Since we launched our Mask Photography Competition we have been having some fun with areas of Google Analytics (GA) that we previously hadn’t paid too much attention to. The reason for this is that we were curious (read: nosey) to find out more about who was visiting our site to see how our marketing campaign is coming along.

GA doesn’t store actual IP addresses but it does give you details of network locations of your visitors by resolving IP addresses to locations which can prove to be an eye-opener in itself.

When you get to your network location report in GA there will be locations that are generic and not too helpful but if you look closer you will also see some that back up your marketing as they give a little more detail. These more telling locations are generally resolved to an actual company rather than say, a hosting provider. For example, to market our competition we have been at universities so it’s helpful to see that number 6 and 7 on the list are from Edinburgh University and Glasgow Caledonian University.

Finding network Locations

To view your own websites network locations do the following from the dashboard:

1. Click on the Visitors option at the top of the menu on the left
2. Click on the Network Properties option
3. Click on the Network Location option

So as Punch and Judy say, that’s the way to do it.

We’re fans of this little GA feature and it is amusing to see the information that we can glean from it. From two network locations alone (not in the above image), I can tell when a friend and Fiancé are skiving at work and looking through our site!

A word of warning though, it’s addictive…especially when you’re carrying out a marketing campaign.

Have fun!

Related posts:

1. Free Guide to Google Analytics
2. Proxy Servers : When they work and when they fail!
3. Anatomy of a Google search result

SEO and Internet Marketing google analytics, Marketing