Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Google Analytics - Filtering Out Your Own IP Address

analytics_logo I discovered Google Analytics when I opened up my Origami Etsy store.  This program opened up a new world of marketing opportunities.   I’ve applied it to my on-line store, Etsy, Artfire, Facebook Fanpage, both my blogs and trying to figure out if it can be applied to other platforms like twitter and Zibbet.  (All in my limited spare time)

I got a lot of traffic!  Or so I thought. My views were overstated as I constantly visited my own sites whenever I updated something to ensure it looked right.  When you are trying to figure out your demographic, doesn’t help if 30% of the hits are yours.  Then I realized, “Hey, if this thing is so great, there MUST be a way so my visits aren’t counted”  And guess what….I googled it and there is a way!

There is a short explanation on Google’s Help but I find the majority of them are not that clear.  You can tell that the answers are geared toward professional web developers.  I’m sure most of us just wants step by step instructions on how to do it.

  • First thing you need is to get your IP address.  http://whatismyipaddress.com/
  • Log into Google Analytics
  • Click on Filter Manager – Bottom Right Corner
  • A new page will open, click on the gray tab “+Click on Add Filter”
  • A new page will open, name your Filter (I like to use something like – Cindy’s Laptop)
  • In the "Filter Type" drop-down menu select “Exclude All Traffic from an IP Address”
  • choose the websites you want to "Apply Filter to Website Profiles" (i.e. yourshop.etsy.com) and click ADD
  • A new page will open with the IP address field.  Enter your IP Address in the fields provided

Repeat if you use multiple devices.  I currently filtered out my work and home computers and probably need to filter out additional ones.

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