One of the issues with analytical software is the many parameters that are set up to track certain user behaviour. If one piece of code is out of place, then the wrong data could be recorded, which can lead to making the wrong decision when it comes to organising content or making decisions to change certain pieces of content.
This article applies mainly to those that have a global userbase, but there are also situations in which you may want to check if your analytics software is tracking the wrong information.
Most webmasters will want to test if their multi-language configs are detecting users from a foreign country and delivering the correct pages in the visitor’s native language. You can use a VPN to achieve this. With a VPN you will have access to servers around the world and be able to surf your business website from these countries using the VPN sever.
On the analytics side you will be able to see your own connection from abroad in the real time stats. From the VPN, you will be able to see that the correct pages are being delivered to your web browser. You will need to test this from both desktop and mobile devices. Therefore, you will need a VPN free android service and install this on your smartphone.
If you have a business in Italy and the target market for the website is Italian only, then you need to make sure you set up a view that only shows you data regarding people that access and surf the website from Italian IP addresses.
You can set up a rule in your analytics to do this, but to make sure that the rule is working, you will need to verify it. Most analytics software will do this. That said, it does not always get it right. It is your responsibility as a webmaster to make sure the rule is working correctly. In order to test this, you need someone from another country to visit the site and see if the site records this data. The best way to do this is by using VPN software. VPN providers will offer you the option to connect from another country in order to make the test.
Another reason you would want to use a VPN is because most webmasters will block the IP address for the office. People in the office will regularly visit the website internally. This is recorded on your analytics. That means if you wanted to test to see if certain data is being recorded by clicking around the site, this data will not be recorded because the analytics has been trained to block any visits from local IP addresses.
There are two ways to get around this. You can use a VPN or simply use the 4G connection from your android device. The best way is to use a VPN because you will know the IP address of the VPN server by using ‘Whats My IP’ after you connect. You can then make certain actions on the website and check the analytics software records these actions correctly.
Hopefully this article has given a few ideas on how you as a webmaster can track and test your website’s sales funnels and make sure that the right pages are delivered to international visitors.
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