Comments on: Contest Winners: The Best Web Analytics Report

By: TOm Walsh

TOm Walsh — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:57:08 +0000

Is there a way to have the map overlay AND line graph show up on the same report?

By: The Best Web Analytics Report | Serengeti Communications

The Best Web Analytics Report | Serengeti Communications — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:20:30 +0000

[...] Avinash Kaushik recently ran an informal contest to find out what report people would choose if they could only have one Web analytics report. The winner of “the best Web analytics report” was a report showing “sources by state, compared to last month.” Based on her business, a locally owned company that competes solely in her geographic service area, it is a great report. For other businesses, it may not make sense. This makes picking one “best” report difficult since it can vary depending on the business and the focus that the particular analyst has. [...]

By: Emily Fazio

Emily Fazio — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:30:03 +0000

Stephan, that would definitely work. You'll have to forgive me for not already setting that up, I've been slack! Its a good thing this isn't my day job!

By: Stefan Seiz

Stefan Seiz — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:56:53 +0000

@Emily: now i gotcha!
Did you ever consider setting up a second GA Profile (use Add a Profile for an existing domain – so it uses the same tracking code) for your site with an "Include Filter" set to e.g.:

Filter Type: Custom Filter
• Include
Filter Field: Visitor Region
Filter Pattern: California

That way, all the GA reports will automagically show only metrics from the one state you are interested in and i bet this is much easier to work with for you.

By: Emily Fazio

Emily Fazio — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:41:37 +0000

Stefan, thanks for checking out my report! What is cool about my report is that I am only concerned with info from one state. Everything else is outside my company's service area. We're a local dealer for a national company, which has the US divided into territories, and its a breech of contract for us to sell outside our territory. This makes all traffic from other states irrelevant to us, b.c they are not potential customers. That's why I only look at information at the state level. GA titles this report "This state sent xx visitors from yy sources" rather than actually naming the specific state. Sorry for the confusion. And you're right, you do loose the map feature at this level too. Maybe in the the next update :)

I know my situation is very specific, and perhaps unique to everyone out there with really cool analytics jobs for companies large enough to afford web analysts. Again what i think is cool, is how well this software works for both large and small businesses. :)

Thanks again for checking out my report, that made my day!

By: Stefan Seiz

Stefan Seiz — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:55:46 +0000

Thanks a lot for the explanation Avinash!
So it really is more a "Sources By Country (USA)" than "Sources by State" (as the map display will go away as soon as you start segmenting).
No wonder i wasn't finding it as i was assuming Emily has some super secret way of getting a real source by state report which lists all States and respective sources on one report.