cross domain tracking not reflected in navigation summary - google-analytics

edit
I edited my post as I narrowed down the issue to just different domains; sub-domains are not an issue.
--
In google analytics there is a navigation summary that shows the previous and next page paths for any page path in the property. This report is under the behavior tab > site content > all pages > navigation summary at the top.
I have cross domain tracking set up but when I go to the navigation summary report I do not see any traversal between domains. The only activity is between subdomains and within the same domain (i.e. www.example.com, a.example.com, b.example.com but not www.anotherexample.com).
I know there is traffic happening between domains because I have done it myself and watched my own session in the real-time tab as I went between two different domains, sometimes including URL parameters to single out my own session.
Why can't I see cross domain tracking in navigation summary?
JS on domain1.com:
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){
i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;
i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)
},i[r].l=1*new Date();
a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];
a.async=1;
a.src=g;
m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-YY', { //this uses my real tracker ID
'name':'a',
'allowLinker':true
});
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['domain2.com']);
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-YY', {'name':'b'}); //Again, uses my real ID for a separate property
ga('a.send', 'pageview');
ga('b.send', 'pageview');
JS on domain2.com:
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-YY', { //uses my real tracker ID
'name':'a',
'allowLinker': true
});
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['domain1.com']);
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-YY', {'name':'b'}); //uses my real tracker ID
ga('a.send', 'pageview');
ga('b.send', 'pageview');

Related

Google Analytics with two property ID's: double counting page views?

I've always used one Javascript GA tracking script on my page, for www.example.com version of my website. It used the property ID UA-XXXXXX-1. However, I read somewhere that pages viewed on your example.com domain (without www.) won't get tracked properly this way. So I added a second property, without the www. It had the property ID UA-XXXXXX-14.
Now, I'm seeing a significant rise in my page views (more than double, actually) for the stats of my UA-XXXXXX-1 property, but not in my sessions. Does this mean that Google Analytics is tracking page views twice? And if so, how is this possible, since I'm just looking at the stats for UA-XXXXXX-1?
EDIT: This is the code I'm using:
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-1', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-14', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
However, I read somewhere that pages viewed on your example.com domain (without www.) won't get tracked properly this way.
This is wrong. GA in its default configuration will track properly, even if www.example.com is technically a subdomain of example.com. Plus changing the domain in your account configuration will not actually affect data collection.
Does this mean that Google Analytics is tracking page views twice?
Yes, probably. However this is not related to tracking with to properties unless there is a problem with your configuration. Most likely you are accidentaly tracking twice to the same property.
If I had to take a wild guess I'd say you are doing this:
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-2', 'auto');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-1', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
ga('send', 'pageview');
when you should be doing this:
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-1', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXX-2', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
i.e. to send the pageview before you create your second tracker (because the second one will overwrite the first).
Alternatively you could use named trackers:
ga('create', ''UA-XXXXXX-1', 'auto', {'name': 'trackerOne'});
ga('create', ''UA-XXXXXX-2', 'auto', {'name': 'trackerTwo'});
ga('trackerOne.send', 'pageview');
ga('trackerTwo.send', 'pageview');
Since the tracker objects are called by name you can be sure that your calls always go to the correct tracker, no matter in which order the code is called in your page.
However if that is the problem you should not see data in your second account. In that case you need to share your actual tracking code.

Google Analytics Cross Domain Tracking Conversion Referral Issue

So I have two sites for a client, we'll say www.main.com is their main website and www.signup.com is a site where the user signs up for a certain service.
I recently switched signup.com over to universal analytics so that we could implement cross-domain tracking via the autolink plugin.
I used this article to help me set up the code on each domain.
Here is what I have on main.com:
<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-11865301-1', 'auto', {'allowLinker': true});
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['signup.com'] );
ga('require', 'displayfeatures');
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
NOTE: I'm not sure what 'displayfeatures' is. I was told that a 3rd party vendor had to customize the code at one point and that I shouldn't remove anything.
And here is what I have on signup.com:
<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-11865301-1', 'auto'), {'allowLinker': true};
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['main.com'] );
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
I also have both domains listed in my Referral Exclusion List so that we don't see main.com as referrals for the signup goal.
What's happening now though, is that for almost all of our conversions, the source/medium is showing as (direct)/(none) and the referral path is showing as (not set). We cannot figure out why.
At the time of this posting there are 14 goal conversions for the day. All of them are reporting a referral path of (not set) and 13 of them are reporting a source/medium of (direct)/(none). There is one conversion that has it's source/medium listed as bing/organic, if that is any kind of clue.
I'm not finding a lot of results on the subject in my googling so this is my last resort. Any help would be appreciated.
UPDATE: So I've been researching this heavily for the past 24 hours and have found out more information.
The (direct) or (not set) referral sources are coming from main.com. The reason they are listed as direct or not set referrals is because we have main.com listed in the referral exclusion list. When I turned it off these referrals started coming is as main.com.
It's starting to look more and more like there is no way to take the original referrer from main.com and carry it over to signup.com.
Can anyone confirm or deny this theory?
When you link domains for cross-domain tracking, they should all be included in the autoLink.
ga('linker:autoLink', ['signup.com', 'main.com'] );

Google Analytics Not Tracking Sub Domain

I have a website where I plan on setting up a few sub domains ( Which I want to be kept completely sepperate ) and I've set up an sepperate tracking code for each one.
I've set my default domain to sub.mydomain.com and been given the tracking code:
<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-53076472-2', 'auto');
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
However when I run the page my analytics still show 0 Online. When I run the source code the correct JS tracking code is shown - What could the problem be?
By Default,GA tracks for tld's , you need to change the code to track subdomain.
ga('create', 'UA-53076472-2', 'auto'); - This only tracks the top level domain.
Replace this line with the below mentioned code...and Check ...
Hope it works for you..
ga('create', 'UA-53076472-2', {'cookieDomain': 'mydomain.com'}); /* test for subdomain
_gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, 'UA-53076472-2']);
_gaq.push([‘_setDomainName’, ‘mydomain.com’]);
_gaq.push([‘_addIgnoredRef’, 'mydomain.com']);
ga('require', 'displayfeatures'); //display properties
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
ga('send', 'pageview');
Thanks,
jaysaysin#dccm

Cross and sub domain tracking with Google Analytics Universal Tag

This is my first question on Stackoverflow. So apologies if I make a mistake...
The challenge: I have a website (main.com), a sub-domain (sub.main.com) and 10 websites that send traffic, back and forth, to the main site and the sub domain. Let's call these sites site01.com, site02.com, site03.com,...,site10.com.
My question: How do I implement Universal Tag so I can do cross-domain tracking between main.com, sub.main.com and site01.com, site02.com, site03.com,...,site10.com.
I found instructions on how to do cross domain tracking for two sites. For example, on the main domain I will add the following code:
**<!-- Universal Analytics -->
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXXXX-X', 'main.com', {'allowLinker': true});
ga('require', 'linker');
ga('linker:autoLink', ['site01.com']);
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>**
And on site01.com, I will add the code below:
**<!-- Universal Analytics -->
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-X', 'site01.com',{'allowLinker': true});
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>**
I don't know how to modify the code to include all 10 sites (site01.com, site02.com, site03.com,...,site10.com as part of the cross domain tracking.
Also, in relation to sub-domain tracking, I am guessing that the above code will also capture data from the sub-domain site (sub.main.com) with no issues.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Stratos.
You need to add the linker plugin to all of your sites, otherwise you only track visitors starting at the main domain and from there navigating to your subsites. The other way around (originates from site01.com and browses to your main site) would generate a new clientId.
Example (same for all of your sites):
ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-X', 'auto', {
'allowLinker': true
});
ga('send', 'pageview');
// Load the linker plugin and define
// which domains to autoLink.
ga('require', 'linker');
// NOTE: add all your sites here. you can include the
// the site the code is at too if you want to use the
// same array of sites for all of your sites (ie,
// include this from some shared file)
ga('linker:autoLink', ['main.com', 'site01.com', 'site02.com', 'site03.com']);
Use for example the Google Analytics Debugger extension to Chrome to verify that you get the same clientId.
NOTE: You need to click on an achor-link to the other sites for the autoLinker to work, just typing in the URL in your browser won't work.
For implementing this on forms too pass true as a fourth parameter to the ga('linker:autoLink')-call above (ref: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cross-domain#autoforms).

Track Multiple Domains with analytics.js

We have a site that has the same content but available under two domains. Is this is the right code to put on each page to split the domains in google analytics so we can see view the activity under each domain?
<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
ga('create', 'UA-1234-1' {'cookieDomain': 'domain1.com.au'});
ga('create', 'UA-1234-2' {'cookieDomain': 'domain2.co.nz'});
ga('send', 'pageview');
</script>
Thanks
According to https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/advanced (part Working with Multiple Tracking Objects) you should create a named tracker for the second property, like:
ga('create', 'UA-XXXX-Y', {'cookieDomain': 'domain1.com'});
ga('create', 'UA-12345-6', {'name': 'newTracker', 'cookieDomain': 'domain2.com'}); // New tracker.
and then send the page view for each tracker:
ga('send', 'pageview'); // Send page view for default tracker UA-XXXX-Y
ga('newTracker.send', 'pageview'); // Send page view for new tracker.
There's also other way how to track the same website with 2 domains by using just one property (UA-1234-1) and creating 2 views with each will include traffic only from given domain names (use predefined filter "Exclude/Include only traffic from the domains")
UPDATE
Thinking again about my answer, I must admit that even the original solution in answer
ga('create', 'UA-1234-1' {'cookieDomain': 'domain1.com.au'});
ga('create', 'UA-1234-2' {'cookieDomain': 'domain2.co.nz'});
will work, because if you try to create tracker 'UA-1234-1' on domain domain2.co.nz cookie will not be set (and vice versa creating 'UA-1234-2' on domain domain1.com.au). My solution is technically OK, but then you must take care about sending all pageviews, event trackings and other informations twice - for default tracker and also for named tracker.
Sorry if this is little confusing.

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