For all you Google Analytics users, things are about to change. In 4-8 weeks, a new version of Google Analytics will be the default version for anybody who logs in. Currently, the new version is accessible only to select beta-testers as a link in the top right of the standard interface titled, “New Version.”
Best features:
- a new site speed report;
- previous settings like email alerts and custom reports can carry over;
- date ranges stay the same as you navigate through reports (= less time resetting custom date ranges);
- for multi-client/multi-account users, a new account-level search function (no more endless scrolling).
Other notable improvements seem smaller but still helpful. In a nod to e-commerce and all the dot-coms trying to monetize the Web, there is also a new conversions report in the left nav, under “visitors,” “traffic sources,” and “content.” You can also more easily activate and deactivate report-level searches, so when you’re searching for how many people queried some variation of “awesome website” to find your business, you can carry the search over more conveniently than before.
Important reminder: Just as in the past, paid search traffic will NOT be recorded as paid unless you have explicitly tagged it first. Newbie AdWords customers, take note!
Bonus: Trend-seekers who want to see the hot stuff quickly will be pleased to know that weighted averages and statistically significant samples will both soon be a part of the new analytics’ “fast-access mode.”
