Google Analytics has introduced a small but incredibly nifty usability feature to its web analytics reporting suite.
It’s called Shortcuts, and the idea is very simple: set a report up, exactly how you want it (including advanced segments, dimensions, sorting, tabs and more), click on the ‘Shortcut’ link to bookmark it, give it a sensible name, and you’re set.
The next time you want to access that report, you simply navigate to the ‘Shortcuts’ menu in your ‘Home’ tab, click on it, and hey presto! You’re taken to exactly the same report, with all your nice customisations and settings already in place.
The only two pieces of information that aren’t stored are the date range and sample size, which will naturally vary depending on a wide variety of factors.
There are several big benefits to this system, which we think you should definitely consider using:
- You can access the specific report you need much quicker – one button click, instead of a long process of applying dimensions, segments and all the rest.
- You end up with more consistent data, since you’re always looking at exactly the same report setup.
- You can spend less time finding data, and more time analysing it – which is probably what you’re being paid for in the first place.
- You can make things easier for clients by doing the report setup for them – they just need to click on the shortcuts you build, instead of trying to figure out all the settings themselves.
