Google Analytics, a robust tool for tracking and analyzing website traffic, incorporates various elements to help users understand their data. Among these elements, "Views" hold a significant place.
Definition and Purpose of Views
In Google Analytics, a "View" is essentially a subset of your data from a specific website property. When you set up Google Analytics, you create a property for your website. Within this property, you can set up multiple views. Each view can be configured to show a subset of your data based on certain filters or configurations. This allows for more granular analysis and customized reporting.
Why Use Views?
- Customization: Views enable you to tailor the data you see. For instance, you could create a view that only includes traffic from a specific country or a view that excludes internal traffic from your organization.
- Safety Net: It's common practice to have at least three views:
- An unfiltered view that includes all website data.
- A test view where you can test filters and configurations without affecting your primary data.
- A main view that includes the filters and configurations you've determined are most relevant for your regular analysis.
- Access Control: You can control who in your organization has access to each view, thereby managing the visibility of specific data sets.
Types of Filters in Views
- Predefined Filters: These are easy to set up and include common filtering options like excluding/including traffic from specific IP addresses, geographic locations, or devices.
- Custom Filters: They offer more flexibility and can be used for more complex requirements, like including only traffic to a specific section of your website.
Limits and Considerations
- Data Permanence: Once data is filtered out in a view, it cannot be recovered within that view. This makes the unfiltered view crucial as a complete data backup.
- View Limits: Google Analytics limits the number of views you can have per property, so it's important to plan your views strategically.
Final Thoughts
Views in Google Analytics offer a powerful way to segment and analyze your data, providing customized insights tailored to your specific needs. However, it's important to remember that while Google Analytics is complexity might not suit every organization.
At Simple Analytics, we provide a simpler interface, focusing on delivering the crucial insights you need without overwhelming complexity. Check our live analytics dashboard to see for yourself.