How to use Google Analytics filters
This article is dealing with the use of filters in Google Analytics. If you are unfamiliar with Google Analytics, or any other form of website analytics for that matter, then this website analytics overview article may help.
What is a Google Analytics filter?
This is probably best answered with an example. Say you've commissioned a shiny new website to be designed and it has just been launched. Happy days! You and the rest of your team are very excited about your new website, as you should be, so every hour or so you browse over to it just to take a look and to make yourself feel better about the website finally being launched. Say you do this every hour for the first day, and then every two or three hours on the second day. Now imagine that three of your colleagues have done the same thing.
The on the third day you log into your Google Analytics account to see what kind of traffic you've been getting, and lo and behold you are amazed to see that you've had about 200 visits on the first day your website has been online. Not bad!
But here's the problem - how many of those visits came from you and your colleagues?
Remember, you went on the website about 8 times on the first day, and than at least 4 times on the second day. So alone, you will count for about 12 of those 200 visits. If three of your work colleagued did the same, then between the 4 of you, your own internal traffic has counted for 48 visits out of the 200 you saw reported. Almost 25% of your traffic is you and your colleagues!
If only there was a filter!
Well, of course there is. If you have a static IP address (each router has it's own IP address with its Internet Service Provider), and you are able to find that number, you can add a filter to your Google Analytics account that will block out visits from your own home or office.
Here's how to set it up:
1. Log into your Google Analytics account.2. Click on the account you want to add the filter to.
3. On the bottom right corner, look for 'Filter Managers' as shown in this image:
4. Once in the filter manager, click 'Add Filter'.
5. Call it whatever you want, for example 'home ip block' or 'office ip block'
6. In the second option, change 'traffic from the domains' to 'traffic from the IP addresses'
7. Enter the IP address you want to block in the IP address field. If you don't know your IP address, click here.
8. Make sure the website profile you want the IP address to be filtered for is selected.
9. Click 'Save changes'
Remember, this will only work if you have a static IP address, or in other words an IP address that doesn't change. If you do not have a static IP then the filter will only work for as long as your Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you the same address. Users without a static IP are often given new IP addresses when they restart their router. Most ISPs have static IP addresses available for a extra charge.
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