Google Analytics is used by a significant number of online publishers and businesses to track how internet users are interacting with their websites.
But data is data, and visualizing how Google Analytics data relates to specific pages can be a difficult task. So last week, Google launched In-Page Analytics, which it hopes will make Analytics more useful by adding "visual context" to data.
Located in the Content section of Analytics, In-Page Analytics is designed to answer questions like "Is my page layout optimal for what I want users to accomplish on the page?" and "Are my users seeing the content I want them to see?"
In-Page Analytics works by superimposing Analytics data on your website so that it can be viewed while actually browsing. So, for instance, while browsing a particular page on your website, In-Page Analytics will display 'bubbles' detailing what percentage of clicks each link on the page generated. When clicked, these bubbles can provide additional data, such as goal conversion metrics.
One of the coolest features of In-Page Analytics is integration with advanced segments. With a couple of clicks, it's possible to visualize how different types of visitors are interacting with a page. If you're particularly interested in how paid traffic is interacting with a particular page, for instance, it's easy to visualize this using In-Page Analytics and advanced segments.
Overall, In-Page Analytics is a feature that many Google Analytics users will likely come to use on a regular basis, and it will probably be especially beneficial to Google Analytics users who aren't dataheads. After all, one picture is worth a thousand Google Analytics reports.
Reader comments (8)
European Web Analytics Specialist at Canon Europe
1:20PM on 18th October 2010
Another great example of Google delivering enterprise level web analytics tools.
This is a really intuitively put together addition to GA and items such as '~X% Clicks Below' just shout user workshop output. Really cool to see user needs being represented and offered in such a seamless way with the existing tool.
Of course, the role of the analyst/marketer remains key - this feature will not help you unless you are asking good quality questions and are in a position to know where to dig down futher.
Nice work Google - you give us few excuses for not generating insight!
Consultant at Datawin
12:00PM on 19th October 2010
This is super cool, could even add "awesome" to describe it.
1:09PM on 19th October 2010
I think this is great. To be able to see how many people interacted with a specific link while looking at my actual site is incredibly useful. It is much better than trying to find the information in a drop down list, especially when things are not labeled intuitively.
Internet Business Consultant at i-contact web design
5:07PM on 19th October 2010
Now this has made my day! Talk about even more great reporting, and it's free. Thanks Google!
6:12PM on 19th October 2010
I agree, Google has come up with another gem. Just took a look at it and it could be improved to give you even more insight, but it does look very cool!
10:58AM on 25th October 2010
i agree , really look very cool,
Head of Analytics & Web Development at RSA Group
10:01AM on 26th October 2010
This is a great step forward in making web analytics more visually accessible. Although there's no data here that wasn't already available in GA, features like this make training and adoption much easier across the office. Anyone who finds it does not work should check their account filters, as any filter which alters the URL in any way can impact this new functionality.
10:34AM on 17th September 2012
great step forward in making web analytics more visually accessible. Although there's no data here that wasn't already available in GA, features like this make training and adoption much easier across the office.
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