Is there a way to get browser info on one specific page with Google Analytics?

Question

I have an Ajax-based page which has had a history of problems with Internet Explorer (IE). I spent some time working on the JavaScript to try to get it to work in IE. After this I was interested to see how the traffic to this one specific page with IE had changed. However, using Google Analytics, I can't see a way to track "single-page usage versus specific browser". Is it possible?

Answer 1

Edit: it's quite possible that I got this the wrong way around and you have to do Browser first, then drill down to the Page. See Jamie's answer.

Yes, you need to create an advanced segment for the specific page you want information on.

• On the left side of your Analytics report, click on "Advanced Segments"
• Click on "Create new custom segment"
• Expand the "Content" section on the left and drag the "Page" dimension into the dashed box
• Choose "Matches exactly" as the condition then type the /path/to/your/page.html (it should auto-complete)
• Enter a name, and click "Create Segment"

Now, when you're on the Visitors->Browser Capabilities->Browsers report and drill down into Internet Explorer, you can then click on the "Advanced Segments" drop down in the upper right, and select the segment that you just created.

Note that this doesn't always do a 100% job of filtering the data properly, and for some metrics it uses data samples rather than complete data. Despite these limitations, it can offer some great insight.

For a more visual approach, check out the video on this topic by GoogleBusiness.

Answer 2

Actually, I'm not convinced that the other answer is correct - "Advanced Segments" is a short name for "Visits with the following properties...', and the segment described in the other answer will find all visits which contained the specified page, and does not confine reports to that single page.

To see the history of that page with respect to a specific browser (in this case Internet Explorer), set up an Advanced Segment for IE-only traffic (in the Systems group of dimensions, drag the Browser dimension to the box, keep Matches Exactly and select Internet Explorer from the Value dropdown). Then Name & save the segment.

Then navigate to Content/Content Drilldown, locate & click on the page in question (or arrange the filters such that it's the only page in the table, I like the tabular view) - I usually use the search box. Then apply the IE-only customer segment via the dropbox at the upper right. This now shows the IE traffic alongside the total traffic, and you can manipulate the graph to see how various metrics have changed over time.

There's also a (limited) no-segment method. With all advanced segments disabled, set the Secondary Dimension dropdown (it's at the top of the table, to the right of 'Page') to Browser, then employ filters so that only the desired URL is displayed. This gives the information in tabular form, but you cannot see how the performance of a single browser varies over time.