Google Analytics: Why can't excluding internal traffic be simple?

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   HELLAposted 14 years ago

   So does anybody here know an easy way to exclude all of my internal traffic from both my work comp and home comp for Google Analytics. Filters seem to be geared more towards owned websites and not so much a site like Hubpages. It's really not a user friendly system.
   
   I have noticed that basically every search I have done from work and at home is listed in my reports which doesn't really help me. It must be that once I login to Analytics from a specific IP Address Google then notates that particular IP and reports data from the IP Addresses I have used to surf the web AND login to my Analytics account...right?
   
   HELP! There is just so much information. I need to take a class on Analytics....GEEZ!

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   1. STAFF

      pauldeedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      If you have a fixed ip address, you can exclude all traffic from that ip address from your analytics reports pretty easily:
      
      http://www.google.com/support/analytics … swer=55481
      
      You can find out what your ip address here, among other places:
      
      http://whatismyipaddress.com/

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      1. 59

         HELLAposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Paul. Well I just bought a new computer so I will be working from my Mac over my Windows PC, both laptops.
         
         A static IP is generally given if you have a service such as Comcast or something right? I mean I would think I had a static IP with Comcast. How do I find this out? And does this mean that both comps had the same static IP?
         
         Thanks! Just so much info out there!

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         1. STAFF

            pauldeedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Most likely any computer that shares your comcast connection will appear to have the same ip address, even though they will have different addresses on your local network (through the wonders of NAT).   I believe Comcast only provides static ip addresses for business customers.
            
            There are other ways to exclude certain traffic from Google Analytics, but they are quite a bit  more complicated.

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2. 70

   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   I have had Comcast for years, and I call my IP address from them "semi static." It generally stays the same unless I lose service from them working on the system somewhere (which is altogether too frequent--I seriously hate Comcast), and sometimes when I reset my modem or something like that. But for day-to-day stuff, it does remain the same. Just do what I do -- just go in and check your IP like once a month or so. You can always update Analytic's filter manager.

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3. 59

   HELLAposted 14 years ago

   Thanks for the help all. Analytics is definitely a bit complicated to someone with intermediate skills. Appreciate the help. I love the knowledge exchange. It helps big time!

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4. 85

   Pcunixposted 14 years ago

   If overall visits are so low that your visits skew the results, you really can't conclude much from Analytics.
   
   However, one easy way to do this is to use an odd browser and define a custom segment that matches it.
   
   Yeah, I know: that sounds very geeky, but really it's easy and you only do it once.
   
   At the top right of any Analytics page you see Advanced Segments.  Click on the arrow there and then over to the left click Create New Advanced  Segment.
   
   That brings up a new screen.  Click on Systems under Dimensions on the left.  Click on Browser on drag it to the "Dimension or Metric" box to the right.  Leave it at "Matches Exactly" and then choose your oddball browser from the drop down list.  Name it, Click Create Segment and you are done.
   
   Now when you look in Advanced Segments, you can "turn on" that segment and your reports will be broken out with the number matching that segment and everything else.
   
   Of course you need to use a browser you don't usually see in your reports.  I used Chrome here, but that's probably not a good choice as it is becoming quite popular.
   
   The Segment you created stays forever; you can turn it on or off whenever you want.
   
   Some browsers let you set the browser identification string to anything you want.
   
   
   
   

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      HELLAposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks PC. That was a bit over my head, no lie, but I will keep reading and rereading to figure it out. I will even try it to see if it makes sense. I really just need to spend a good 5 hours watching vids and playing aroudn with Analytics!

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      1. 85

         Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         It's not a perfect solution, because you could get the odd visit from some obscure browser.
         
         That will be especially true as your traffic grows, but when you have enough traffic, you don't care about the tiny number of visits you made yourself.
         
         If you have trouble, feel free to email me and I will help you.
         
         You might check your Analytics reports and see how many Opera users you get.. it's really a great browser, but few use it.   It is about half of 1% of my HubPage visitors and less than 2% at my main site (which tends toward more geekish people, thus more apt to use alternative browsers).
         
         So if you d/l that (opera.com) and used it for your HP visits, you could break those visits out very easily using the method I showed you.  There are other segments you could use in trickier ways, but this is easy for you and Opera really is a nice browser too

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         1. 59

            HELLAposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks PC! I may just do that! I could even use Safari because I am a Mozillaholic with all of the fun add-ons. I know many don't think it's the best, but I like it. Besides it is widely used. I may also look into the Opera browser because if it is the most seldom used, it may be more beneficial. I'll be in touch!

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               Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Yes, that's the idea: you want to use a browser very few people will use because that way you can split those off and be assured that MOST of them are you, which means most of the other stuff is "real" visits.
               
               Or you can just pay your ISP a stupid amount of money for a static ip address

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5. 89

   fritteritterposted 14 years ago

   Fortunately Analytics filtering can be done much more effectively with cookies than by IP.
   
   Give my hub a read, it will have you set up at home in less than 5 minutes, then you can take a jog back to the hub on your work computer and set it up as well in less than a minute. As long as you use the same computer and browser and do not clear cookies, you will be perpetually excluded from Analytics on your hubs or any other site you choose.
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Google-Analytic … -Filtering
   
   If cookies get cleared automatically on your work computer that won't be a 100% solution, but otherwise it should do the trick!

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