1. Advanced Segments

Don’t feel limited by looking at your data through the segments that Google Analytics defines as defaults. While all visitors, new visitors, and returning visitors are certainly interesting, you should try defining some of your own. I have created a segment for looking at the behavior of frequent visitors, meaning visitors who have come to the site 5 or more times in particular time frame. It’s possible to compare such a custom segment with other segments, so I can see if frequent visitors spend more or less time on the site, and visit fewer or more pages than new visitors, or other returning visitors.

You can create some very detailed segments, too. For example, I created two test segments: both are from Western Europe, but one segment is Firefox users, and the other is Chrome users. I compared the two, and found that people from Western Europe using Firefox spent more time on my site and visited more pages. You can even use these advanced segments on the custom reports that I mentioned in my previous post.

You can define a custom segment by going to the “My Customizations” box and selecting “Advanced Segments.” Once you have an advanced segment defined, an “Advanced Segments” drop-down menu will appear in the gray bar at the top of your reports.

2. Navigation Summary

The Navigation Summary lets you look at any page on your website, to find out what page they came from, and what page they went to next. This provides interesting information about whether key pages are fulfilling their purpose.

For example, my blog has a “Starting Point” page that was designed to help people find articles that I’ve written. The Navigation Summary shows that from my Starting Point page, most people go to my page on Yahoo Pipes and RSS Hacks. I suspect this is because of the way the navigation on the page is designed; I can use the analytics data to reorganize the navigation to make my content easier to find.

You can get to the Navigation Summary by visiting the “Content Overview” page and clicking on “Navigation Summary” in the right column, underneath the graph. On the Navigation Summary page, select the “Content” drop-down box to see navigation data for any page. Dennis Graham has written an in-depth explanation of some other interesting ways to use this data.

3. Views

Detailed data in Google Analytics is shown as a table by default, but you can also see the data as a percentage pie chart, performance bar chart, comparison chart, or even a pivot table with all kinds of interesting data about your visitors. For example, a pivot table could be used to compare visitors from Google in Asia who are new or returning.

Looking at a pivot table of my top content, it was interesting to see that people who land on certain pages from Twitter spend much less time on the page than people who arrived from some of the other sources.

To access the various views, go to any page with a table and look under the right side of the top graph or just above a table to find a “Views” section with five icons representing your different views.

What are your favorite Google Analytics tips?

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It’s free and easy to get started with Analytics, but there are also a lot of advanced features that can make it even more useful. I’m sometimes surprised by how many people only look at their dashboard page and never really drill down into some of the more interesting details and features. I thought it might be time to do post with a few quick tips for getting more out of Google Analytics.

1. Alerts. If you want to keep on top of your sites and know when something out of the ordinary is happening, you should visit the “Intelligence” section and set up a few alerts. You can configure the service to email or text you when something specific happens. For example, on one of my websites, I have it set to alert me when the number of visitors goes over a certain threshold on any one day. Alerts can be set using most of the many different metrics available in the various reports. You can also apply your alerts to multiple profiles and use them on several different websites.
2. Custom Reports. Don’t just use the built-in reports; create your own custom reports (available in the “My Customizations” menu). Spend a few minutes thinking about what you really want to know, and create a custom report that you can view every time you log in. For example, I have a custom report that shows the unique visitors, new visits, time on page and pageviews for each blog post, and when I drill down into a single blog post, I can see which keywords people used to arrive at the page from search engines. The best thing about these custom reports is that you can share them across your Analytics accounts and use them on multiple blogs.
3. Export. Most of us would probably think about exporting our data as a CSV or XML file that we could use to crunch the numbers in some other application, and Google Analytics can certainly do that. However, it can also be used to create some nicely formatted PDFs of your data that you can send to your manager or your clients. This is a great way to quickly give someone who isn’t familiar with Google Analytics an overview of some specific event or a monthly analytics report with little extra work on your part. My favorite is to create a report by exporting from the dashboard, which gives you a multiple page file with overview numbers and graphs for visitors, traffic sources, maps, content and anything else you’ve added to your dashboard. You can get PDF exports by using the “Export” drop-down menu of any report; you can even export your custom reports.
4. Customize Your Dashboard. You should also take the time to customize your dashboard. First, add any frequently-used reports to your dashboard using the “Add to Dashboard’ button at the top of any report. You can even add your custom reports to the dashboard. Each box on your dashboard also has a very faint and tiny “x” in the upper-right corner that you can use to remove any unwanted information. Now that you have the right information on your dashboard, you can use the upper-left corner of each box to drag the components around to put the ones you want to see first near the top of the page. and less frequently-used items further down the page.
5. In-Page Analytics. I saved the best for last. In-page Analytics is one of my favorite features, since it lets you see where people actually click on your pages. You can find In-Page Analytics under the “Content” section in the left-hand navigation. You can navigate to various pages on your website to get a different view of where people are clicking on your subpages. You can also use the drop-down filter at the top to hide any clicks below a certain percentage to focus on where most people are clicking, or you can create your own filters to only see clicks from new or returning visitors, certain geographies, or based on almost any other available metric.

What are your favorite tips and tricks for squeezing more out of Google Analytics?

When it comes to live-blogging news events, plenty of bloggers and journalism outlets use their own in-house tools. However, more and more news organizations are turning to all-in-one, cloud-based solutions such as ScribbleLive, a service that sees itself as more than just a live-blogging tool for the Academy Awards or a keynote by Steve Jobs. “We see ourselves as becoming much more of a full, real-time content-management system,” ScribbleLive founder Michael De Monte said during a recent interview in San Francisco.

The company’s software allows news outlets to quickly set up a live blog that looks and feels like a regular page on their website, complete with all of their branding and sidebar widgets or whatever else is on the page, says De Monte. Other solutions that provide similar live-blogging or live-discussion features — such as Cover It Live, which is owned in part by Demand Media through its Pluck division — restrict the content within a widget or window that can’t be indexed by search engines or easily converted to other formats, De Monte says (although Cover It Live does allow users to export the data from the window and publish it as a regular HTML page).

ScribbleLive, which is based in Toronto, recently launched the next generation of its content-management tools, which add a number of different ways of getting content into the live blog or news discussion. In addition to pulling in Twitter accounts or keywords automatically (which can be filtered to include or exclude specific phrases), the software also allows reporters to contribute their comments via email, SMS, voice-mail or the ScribbleLive web interface, which can be accessed via an iPhone or BlackBerry app.

During the G20 demonstrations earlier this year in Toronto, for example, De Monte says that one of Canada’s major broadcasters kept a running update of what was happening during the riots by calling a voice-mail number and leaving a message, which the system imported automatically as an audio file. Not all reporters are comfortable with Twitter or SMS, the ScribbleLive founder says, “so we provide whatever means they can feel comfortable with for them to provide their analysis and perspectives on the news.”

The company’s software is used by Reuters and Hearst Television in the U.S., as well as several other news organizations, and has also been used by a number of non-media entities such as Greenpeace, which used ScribbleLive to report on the live demonstration over an oil rig. After the event, the searchable pages remain available so anyone looking for information about that event will be able to find and review the live-blog. “ScribbleLive changes the traditional linear flow of the newsroom to a more dynamic, collaborative process that empowers real-time reporting and audience engagement while ensuring editorial control and journalistic integrity,” De Monte said.

The company was bootstrapped for the first year or so of its development — while De Monte and his partner worked at CTV, a large Canadian media network — then got seed funding from Rogers Ventures in 2009. ScribbleLive just closed a second round of seed financing from Rogers, De Monte says, and is currently looking to raise a Series A round of funding. Embedded below is a short interview I did with the ScribbleLive CEO in San Francisco:

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Microsoft not only spotted his complaint on Twitter, one of the developers of Live Writer reached out quickly with a fix to his problem. This is great customer service for a number of reasons: Live Writer is free, not paid; the way David set up his blog caused the problem; they gave David three options to try to fix his problem. That is simply outstanding, and a big pat on the back for all involved.

David’s problem had to do with using the Thesis theme on his WordPress blog, so anyone unable to get Windows Live Writer working on your similarly themed blog should check out David’s blog post detailing the fix. His feelings say it all:

Have to say I haven’t had a rapid response like that from Apple over anything for stuff I’ve paid for. And certainly wouldn’t expect it for something I got for free.

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In short, they’ve found that while free apps are downloaded like crazy, active use drops off fast. Paid apps tend to see more use after installation and are used for longer periods. If it’s a paid game, all the better.

Long before he stopped using his iPhone altogether, Om raised similar questions on GigaOM regarding app usage.

Does your own iPhone usage support this data?

Looking at my iPhone I find that most of the applications I actively use are those that support or work in cooperation with the web-based tools on my desktop computer. Even though I’m not using a wide variety of applications, overall I’m using my iPhone on a daily basis far more than I have used any other mobile device.

My app mainstays include Remember the Milk, Facebook, TwitterFon, Salesforce, BeejiveIM (expensive at $15.99 but worth it), 1Password and Box.net. I also regularly launch eReader, TWC (Weather Channel) and Now Playing. While I still have a few games on my iPhone, I can’t remember the last time I launched one.

I took a rare visit to the App Store to see what I might be missing.

#9 on the Top Paid App list is something called “White Noise”, which pretty much sums up what the store is like for me these days. Not much seems to stand out in a sea of mindless games and fluff entertainment.

Part of the reason I’m bored by the App Store is how often I’ve been burned by apps that don’t live up to their promise. The ratings aren’t as helpful as they could be since you can’t see which version the reviewer was using when they cast their vote. So instead, I tend to grab apps from developers I already trust or those that are recommended on other web sites.

What apps, if any, are still making your cut? How do you decide what to buy/download?

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From the sounds of it, I wouldn’t expect to see much change on either site although there could be cross-posting opportunities. Both will continue to provide reviews and news of notebook, netbook and Tablet PCs while also offering great purchase deals on those devices as well. Congrats! :)

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In addition to strong privacy features, QTWeb also has an extremely tiny portable footprint that is ideal for a pocket USB drive.

QTWeb’s portable footprint is only 4.8 megabytes. That’s even smaller than Google Chrome’s at over 7 megabytes. That’s not the only reason it’s ideal for a take-anywhere USB drive, though. The two reasons I carry a pocket USB drive are: 1) so I can quickly create on-the-fly backups from wherever I am working; and 2) so I have my favorite applications no matter which computer I’m working on. If you place value on that last reason, and you frequently work on computers that are not your own, you’ll appreciate the privacy features in QTWeb.

QTWeb is designed to leave no traces of browsing history on a local machine while browsing or after the browser has been reset. Absolutely no information gets stored in Registry or User Profile files. You can also run the portable version directly from your USB drive, with no installation required. You can find a complete list of what’s new in version 1.5 here.

You also get a customizable interface with QTWeb. You can jettison all toolbars if you want, good for maximum screen real estate on a portable machine. You can also switch between a tabbed browsing interface and a non-tabbed one.

Finally, I had to admire the ecumenical spirit of QTWeb’s developers when I installed the new version. On the right of the browser’s home page, you get a set of links to the home pages of other browsers, as seen in the screenshot below. Hmm, Internet Explorer isn’t on the list. These must be open source developers.

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Traditionally, the best way to sell to future prospects was by shopping around the recommendations of previous employers. There’s nothing wrong with that strategy, but clients may be skeptical because you control who is providing testimonials, not people they already know and trust.

GigPark means to bring word-of-mouth recommendations to the web, using a social network model. You can browse existing recommendations just by visiting the site, but the innovative twist offered by GigPark comes into play when you register an account with the site.

Once you have a profile, you can mine your existing social networks and email address books to see if any of your friends are already using GigPark. The site is relatively new, so trawling my Facebook, Hotmail, and Twitter contacts actually didn’t result in any hits.

That said, the folks behind the site are trying to promote growth. You can invite your friends from the site using their emails, and if you register and make three recommendations before the end of the month, you’re automatically entered into a draw to win an iPhone 3G.

Whether or not you have any friends, you can browse the community recommendations. The listings are also searchable, so that you can find exactly what you’re looking for. You can even recommend individual items, like blog posts. Using the “Ask” link, you can also seek out specific professionals or services, and broadcast those to your Facebook, email, etc. contacts from GigPark.

If you’re a service provider, it’s a simple, free way to spread the word, provided you have clients willing to sign up and make recommendations. Another option for those with businesses is to create a Business Profile, which adds information about your business to your basic account. This is a free upgrade, so there’s no reason not to do it if you provide any kind of goods or services.

Once you’ve established a business profile, you can request recommendations using an email form, Facebook, or Twitter from within GigaPark. Recommendations you receive will be stored on your publicly accessible GigPark business page, for which you receive a unique URL that you can include in your email signature, etc.

GigPark is definitely a service to watch, since it starts where you already are, leveraging the power of your existing social networks in a convenient, user-friendly way. If it can gain some momentum, it could become a valuable web working resource indeed.

How do you choose service providers, doctors, handymen, etc. now? Do you think a GigPark-style social model would simplify this task?

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There’s been a lot of doom and gloom recently in the news, but for at least some of us, web working remains a bright spot in the landscape. I’m certainly thankful that my own work allows me to skip the daily commute (and not even venture outside on days when the weather is below freezing), and that I have the chance to work with interesting people worldwide on a daily basis.

What about you? What makes you thankful about web work? Share your highlights in the comments!

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