I suggest naming profiles something descriptive that all users will understand. If there are filters applied to a profile, include a short description explaining how the filter changes the data in the profile. For example, Figure 5-17 includes a profile named Analytics Talk: z_Test Profile. By the name, we can easily identify that this profile contains test data.
Ideas for Profile Names Wondering when a profile was created? You can add the creation date to the profile name; that way, you’ll always know how much data exists in the profile. If you don’t know when the profile was created, look at the reports. Go back in time and identify when the profile started to collect data. That’s probably when the profile was created. Additionally, Google Analytics sorts profiles alphanumerically. You can order profiles by adding a number or letter to the beginning of a profile name.
Website URL Google Analytics uses your website URL for several tasks. First, Google Analytics uses it to check the installation of the tracking code. After you create a profile, Google Analytics will ping the website URL and search for the tracking code to ensure that it exists on the page. Google Analytics will not scan the entire site, just the page located at the website URL you provide. This is normally the homepage of the site. Second, Google Analytics uses the website URL in the reporting interface. Certain content reports provide a link to the website URL in the Top Content reports. Figure 5-18 shows the links you can click to open a URL in a new window or tab.
Figure 5-18. Click the small icon at the beginning of each data row in a content report to view that page in the browser
46 | Chapter 5: Google Analytics Accounts and Profiles