Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Google Analytics Overload

Holy cow, I'm back into overload!

On a trip to Rio de Janeiro a few years ago, I wanted so bad to Boogie Board the awesome waves of the Atlantic that broke right in front of the Sheraton, that I planned everything to work like clockwork.

But, to make a long story short, I was in way over my head as far as my abilities, and I would crash off the top of these 15 foot monsters and be thrown 30 yards up the beach. The local kids would laugh as my board shorts almost left me as well. They were pros - down here every day - I was a Gringo, wanting desperately to catch a wave and look (and feel) cool.

But I wasn't ready. I had to do more homework.

Just like the dynamics of those waves, there are more things Google Analytics analyzes than you can shake a stick at. And the screenshots all look nice and snazzy, and at first glance, you can see how long someone stayed on your page - and how many people came from where - but what do I really need to know?

Grab me one of those caffeinated chews.

The help manual behind Google Analytics is huge. So here is my plan: spend the time I need to understand how this all can work in my best interest. (And report on it here so we can discuss it.)

For instance - what I really want to know is how to track my AdSense ads. Another good read would be - how to set up AdWords ads to track with Google Analytics. I clicked on "Link your AdWords account to Google Analytics", but now I learn that "linking" doesn't mean the ads get linked to the analysis. It just means that you can access the Google Analytics page from your AdWords screen as a tab running across the top.

Do I need to enter a special URL, like index.html?mustseeaua ? Or can I just leave them as they are?

Okay, where's my day planner? Dennis sent me a cool site to create todo lists. This challenge will require some quiet time and some serious thinking.

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