If You Aren’t Filtering Out Your Visits In Google Analytics, You’ll Regret It

Published:

By: Drew McManus

In: Metrics & Analytics, Web Tech

One of the most fundamental enhancements you should make to your organization’s Google Analytics (GA) account is to create a filtered view that excludes all traffic from employees regularly accessing the site from work and/or personal computers. Doing so will provide a far more accurate picture for how your users flow through your site thereby allowing you to make necessary adjustments. Regardless of your GA skill level, this is super easy to setup and will take you less than 5 minutes.

Step 1: Find Your IP Address

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Step 1: Find Your IP Address

  1. Google the phrase “what is my IP address” and you’ll find the answer. Keep the IP address handy in a separate browser tab.

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Step 2: Create A Filter

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Filtered View 01

  1. Log into your Google Analytics account and navigate to the “Admin” screen.
  2. In the “Account” column, select the “All Filters” option.

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Step 3: Add A New Filter

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Filtered View 02

  1. Select the “Add Filter” button (easy, right?).

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Step 4: Set Up The Filter

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Filtered View 03

  1. Give the filter a name.
    Tip: make it painfully obvious for the benefit of anyone sorting this out later.
  2. Select “Predefined.”
  3. Select “Exclude.”
  4. Select “traffic from the IP address.”
  5. Select “that are equal to.”
  6. Paste the IP address from Step 1.
    Tip: don’t trust yourself to type it in correctly, play it safe and go with copy/paste.
  7. Select the View you want to apply the filter
    Tip: by default, you’ll only see one option here unless you’ve created additional views.
    Tip: if you create or delete views down the road, you’ll need to remember to edit this filter to add/remove as needed.
  8. Select “Add” and the view will move to the “Selected Views” column.
  9. Click “Save.”

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If you want to add additional IP addresses to the filter, such as your personal notebook or Wi-Fi enabled device, from home or a coffee shop you visit frequently, go back to Step #3 then rinse and repeat with the new IP address.

  • Pro Insight: add IP addresses from anyone in the office that regularly visits the site for work related browsing.
  • Bear Trap: do not include IP addresses from cellular networks or you’ll end up filtering out hundreds or thousands of legitimate views from everyone on that network.
Drew McManus
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Drew McManus
In addition to my consulting business, I'm also the Principal of Venture Industries Online but don’t let that title fool you into thinking I'm just a tech geek. I bring 20+ years of global broad-based arts consulting experience to the table to help clients break the cycle of choosing one-size-fits-none solutions and instead, deliver options allowing them to get ahead of the tech curve instead of trying to catch up by going slower. With the vision of legacy support strategy and the delights of creative insights, my mission is to deliver a sophisticated next generation technology designed especially for the field of performing arts. The first step in that journey began in 2010 when The Venture Platform was released, a purpose-designed managed website development solution designed especially for arts organizations and artists. For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, lead a team of intrepid arts pros to hack the arts, lead an arts business incubator, and love a good coffee drink.
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