The new, smarter version of Google Analytics is currently available in Beta to a small number of GA ninjas. Let’s give it a quick shot and check what the Google Analytics crew has created for us.
1. The main navigation panel is now shorter with 3 menu options: Dashboard, My Site and Custom Reports.
As you see the Home menu is intelligently “hidden”.
2. Now we can add a widget to the Dashboard and the widgets can be customized with the Add a metric option.
Lower case in GUI, i.e. “cancel” and “delete widget”? Meh, still Beta.
Needless to say, the main areas of the Dashboard – or, better say, blocks – are all drag and drop.
3. Only four, very logical sections, under the My Site menu. No Dashboard and Intelligence here – they are now separate areas of the main Google Analytics menu.)
- Visitors: I particularly like the logic behind it: Demographics, Behavior, Technology
- Traffic Sources: Incoming Sources and AdWords
- Content: Site Content, Site Search, Events, AdSense (new)
- Conversions: Goals, Ecommerce
4. Good improvement of the Help system: the search box and context-sensitive how-to topics.
Overall impression is that they are willing to unite all Google’s interfaces under a single design umbrella so my Google Profile, Google Analytics, Picasa, Reader and other G services will look almost identical.
So I’m switching it back to the Old version, at least, for now.
What is your experience with the new version? Like it?
