Custom Page tagging in Google Analytics

Question

I want to have custom page tags, which are different from URLs I have, in my Google Analytics report page.

For instance,

• Actual URL : /news/today_news.php
• Page tag on Google Analytics : /news/today_news.php/Category.News/TodayNews

How can I make the custom page tag with Google Analytics Data Collection API?

Answer 1

There are several straightforward ways to do this (change the GA default name for a given page on your GA-tracked Site).

I. Passing the custom name in as a parameter to "_trackPageview"

This is probably the most common way to do this and probably the most straightforward.

The primary GA Method, _trackPageview, is usually called without passing in any parameters, i.e., pageTracker._trackPageview().

You can however, pass in a string for the name you wish to use for that page. In other words, find the call to _trackPageview on each page whose name you wish to change and insert your new name as a string between the parentheses, e.g.,

pageTracker._trackPageview("the_new_name_for_this_page");

Strictly speaking, the parameter you pass in actually changes the Request URI value to the string you passed in.

To verify: open the relevant Profile in your GA account, then click "Content" in the left-hand side menu, then "Top Content." This will cause a Table to render in the main viewing window of the GA Browser. The left-most column of that Table displays the Page (actually the Request URI). Check the contents of this column for your re-named pages.

GA uses two ways to identify pages in their Reports under the "Content" rubric--by Request URI and by Page Title. The Table displayed when you click on "Top Content" for instance, shows the former in the left-most column (the column is named "Page.") On the other hand, the Table displayed when you click the Report just below "Top Content", which is "Content by Title", shows pages by their title ("Page Title" is the left-most column header). "Page Title" here just refers to whatever appears between the title tag in the head of your page. In other words, the two techniques i just mentioned will not affect the Page's Title (the report "Content by Title" will not be changed).

II. Use a "Filter"

For instance, GA has a custom filter type called a "search and replace" filter, which is probably the best option among the GA filter types. The advantage of this techniques is that it doesn't require any code in the page.

Click "Analytics Settings" > "Profile Settings" (top left in the orange navigation bar), then scroll until you see "Filters Applied to this Profile"; click "+ Add Filter" to the far right. Because each filter type (pre-defined versus custom, which in turn is comprised of six different filter types) is set differently, it's probably best if i just refer you to a relevant GA resource.

III. Use "Custom Variables"

This is technique requires the most effort (though it's still not difficult); it's also the most sophisticated of the three techniques; for instance, using CVs you can re-map a given page to more than one name, which is useful when you want to group your content hierarchically. So for instance, you might wish give a particular page in your e-commerce Site three labels, to describe merchandise category, sex, and Brand, e.g., "Footwear", "Men's", and "Teva", or "Footwear/Mens/Teva". So for instance,

pageTracker._setCustomVar(
        1,                     // 'Index' for this CV (an integer, 1-5)
       "MerchandiseCategory",  // 'Name' for this CV
       "Footwear",             // 'Value'--set upon call to _trackPageview
        3,                    // 'Scope' an integer, 1-3, use '3' here because
                             //  i have scoped this particular CV to 'page level' 
                             //  (1 and 2 are for visitor and session, respectively)
)

The code above initializes the CV, so it needs to be placed before your call to _trackPageview, because it's that call that sets the value of this variable.

After you've done this, and data has been recorded for your CVs, then you can begin using them. Remember, CVs are not Reports per se, rather than are indeed 'variables' which is much better because you can use them to create any reports you wish through the "Custom Reporting" feature in GA.

For instance, click "Custom Reporting" in the middle of the left-hand navigation panel in the GA Browser (once you have selected a particular profile). Then click "Custom Reports" then "+ Create new custom report" in the top right hand corner. Now click "Dimensions", the green navigation 'button' on the left-hand side, then click "Visitors." Scroll through the values for the 'Visitor' Dimension, and near the end of the list you will see additional values reserved for Custom Variables. If for instance, you had defined a CV called "Visitor Type" with possible values of "RegisteredUser" and "Prospect", that CV would show up here and therefore be available for you to use to create Custom Reports.

Here's what i believe is the Google Analytics Team's most useful explanation of Custom Variables.

And here is an excellent Blog post from a GA Consultant on CVs.