Semalt: How To Block Internal Traffic From Google Analytics

With the deprecation of Google Analytic User variable, users can use a custom variable in blocking internal traffic to a site. Alexander Peresunko, the Customer Success Manager of Semalt, highlights how a user can implement the technique on their site directly.

There are numerous methods of eliminating internal traffic to a site from GA (Google Analytics). At first, users might be faced with a challenge while figuring out the importance of excluding their traffic from own sites. In this regard, site owners must notice that internal traffic (traffic from web masters and employees within site) can inflate visitors' page views and counts, therefore providing misleading or false data.

Semalt expert believes in that clarity, and thus it is recommended that users must distinguish traffic within an organization from that of the target audience. There are several ways of achieving this milestone depending on how an organization infrastructure is set up between dynamic and static IP addresses. For example, users can filter out the internal traffic by user variable, domain, IP or ISP. The internal traffic can be segmented out by the use of user variables, ISP and custom variables. Additionally, both advanced segments and filters can separate internal traffic from the audience or visitors' traffic.

The process is commenced by setting up a site that can install cookies on all computers and browsers that organization's staff can use to access the website. This cookie is set by a custom variable that is put on a website. The detailed steps are highlighted below:

1. Build a new web page that either contains no content or just any type of content since it can be hidden as a static web page or part of a site's domain. A site owner can use the new setCustomVar technique instead of the conventional setVar method.

2. On the Google Analytics Profile, navigate the Advanced Segment and click "New Segment".

3. Name the custom segment as "Include Internal Traffic" and input this logic. "Include- > Custom Variable (Value 01) - > Containing - > Yes." The user should, however, ensure that the Google Analytics (GA) custom variable do not overwrite (in situations where multiple custom variables are saved in the same slot) and that the advanced segment is matched to the right slot.

4. Create another section and name it "Exclude Internal Traffic" and input this logic; "Exclude - > Custom Variable (Value 01) - > Containing - > Yes." Save this segment and again ensure that the containing field match to the initial code

5. Let all members of the internal team connect to the web page created in the first step for proper installation of cookies on their browsers.

6. Test the results. This entails waiting for a few days so that the segmented data can be displayed.