(a.k.a. how do I find my profile ID?)

One point of confusion for new users is the need to identify a profile ID in our templates and examples. No, it is NOT the UA-xxxxxxx-x number you used in your tracking code. Here’s the scoop…

When you login to Google Analytics, you gain access to a number of Analytics accounts. Each Analytics account has an account ID number (e.g. UA-1234567-1) that you use in the tracking code on your web site. For each account, Google allows you to create multiple profiles. In each profile, you can specify different Filters or Goals as well as connectivity with your Adwords account.

With Nextanalytics for Excel, simply login to the Google Analytics connector, and your accounts and profiles are listed in the drop-downs along with their ID numbers. When you select a new account, the list of profiles changes accordingly. [note: your goals, custom variables and advanced segments are also updated, but that’s a different story]

The Google Analytics Data API operates at the profile level, so you need to specify which profile you want to use. Since you can have two profiles with the same name (there are reasons why this might be desired), you need the Profile ID number for API access. You can look it up through the Google Analytics admin interface, or using Nextanalytics for Excel.

When you log in to Google Analytics, you are given a screen listing all Analytics accounts that you have access to; typically your web site names are listed. When you select an account/web site, you are given another screen listing Website Profiles. To the new Analytics user with one web site and one profile, this feels like a lot of navigation to get to your reports. On this second screen, though, if you click the Edit link to the right of your profile, it will open a page allowing you to set Goals and other parameters. At the top, left of this page is your Profile ID number.

So when you load up one of the many Excel templates we provide (see the download page), you know what number to enter into the Profile ID cell. Fill in your Google Account username and password as well, then click the Nextanalytics Refresh menu item to see your website data populate the screen.