If you're collecting website data in Google Analytics, yous should know a few things nigh how information is organized inside the interface.

Iii stages of the Google Analytics hierarchy:

  1. Business relationship – Contains all of your information for all websites
  2. Belongings – Each property has a unique tracking ID (UA-########)
  3. View – Where you actually view your website data in the GA interface

When you lot're analyzing your website data you lot're most likely spending most of your time within the Views in Google Analytics. Views tin can be customized past applying FIlters to show yous merely the data you or your stakeholders want to see.

Why You Should Create Google Analytics View Filters

Pre-filtering your information earlier it reaches the final information collection phase in Google Analytics tin can save you a lot of fourth dimension in analyzing your data – and in that location are a ton of possibilities for custom filters for your data! You can too be more specific when directing stakeholders towards the data that is most valuable for them.

Another reason to create pre-filtered views is to avoid sampling problems within the Google Analytics interface. Applying multiple filters or segments to data afterward it's already candy by GA tin can be deadening, and you run the take chances of your data being sampled to the point where it can't exist used to derive insights and recommendations.

Learn more than virtually view filtering — including why it matters how you rank (or order) filters in Seer's filter order guide hither.

Basic Google Analytics Views to Fix:

1) Raw (Unfiltered) Data View

You should always have a backup Google Analytics view that is truly an unfiltered view. In add-on to acting every bit a fill-in, a Raw (Unfiltered) Information View is useful for reviewing changes that would otherwise be filtered out from other views. Once you utilize a filter to a view you lot cannot retroactively remove it, so a raw view also ensures you lot accept admission to all historical data that flows into GA.

Like the name suggests, "Unfiltered" means that there should be no filters practical within the View Filter Settings, like beneath:

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two) Examination Data View

A Test Data View is also pretty self-explanatory: you lot use this view to test out whatsoever filters or configuration changes in Google Analytics! The reason for using a Test view is to make sure whatsoever changes are validated before applying them to your overall information – you can't go back and erase past Google Analytics data.

3) Overall View

Your Overall View is your clean data source that pulls in all Google Analytics data (aside from information such equally IP addresses and spam that are purposefully filtered out). This view should include all hostnames of your website, all channels driving traffic, etc.

How to Gear up 6 GA View Filters

  • View Filter #1: Channels
  • View Filter #two: Device Type
  • View Filter #3: Content Type
  • View Filter #4: User-ID
  • View Filter #5: Geography
  • View Filter #6: Custom Dimensions

How to Gear up Google Analytics View Filter #one: Channels

You can brand a view for whatever Channel or Source / Medium you'd like by using View filters!

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  1. Organic Search Channel

These are examples of superlative channels that you may take dedicated teams for (either internally or with Seer!). Pre-filtering these views can help make data analysis faster and easier, either in the interface or by connecting to tools such equally Data Studio.

If you accept teams dedicated to managing social media, take a specific view for them to measure the click through rate from social to your website from specific social sources, campaigns, and more than. Showtime, you lot should brand sure that your teams are correctly tagging all social campaigns – check out this blog post for more info on campaign tagging.

How to Set Up Google Analytics View Filter #2: Device Blazon

Three more helpful views to set are ones that filter for merely a specific device type. If your site has a big mobile presence, this is specially helpful to monitor UX for mobile users to help identify any points of friction or UX issues.

  1. Desktop Devices

  2. Mobile Devices

  3. Tablet Devices

To prepare filters for a view specific to a certain device, you can simply include only the Device Category of your choosing, such equally mobile.

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If you lot want to become even more granular here, you tin can choose to include only specific operating systems. Building a RegEx formula of Mobile OS that you want to include is a slap-up style to even further segment your audiences by device.

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How to Fix Google Analytics View Filter #3: Content Blazon

1. Web log Pages

2. Career Pages

If your website has a weblog, information technology's well-nigh likely broken out into a subfolder on your site, or it might be an entirely different subdomain. If you have a content team writing posts, it's helpful to take a specific view for them to view blog engagement, top posts and categories, etc.

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Additionally, although Careers page viewers may not be your target audience for your product or service right now, it's still just every bit of import to understand their behavior. You might fifty-fifty have specific goals for viewing or applying to your job listings!

How to Ready Up Google Analytics View Filter #4: User-ID

If your website offers a customer login or portal, you should take the User ID feature turned on so you can place who your truthful prospective customers are compared to your existing customers.

To create a User-ID view, yous'll kickoff accept to enable the feature within Google Analytics' Property Settings. One time y'all complete all the necessary steps, you'll be able to create a User ID view correct from this screen! A not bad way to leverage User ID tracking is include only users with a User ID then you can empathize user behavior for existing customers.

On the flip side, excluding users with a User ID can evidence you true prospective customer data such equally traffic and conversion rates.

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How to Set Upwards Google Analytics View Filter #five: Geography

In that location are several location-based filters y'all can utilise to your views, which can be peculiarly useful if you operate in multiple countries. Even so, you have the granularity to filter all the fashion downwards to the city level if you want.

  • Filter by Country

  • Filter by Urban center

  • Filter past Land (Region)

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You tin can fifty-fifty filter by Language Settings, which can make your geo-targeting views even more than specific to your audiences.

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How to Prepare Up Google Analytics View Filter #half-dozen: Custom Dimensions

Google Analytics allows you to create Custom Dimensions that collect data unique to your website. Once yous create a Custom Dimension, information technology will appear as an option to use in view filters, opening up even more possibilities to create audience segmented views.

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Before you become besides excited about your new view possibilities, proceed in mind that the free version of Google Analytics only allows 25 Views per Property. This means you'll need to exist very strategic with your views and program for what to do when you max out. If y'all become over the limit or reach it, consider the following solutions:

  • Create a net new property – this requires a new holding ID to be added to your site & splits your information between multiple properties in Google Analytics. Notwithstanding, nosotros caveat that this can brand it more than difficult to find the data you demand.
  • Upgrade to Google Analytics 360 to expand the number of views per holding.

Want to larn more nigh upgrading to Google Analytics 360? Contact the Analytics squad or keep reading our blog posts for more!