment
Someone came to my website with this keyword a few times, I was just wondering if anyone knows what that is? inurl:login.aspx + "register" "retrieve password" + intext:employment
Reporting & Analytics | | Rubix0 -
Why is Google Analytics showing index.php after every page URL?
Hi, My client's site has GA tracking code gathering correct data on the site, but the pages are listed in GA as having /index.php at the end of every URL, although this does not appear when you visit the site pages. Even if there is a redirect happening for site visitors, shouldn't GA be showing the pages as their redirect destination, i.e. the URL that visitors actually see? Could this discrepancy be adversely affecting my search performance? Example page: http://freshstarttax.com/innocent-spouse/ shows up in GA as http://freshstarttax.com/innocent-spouse/index.php thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | JMagary0 -
How can I verify if someone is Google Analytics certified?
I am looking to hire an IC to help with analytics. I need to know how I can verify if they are GA certified. They gave me a link to a http://www.starttest.com profile. Is that legit?
Reporting & Analytics | | inhouseseo0 -
How to track what people type on my text boxes on Google Analytics?
Hi there! In our website, we have a few text boxes that users need to use to complete the goal. The boxes aren't search boxes, but it's still important to us to track what people type on it. I'm looking for a way to track the data through the "event" feature in Google Analytics, but it seems that this tracker can only calculate clicks, or video views etc. Does anyone knows how to track do it?
Reporting & Analytics | | ivan.precisodisso0