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google analytics referrer entry pages

Discussion in 'Google Analytics' started by King_Richard, Sep 3, 2006.

  1. #1
    How do I view entry pages for a particular referrer? For example, I go to Unique Visitor referrers and I have somesite.com as a referrer. How do I know which page they entered? Did most of them go to my mainpage or my gallery?
     
    King_Richard, Sep 3, 2006 IP
  2. hans

    hans Well-Known Member

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    #2
    i have little knowledge about Google analytics - I have a GA account but have limited use for GA.

    however

    that kind of information is easiest to get from your own access_log files. each access has:

    1. the referrer URL if existing
    2. the landing page

    if you have NO access_stat SW but the files offline on your PC,
    then at least - if you have a very few referrers you want to know where they land - you can use zgrep to search for the referrer to list and print to file a particular referrer and see the landing page for that referred.
     
    hans, Sep 3, 2006 IP
  3. King_Richard

    King_Richard Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Thank you for the info. I have a dedicated server so I have access to everything, although I'm not that good at server management so don't mess around much.

    Could you tell me more precisely how I can search for my referrer's entry pages? I downloaded a raw access logs from cpanel, but it's an MS-DOS App and I don't know how to find the info I'm looking for with it.
     
    King_Richard, Sep 4, 2006 IP
  4. hans

    hans Well-Known Member

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    #4
    i have no experience to do so on a WIN PC
    but
    if your server platform is Linux ( or FreeBSD, etc )
    then i could explain you how to extract the line ON your server using the common linux tools and THEN download the extracted referrer lines that are stored as a seperate file

    so pls just tell me if you have Linux ( or BSD ) on your server

    else
    you may have to look around for help form a windows expert here or elsewhere
    or
    look for a good access_log statistic tool for your WIN platform at home for offline analysis of your access-data

    offline I use angolizer ( also known as webalizer ) - it lists the referrers - BUT NO direct referrer to landing page listing.
    that I get as described when needed.
     
    hans, Sep 4, 2006 IP
  5. King_Richard

    King_Richard Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Yes, I have a Linux server.
     
    King_Richard, Sep 4, 2006 IP
  6. hans

    hans Well-Known Member

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    #6
    OK
    here a precise procedure.
    I assume you have SSH access - may be even using server key :) instead of pwd
    hence you log in to your server
    go to your folder with the logfiles ( of course you could also run the command in any other folder by adapting the paths i give below.

    assume

    you want to find the the pages of the referrer with the IP 216.9.35.50 ( that's DP forum )
    your access_log files are compressed in .gz format
    in the folder you are now on your remote-server
    the name of the logfile is access_log.35.gz - you just adapt to your own exact filename
    you want the list of lines matching your query to be printed into file named landing_page.txt which will be in SAME folder as you are now.

    hence
    your entire command line would be as follows

    zgrep "216.9.35.50" access_log.35.gz > ./landing_page.txt

    if access_log file UN-compressed - then:
    grep "216.9.35.50" access_log.35.gz > ./landing_page.txt

    if you search for a referrer by domain name - then the query string would be:

    grep "forums.digitalpoint.com" access_log.35.gz > ./landing_page.txt

    IF
    you have already something listed in your file landing_page.txt and want to add more lines, then instead of > you use >> - here an example, after searching all landing pages with the referrer IP 216.9.35.50 you want to add in same output file more landing page lines but using the referrer domain name instead. the syntax is then

    zgrep "forums.digitalpoint.com" access_log.35.gz >> ./landing_page.txt
    compressed access_log file format. else grep ...

    now at the end of your query you have a file with a number of complete access_log lines matching your query string - the query string can be anything that is or can be in the raw log file - hence agent ( bot, browser variation, etc ) any individual string a hacker may leave ... such as sub variation of his OS or browser, etc, or a particular landing page on your site.

    then you have to look physically at the output.
    depending on how many lines you have it can be some work - but the lines are chronologically ordered hence there is a system in the output and you will see what you want.

    a little more complex queries are possible as well.
    you can first run one query - then pipe it into a second query to filter more and get more accurate results.

    I explain.
    let's say you have a few visitors coming either from one provider or from one referring website with the domain name "provider.com" - only one you are interested in - your girl friend, your hacker, who ever.

    hence let's assume you know all have different OS but the one you want has an OS you know somehow. example "XP SVP 4" in the OS string ...

    ONE query string - double query on one line looks as follows

    zgrep "provider.com" access_log.35.gz | zgrep "provider.com" "XP SVP 4" > ./landing_page.txt

    | is a "pipe" - means the preceding output is fed into the next process directly

    and since we still are on our remote server and the output might get bigger file - we may at the end compress file "landing_page.txt" by piping it again in same command line into gzip compression tool.
    hence finally the one line could look like:

    zgrep "provider.com" access_log.35.gz | zgrep "provider.com" "XP SVP 4" | gzip > ./landing_page.txt.gz


    then download and look at it offline

    if the file is smaller - just a few lines, then you you may look at the file using for example vi editor while being logged into your server.

    just type

    vi ./landing_page.txt

    to open your file and have a look at it while the file still is on your remote site

    hope this helps
    else just ask more
     
    hans, Sep 4, 2006 IP
  7. dcristo

    dcristo Illustrious Member

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    #7
    Within Google Analytics you can analyse both Entry and Exit points on your site, to determine where everyone is entering and leaving your website. Dig deeper into GA I am sure you will find it.
     
    dcristo, Sep 5, 2006 IP
  8. Cheap SEO Services

    Cheap SEO Services <------DoFollow Backlinks

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    #8
    Statcounter has this as well and is much faster in loading results. I got bored waiting for GA. :)
     
    Cheap SEO Services, Sep 5, 2006 IP
  9. dcristo

    dcristo Illustrious Member

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    #9
    Dude there's no comparing Statcounter with GA :) Was GA slowing down your site, or just slow to use?
     
    dcristo, Sep 5, 2006 IP
  10. Cheap SEO Services

    Cheap SEO Services <------DoFollow Backlinks

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    #10
    The latter. Statcounter is much faster and I find it more accurate.
     
    Cheap SEO Services, Sep 5, 2006 IP
  11. hans

    hans Well-Known Member

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    #11
    that's correct that most logfile analysis SW shows entry and exit pages
    but
    none of them shows
    which page ONE precise surfer or referrer accesses ( landing page ) AND which page the very same person or referrer visits and finally exits.

    with any typical logfile analysis SW you have a bunch of entry and exit pages but never know WHO came whre and left where. to have such woudl create many thousands of extra lines in the analytics output - one line per visitor exactly.

    I think that was the key problem of King_Richard - to follow a priecise visitor / referrer - hence the complex but precise method as described below
     
    hans, Sep 5, 2006 IP
  12. majohnst

    majohnst Peon

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    #12
    Here's how you can find refferring urls in Google Analytics. You can take this referring url and place it in your browser to figure out the landing page.

    1) Load the report for Marketing Optimization > Visitor Segement Performance > Refering Source

    This will show you all the referring domains.

    2) Click on the red arrow circle next to a domain. You should get a pop up window.

    3) Click on Cross Segment Performance then Content

    This will show you the referring urls.

    I really hate this problem with GA. I would like just a plain list of urls, but I haven't figured out how to get that using GA.

    This method above will work for some sites. In the domain referring list, if the domain says [organic] like google.com[organic], you won't be able to see the referring urls. Only the domains listed [referral] will work. Another pain about this report is it only shows the referring page url, there is no referrring querystring included.
     
    majohnst, Sep 7, 2006 IP
  13. TanMonkey

    TanMonkey Guest

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    #13
    Statcounter stinks if you get more than a few hundred page views per day / per site. It's too hard to keep track of.

    Great posting hans. That's good stuff.
     
    TanMonkey, Sep 14, 2006 IP