Tracking multiple subdomains and domains going to the same site, separately in Google Analytics

Question

I have a new site that has multiple top-level domains and subdomains all going to it:

www.domain.com, campaign.domain.com, chicago.domain.com, domain2.com - all go to the same site/site directory.

Right now I have one Google Analytics account profile set up for it, but I want to be able to track the traffic that is hitting those different URLs separately. The domains are being routed on the server-side (not .htaccess).

How can I do this in Google Analytics? Do I need to create filters? Or create different profiles for each domain?

Answer 1

Do I need to create filters? Or create different profiles for each domain?

Both. First create separate profiles for each subdomain and domain. Then create filters for each profile specific to that hostname (i.e., the subdomain or domain):

1.) Go to:

Admin -> Profiles -> Filters -> New Filter

2.) For "Filter Name" add something like: Track Campaign Subdomain

3.) For "Filter Type" select: Predefined filter (the default)

4.) From the pull-down menus select: Include Only, Traffic to the hostname, and that contain

5.) Specify the "Hostname" like: campaign.domain.com

The result should look something like the following screenshot:

Save and repeat this for the other profiles.

Note that if you do not apply a hostname filter to your main profile (advisable), then you'll still be able to see all of the traffic combined too.

For additional information, refer to this article.

Answer 2

Without changing the Google Analytics tracking or setup, you can generate a report that compares the different domains and subdomains. This report is difficult to get to in Google Analytics. I had to figure it out and found it difficult enough that I put an article on my blog about it. Here is a summary of the steps:

1. Navigate to “Content”-> “Site Content” -> “All Pages”.
2. Change the primary dimension to “Other” -> “Content” -> “Hostname”.
3. If you have more than 10 sub-domains, you may want to show more of them at once.
4. Select the icon for “Motion Chart”
5. Use the tabs on the top right of the graph and select the one with the line on it.