DW Tips

Your Google Analytics dashboard is a distracting place. There are dozens of different numbers, lots of different graphs, and navigation bars everywhere that can always lead you to new analytics. Whether the numbers look good, bad, or overwhelming, clicking around on your dashboard won't give you a lot of actionable data. Avoid the distractions and get to the bottom of your important data by following these steps:

1. Ignore the vanity data.

Google Analytics is helpful for you the user, but make no mistake: it's primarily there for Google's own utility. The dashboard is designed to be engaging, moderately entertaining, and to make you come back. So it's filled with a lot of vanity data that makes you feel accomplished but doesn't necessarily give you any useful answers. This includes numbers like page views, new visitors, duration of visits, and, if you use AdSense and hook your revenue into GA, your money. These numbers are distracting. So ignore them. Look at them once a month or so if you want to check the trends or for a boost of motivation, but then move on.

2. Create specific reports and get them emailed to you.

If it's hard to fight off the distraction of that dashboard, you can work around it. Decide what numbers are actually important and get them emailed to your inbox every day or each week. These reports can focus on meaningful stats you need to keep your eye on, like conversions. They can also be the results of specific projects, like if you're currently focusing on reducing cart drop-offs. 

There's always something interesting to look at in Google Analytics, so just don't go there if you don't need to.

3. Set up specific time slots to get distracted.

However, clicking around GA can help you find unexpected insight. Diving deeper and deeper into data, especially as you get more familiar with what matters and what doesn't, can make your business stronger. It's also important to spend time researching how other businesses use Google Analytics and what the experts recommend. Set an hour or so a week aside for free-form browsing.

Check out our blog for more of those insights so you can get the most value out of your exploration.