Monday, November 9, 2009

Tracking 404 error pages - broken links in Google Analytics

To identify error pages in a website, we need to create a custom built error page along with the Google Analytics tracking code which is to be delivered by your Web Server. To identify the 'page not found', ensure to put "Error Page 404" as the title of the page. Then create the following filter.

Add a new Filter for Profile.

Filter Name: Error Pages
Filter Type: Custom filter > Advanced
Field A -> Extract A: Select "Page Title" and put the following in the next column (Error Page.+)
Filed B -> Extract B: Select "Request URI" and in the next column (.*)
Output To -> Constructor: Select "Request URI" and in the next column $A1$B1
Field A Required: Yes
Field B Required: Yes
Override OutputFiled: Yes
Case Sensitive: No

Once you have completed this, you can start tracking the Error pages in "Top Content" and "Content by Title" section. This will enable you to identify errors in your website and rectify them.