How do I log into my account? You have received a Gmail username and password. Go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and click on the “access analytics” blue tab. Put your username and password into the appropriate fields, and on the next screen select “view report.”
ANALYZING THE DATA
What key numbers will show how my site is doing overall? Tracking page views and daily unique visitors is the best way to see how your site is trending. Steady growth in both is the goal, and comparing these numbers month over month and year over year will show if your Web strategy is working.
What kind of information is important to get in front of advertisers? In conjunction with the “new visitor” and “returning visitor” reports, you can provide realistic audience reach and loyalty reports to your customers. It’s recommended that you show advertisers these numbers as you experience growth. You can include a copy of the monthly site traffic summary with the advertiser’s 30-day performance reports for individual campaigns. When pricing bundles with print and online, your extended reach including print circulation and daily unique visitors can be used to help determine your value proposition.
What information should we share with our newsrooms? Editors should study Google Analytics weekly and prepare a monthly report to share with the staff. The report should at least include month-over-month page views and unique visitors, plus some notes on the content that is most popular and the content that is not. This will help you focus your resources.
What other analysis can I use for our strategy? Google Insights for Search can tell you what Web users in your city or region are searching for in Google within selected time ranges. Study the results and see if there is any way you can offer logical local content to satisfy those searches.
Here are some terms to know that will help you navigate and use Google Analytics:
Craig Silverman, founder of the Regret the Error blog, shares his take on which media outlets got it wrong and which ones got it right – and why – during coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, with tips and takeaways for newsrooms on verification of digital information. Silverman (craig@craigsilverman.ca) is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Regret the Error, a blog that reports on media errors and corrections, and trends regarding accuracy and verification.
Here are 5 takeaways from "Don't get fooled again: Best practices for online verification."
