Google Analytics Twilight Zone

1. 80

   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   I am new to Google Analytics, and sometimes I think I understand what I am seeing, and often I don't.
   
   A short while ago, I was checking the Google Analytics report on Top Traffic sources, and under keywords (the ones people have used to find my Hubs) the top contender is not even slightly remotely related to any of my Hubs.  I myself have used it as a keyword in searching for something else, perhaps when I was still signed in to my HP account.
   
   Can anyone explain this for me? i.e. why a keyword with zero relation to any of my Hubs would bring a whole lot of traffic to my Hubs?

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   1. 90

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If we knew the keyword and the hub we might guess.

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2. 80

   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   I'll have to take some time to figure out how to correlate keywords with specific Hubs.  This is on the Top Traffic Sources page:  The top keyword is "'genetically altered food,' monsanto."  Since most of my Hubs relate to music and none (so far) to Monsanto or genetically altered food, this was a real stumper to me.
   
   As I mentioned, I myself did run a search for genetically altered food at one time, and I wondered whether that might have entered the picture somehow.
   
   Another keyword was "queen of returns," which also does not fit my Hubs.

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   1. 90

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "Queen of returns" fits my hubs - I have one with that specific title.  How odd.
      
      Maybe Google doesn't do Analytics  well for HP.  I use  it extensively on my main site, but have not looked at it here as I don't yet have enough traffic for it to have any value.

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3. 61

   brettbposted 13 years ago

   You see the first keyword someone used to find hubpages. They might have visited someone else's hub first, hence the strange keywords. Indian aunties is a common one due to the vast popularity of the sexy Indian ladies hubs.
   
   It's a quirk of Analytics!

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4. 80

   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   Thanks brettb, that probably explains it.  I am guessing that I haven't figured out yet how to exclude my own views from GA (although I thought I had), and so the Monsanto thing was probably me going back and forth between that other search (genetically altered food) and HP. 
   
   Pcunix, maybe someone who searched for your Hub later visited mine, because of linking our "brainwork" Hubs.  Would that account for the "Queen of Returns" keyword?

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   1. 61

      brettbposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You can exclude your own hub views although it depends if your Internet connection has its own IP address or range of IP addresses.
      
      Really you need 6 months worth of data in Analytics and then you really get to sort out the good hubs from the bad.

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   2. 90

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that's probably it.   They found my article about my Queen and followed it to your Brain :-)

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