Ever wish you could create identical Google Analytics profiles, apply a new filter against the new profile and thereby track portions of your web site as if those sections were totally independent? You can now accomplish that very same task natively within Google Analytics!

This raises the obvious question, why would I desire to create duplicate profiles and apply unique filters against that content? The most obvious example which comes to mind is to track different products, or product lines found within different sections of your web site. Your internal customer often does not consider their section of your web site "part of a whole". In fact, quite often your internal customer only cares about their section of your organization's web site, specifically the analytics for their department's folders. For them, their products or services are stand alone businesses which should be managed independently!

As a support person, hopefully you understand your internal customer's need to track analytics independently of the rest of your site, but you also are not interested in recoding your Google Analytics scripts with additional ID codes whenever an internal customer needs independent analytics (remember, with unique profiles you can grant independent user access to reports for each profile. 

Before I give an actual example, let me note that it was a pleasure to work with Google's Product Support Team and provide feedback on the need for this feature. I actually demonstrated and pointed Google to an old Firefox add-in which accomplished much the same task (see blog post from October 2010). I'm thrilled to see Google incorporate this feature into the new version of Google Analytics.

Here are some screenshots which will work you through an example. Click upon any image to view at full size / resolution!

1. Invoke the GA Admin Menu

2. Click upon <New Profile>

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3. Create new profile

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4. Create a new filter to distinguish the new profile from the old

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5. Configure your new filter

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6. Continue your flter configuration process

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7. Check your GA account for your new profile

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8. Assign users reports access to your new profile

9. Access your GA metrics

Remember: it may take 24 hours for your new profile to start collecting data! 

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Still with me? You may also be interested in another post of mine on the topic of Google Analytics virtual page views. The linked post reviews how to track non html pages (like MS Office, or Adobe pdf files) via Google Analytics. Remember, it's impossible to insert Google Analytics tracking script in non html pages, but there is a fairly simple work around.

Just took a late lunch, and had a fascinating read from the WSJ: "Your E-Book is Reading You"! This is great 4th of July or Canada Day reading material!

I don't know why it had never dawned to me that device manufactures (Kindle, iPad, Nook) are collecting the equivalent of web analytics on our "book reading habits". For instance … with respect the Hunger Games trilogy … "Nearly 18,000 Kindle readers have highlighted the same line from the second book in the series: "Because sometimes things happen topeople and they're not equipped to deal with them."

Or … "The perfect man, according to data collected by digital publisher Coliloquy from romance-novel readers, has a European accent and is in his 30s with black hair and green eyes. Optimal chest-hair level: 'slightly hairy.' " (definitely not me, folks, except for the green eyes!)

Apparently the device manufacturers are only just starting to share this data with publishers. I'll leave you with one more quote from the article: "For centuries, reading has largely been a solitary and private act, an intimate exchange between the reader and the words on the page. But the rise of digital books has prompted a profound shift in the way we read, transforming the activity into something measurable and quasi-public." Use of these kind of analytics will transform the use and publishing of books. As a user of Google Analytics for years, "I get it"!

Just in case the WSJ ultimately removes the article from their free web site, here is a pdf copy hosted on NorthStarNerd.org. However, the WSJ article has  a video interview and slideshow in addition to this article. Worth a visit.

Welcome to the Brave New World (pun intended); Hopefully not Fahrenheit 451! 

Photo credit: Wall Street Journal and William Duke

I've used Yammer for 3.5 years, and have extensive experience with running a large corporate wide Yammer network. Thus, earlier today I was pleased when my black tabby cat's opinion of Yammer was validated! Microsoft purchased Yammer. This also confirmed what I have known for some time … microblogging adds value to the enterprise by optimizing collaboration.

As a member of Yammer's Customer Advisory Board, I offer my congratulations to Yammer! It's been a fun ride over the past 3.5 years, but more importantly I've seen the perception of Yammer change from a interesting experiment in business collaboration, to an important tool for enabling global internal business conversation.

Here is my cat's post from January 11, 2009, and a more serious post further down from Yammer's earliest days.

Cat 2.0 or … Cyrus Joins Our Corporate Yammer Network! (Jan. 2009)

Last night I went to a neighborhood party, but forgot to shut my laptop down. Cyrus, our black tabby cat decided he wanted to understand what Web 2.0 and company wide chat via my Fortune 100 firm's Yammer network was all about. Anyhow, Cyrus settled down on my keyboard and invoked some commands … and even took a screenshot via SnagIt (like a dummy … I did not save the screenshot). Four times Cyrus asked (via my profile) … "what are you working on?" Ultimately he received a few responses.  The first response was "writing some reports for root cause investigations"! Thus, if you want to get true value out of company-wide chat … use your cat! Here are two screenshots of our Yammer network responding to Cyrus masquerading as me, and of course, a photo of Cyrus! Click to expand any image to full size.

You need to understand that my cat loves the warmth of my computer, and enjoys walking and sleeping on my laptop … thus his clandestine entries by stepping on various keys!

Click upon any image to view at full size.

   
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Yammering Together (Dec. 2008)

“The best innovations occur when you have networks of people with diverse backgrounds gathering around a problem,” says Robert Fishkin, president and chief executive of Reframeit Inc., a Web 2.0 company that creates virtual space in a Web browser where users can share comments and highlights on any site. “We need to get better at collaborating in noncompetitive ways across company and organizational lines.” (From the NY Times: For Innovators, There Is Brainpower in Numbers)

How did I learn of this article? Yammer! A colleague at my company posted some information about the innovation process. Here are my comments about this kind of tool … essentially Twitter for the corporation:

• My first impression of Yammer … what a waste!
• My second impression … boy was I stupid!
• Yammer introduces the unknown to me … valuable people and ideas in my company

Let me expand. My expectation was that listening to folks … even my colleagues post small messages a la Twitter would be a distraction, and a waste of my time. Instead I discovered:

• Via Yammer I joined groups that pertained to my job
• People from my groups who I DID NOT originally know provided me valuable knowledge

In summation, it's easy to talk to the folks you know. It's easy to seek ideas from your known peers. The big question … how do you discover knowledge hidden to you within your own organization? My company has over 120,000 employees. So far, I don't know everyone. Yammer helps me expand my knowledge base. Thus, this experiment is worth continuing.

Finally, link to my Minnesota Yammer colleague … and watch his overview on how to update your Yammer profile (via Slideshare).