Save Time With the Google Analytics Filter Manager

While setting up Google Analytics tracking on a couple websites today, I realized I have been wasting time by not using the filter manager efficiently. I was creating the exact same filters for every website, one by one.

Today, I discovered that I can copy previously created filters to any website in my Analytics account.

Here’s how:

1. Log into Analytics.
2. If necessary, choose the Account name that corresponds to the websites you want to filter.
3. In the bottom right corner, click on the Filter Manager link.
4. Find the filter you want to apply and click Edit.
5. Choose each website you want to apply the filter to from the left pane, and click the Add button to move them to the right pane.
6. Press the Save Changes button.

And presto. So much faster than editing each website’s filters individually.

Need some basics?

If you’re not too familiar with filters, here’s a quick guide to get you started. The following example shows you how to filter your home IP address so you don’t pollute the numbers with your personal usage data.

1. If you don’t know your IP address, visit whatismyip.com.
2. Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 above to open the Filter Manager.
3. In the top right corner, click the Add Filter link.
4. In the Filter Name field, type something descriptive, like “Exclude traffic from home.”
5. In the Filter Type dropdown, choose “Exclude all traffic from an IP address.”
6. Type your IP address over the example IP shown, making sure to preserve the backslashes ( ) in front of the periods.
7. Choose the websites you want to filter from the left pane and Add them to the right pane.
8. Press the Save Changes button.

If you have any questions about Google Analytics filters, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer. Analytics pros with helpful hints are also more than welcome to drop some knowledge bombs!

Tagged as: filters, google analytics, how to, seo, tutorials