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Putting Google Analytics' Advanced Segments to Work

You may have noticed in your Google Analytics some new features, some of which are in "beta" (which in Google terms pretty much means they're stable.  Remember how long Gmail was in beta for?).  One of these new features should appear in the top right hand corner of your reports called "Advanced Segments".

Google Analytics Advanced Segment Dropdown

What's neat about this feature is that it will let you create your own custom segments and then apply them to all your reports.  So for example, I created a custom segment to exclude traffic from our office.  This way I can see stats generated only from the public and exclude any stats from our sales team or developers.  What's also great, is that you can select multiple segments at once for a comparison view.  Here is one that compares our total traffic vs organic search traffic vs referral links:

Google Analytics Advanced Segment Graph

This is how I created it:

1) Click on the dropdown next to "Advanced Segments" and you'll see the Advanced Segments options appear.

2) Next click "Create a new advanced segment"

3) Next, you'll see "Dimensions" and "Metrics".  Click on the "Traffic Sources" menu to expand those options.

4) You will see "Medium" in the list.  Drag and drop it to the "dimension or metric" box to the right of the menus.

Google Analytics Custom Segment Dimensions

5) Under value, type in "organic".  You can click the "Test Segment" button to check and see if you are getting any organic traffic.

Google Analytics Advanced Segment Condition

6) Next, name your segment "Organic Traffic" in the text field below and click "Create Segment".

7) If you'd like to create other segments to compare medium types, just repeat those steps above, but instead of organic, select something else like "referral" 

8) Next goto a report you'd like to see.  I'll select the Visitors Overview report.

9) Click the Advanced Segments dropdown again in the top right hand corner

10) Check the segments you would like to see and then click "Apply".  You should now start seeing your segmented analytics throughout all your reports

Google Analytics Advanced Segment Checkboxes

In order to turn off segments, simply uncheck them and re-apply.