Updated Tips And Tricks From Semalt On How To Remove Referrer Spam From Your Google Analytics

1. 23.05.2018 Updated Tips And Tricks From Semalt On How To Remove Referrer Spam From Your Google Analytics Referrer spam refers to the fake visits sent to your website by spammers with the aim of improving their search engine optimization. Ivan Konovalov, the Semalt Customer Success Manager, explains that referrer spam skews Google Analytics data and reports, making it dif?cult for marketers to analyze results and make effective business decisions. Understanding referrer spam Some webmasters face the challenge to understand that referrer spam affects statistics and why it is very important to remove referrer spam from Google Analytics. For the past few years, most websites and Google Analytics accounts have been affected by ghost spam. That is why, if you have identi?ed a spike in traf?c on your website that originates from other sites, it's the right time to act. In most cases, accounts affected by referrer spam indicate next to zero session duration time and high bounce rate. Why attackers send referrer spam to your GA account To improve SEO rankings To improve SEO rankings https://rankexperience.com/articles/article2011.html 1/3

2. 23.05.2018 By publishing your site's referrer statistics, you end up backlinking to the spammers' malicious website. As search engines crawl your website for indexing, they also consider the links on your site as of high value. Link popularity is a key factor considered by search engines. The backlinks work in favor of spammers, where they end up being ranked high in the algorithms. Grab potential visitors' attention Grab potential visitors' attention Clicking links sent to you, spammers can quickly ruin your day, as spammy links contain malware and ads. In most cases, spammers redirect visitors to malicious websites with the aim of selling them products and services. How referrer spam affects your GA account Fake referrer visits are very annoying and infuriating. The visits interfere with your Google Analytics reports but not with your website. Referrer spam only works for the spammers' bene?t. Just like spam emails, log spam consumes more time when working on how to block it permanently. Referral Spam Removal 1. Using ?lters to remove referrer spam from your GA account 1. Using ?lters to remove referrer spam from your GA account Eliminating referral spam from your Google Analytics account dictates a high level of vigilance and technical know-how; Analyze your account referral report and add available spam sites to your list; Open your Google Analytics account and scroll through the 'Admin Section'; Create new ?lters. In this case, use the prede?ned type; Create a test ?lter to avoid losing your credentials when removing the spam from your account; Add new ?lters regularly to block popping up referrer spam; 2. Using a segment ?lter 2. Using a segment ?lter Creating a segment helps you to ?lter the past spam, as well as face your audience con?dently and measure your traf?c sources. When creating your segment, don't forget to name it to achieve cool results. 3. Using hostname and .htaccess ?le 3. Using hostname and .htaccess ?le Use hostname ?lters and .htaccess con?guration ?le to remove referrer spam skewing your data in your GA account. Filters with plugins block log spam from re?ecting on your account in future. However, using .htaccess ?le technique is advocated for marketers with the right technical skills. Executing the process wrongly can end up down falling your site. Referrer spam works on skewing with your Google Analytics data and driving fake traf?c to your site. Hostname ?lters, segments, and .htaccess ?le help to achieve an accurate data in your GA account. Use the above-highlighted https://rankexperience.com/articles/article2011.html 2/3

3. 23.05.2018 techniques to obtain reliable statistics on your Google Analytics account. https://rankexperience.com/articles/article2011.html 3/3