How to see which companies visited your site with Google Analytics

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How to see which companies visited your site with Google Analytics

If you’re in the B2B sector, getting insight into who is visiting your website has real value – but when does the cost of this insight outweigh the benefits? Fortunately, there is a free way to see who has visited your website using the Google Analytics Network Report.

Google Analytics Network Report is a free way to see who has visited your website

Can Google Analytics tell you who is visiting your site?

Google Analytics can provide some information on who is visiting your website via the Network Report. The Google Analytics Network Report stores Service Provider data to show which service provider visitors are using to access your site.

Fortunately, many businesses use their own branded ‘alias’, allowing you to quickly identify them in Google Analytics reports via their company name.

Sadly, if they don’t use an alias, or come from a ‘business branded’ network, you won’t be able to see the company name or identify who has visited your website.

How to view the Network Report in Google Analytics

Follow these steps to access the Network Report:

  1. Log in to Google Analytics
  2. Under ‘Audience’, click ‘Technology’
  3. Then, click ‘Network’
  4. Set the required date range

How to filter major ISPs from the Network Report

Looking at the report, you may recognise some of the more common ISPs. This data isn’t useful to your business. The following custom segment from @jeffalytics, however, will filter out many of your common ISPs.

  1. Click this link, or copy the following into your browser window: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/template?uid=hSepm8fRTKGs–aKqKE8qg
  2. When prompted, select the ‘Google Analytics View’ to add the custom segment
  3. In Google Analytics, apply the custom segment and view the Network Report

Now, when you analyse the report, more of the most relevant business or organisation names should jump out so you can see who has visited your site.

Optional Network Report clean-up

Before beginning a deeper analysis of the data, you might want to clean it up by adding more ISP entries found in Google Analytics to your custom segment.

Clean up the Network Report by adding more ISP entries

You can do this by:

  1. Edit the custom segment
  2. Select ‘Advanced > Conditions’, then scroll to the bottom of the window and click ‘Add’
  3. Add the ISPs you don’t want to remove, using the pipe symbol (|) to separate each entry
  4. Preview, then save the segment

Analysing the Network Report

Now you’ve cleaned up the data, you can begin analysis. You might want to start comparing how the businesses you’ve discovered in the Network Report stack up against key metrics, including:

  • E-commerce transactions
  • E-commerce revenue
  • E-commerce conversion rate
  • Event interactions
  • Goal completions

You might want to pass some additional information into your reports using secondary dimensions, like ‘Medium’, to see which marketing channel the user entered the site from. This could unearth valuable information to pass to your sales team or use to refine your marketing strategy.

Using paid tools to identify who is visiting your site

Google Analytics is a great tool if you’re low on budget and high on time (to set it up correctly); however, if you are time poor and have budget, it’s worth exploring paid tools.

Lead Forensics and LeadFeeder are worth consider for the additional benefits, including lead scoring and CRM integration.

LeadFeeder

A screenshot of the LeadFeeder interface

LeadFeeder helps you integrate sales and marketing activity by capturing data on the companies visiting your site. It removes robotic visits, integrates with your Google Analytics data, and presents the data in an intuitive dashboard. Setup takes just a couple of clicks inside your account.

Lead Forensics

A screenshot of the Lead Forensics interface

Lead Forensics works in the same way as Leadfeeder and offers similar benefits. The main difference is the pricing model (traffic volume vs. total number of unique companies who visited).

You’ll likely want to approach both companies to discover the best fit for your business.

Why identifying who is coming to your site is important

Getting insight into the businesses visiting your site can support your marketing and sales efforts. Google Analytics is a great place to start before assessing the value to your business and considering a paid method, that’ll save you time and provide more detailed insight.