In Google Analytics, how can I graph direct traffic vs Google referrals?

Question

How can I graph direct traffic, versus referals from other search engines (in particular Google)?

I can kind of get what I want by using the "Plot Lines" function, from the Traffic Sources > All Traffic graph, but as the graph includes a line for "all traff" and is scaled as such, it makes it difficult to visualise only the google and direct traffic items.

Answer 1

This graph is available in Google Analytics but getting it is not easy. I figured this out for a similar problem which I blogged about: Graphing the performance of sub-domains. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Select the date range that you want.
2. Navigate to "Traffic Sources" -> "Sources" -> "All Traffic"
3. Click on the "Motion Charts" icon (it is three black dots located top right of the graph). I don't know why some line graphs are hidden under motion charts, it doesn't make sense to me.
4. On the left of the graph change the sideways select from "Pages/Visit" to "Visits"
5. Click the tab icon on the top of graph that has a line on it (there is another line graph icon next to the motion charts icon, but you don't want that one)
6. Use the check boxes to the right of the graph to select "(direct) / (none)" and "organic / google".

Answer 2

There is no way you can do that unless you create advance segment. I would suggest generating separate graphs for both direct and search traffic from traffic sources and compare those graphs to generate one new.