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ManagementManaging Websites

Managing Websites

Add, configure, and organize websites in Ghost Metrics.

Overview

Each website you track in Ghost Metrics is set up as a separate property with its own tracking code, settings, and reports. This guide covers how to manage your websites within Ghost Metrics.

Viewing Your Websites

To see all websites you have access to:

  1. Click All Websites in the top navigation
  2. Or click the website name dropdown at the top of any page

You’ll see a list of websites with key metrics at a glance.

Website Settings

To access settings for a specific website:

  1. Select the website from the dropdown
  2. Click the gear icon (Administration)
  3. Navigate to Websites → Manage
  4. Select the website to configure

General Settings

Website Name

The display name shown throughout Ghost Metrics. Use something descriptive:

  • ✅ “Main Hospital Website”
  • ✅ “Cardiology Service Line”
  • ❌ “Website 1”

Main URL

The primary URL of your website (e.g., https://www.yourhospital.org). This is used for:

  • Identifying the website
  • Generating tracking code
  • Creating links in reports

Timezone

Set the timezone for your reports. All date/time data will be displayed in this timezone.

Important: Choose the timezone where most of your audience is located, or where your team reviews reports.

URL Settings

Additional URLs

If your website is accessible from multiple domains or subdomains, add them here:

  • www.yourhospital.org
  • yourhospital.org (non-www)
  • blog.yourhospital.org (subdomain)

This ensures all traffic is attributed to the same website.

Excluded URL Parameters

URL parameters that should be stripped from page URLs in reports. Common exclusions:

  • Session IDs
  • Tracking parameters you don’t need to see
  • Authentication tokens

Example: If your URLs include ?sessionid=abc123, adding sessionid to exclusions will show the clean URL in reports.

Search Settings

Site Search Tracking

Track what visitors search for on your website:

  1. Enable site search tracking
  2. Enter the query parameter your search uses (commonly q, s, or search)
  3. Optionally add category parameters if your search has categories

Example: If your search URLs look like yoursite.com/search?q=cardiology, the query parameter is q.

Ecommerce Settings

If applicable, enable ecommerce tracking to track:

  • Product views
  • Cart additions
  • Purchases
  • Revenue

Most healthcare websites don’t need this, but it’s available for sites with online payments or shopping.

Tracking Code

To get the tracking code for a website:

  1. Go to Administration → Tag Manager (or Tracking Code)
  2. Select the website
  3. Copy the provided code

See Installation for detailed setup instructions.

Adding a New Website

If you have Admin permissions:

  1. Go to Administration → Websites → Manage
  2. Click Add a new website
  3. Enter:
    • Website name
    • Main URL
    • Timezone
  4. Click Save
  5. Copy and install the tracking code

After Adding a Website

  1. Install tracking code on the new website
  2. Verify tracking is working (see Verify Installation)
  3. Configure settings (goals, users, etc.)
  4. Set up user permissions for who should access this website

Organizing Multiple Websites

For organizations with many websites, organization is key.

Naming Conventions

Use consistent, descriptive names:

By Location:

  • “Hospital - Main Campus”
  • “Hospital - East Campus”
  • “Clinic - Downtown”

By Service Line:

  • “Cardiology Services”
  • “Orthopedics Center”
  • “Primary Care Network”

By Brand:

  • “HealthSystem Main”
  • “HealthSystem Foundation”
  • “HealthSystem Careers”

Using Roll-Ups

For aggregate reporting across multiple sites, consider Roll-Up Reporting:

  • Create a Roll-Up for regional groups
  • Create a Roll-Up for the entire organization
  • See combined metrics without manual aggregation

Website Groups

If available, use website groups to organize sites:

  • Group by region
  • Group by service line
  • Group by department

This makes navigation easier when you have many websites.

Archiving Websites

For websites you no longer actively track but want to keep historical data:

  1. Go to Administration → Websites → Manage
  2. Find the website
  3. Look for archive or deactivate option

Archived websites:

  • Retain historical data
  • Stop collecting new data
  • Can be hidden from main website list
  • Can be reactivated if needed

Deleting Websites

Warning: Deleting a website permanently removes all its data. This cannot be undone.

Before deleting:

  1. Export any data you need to keep
  2. Confirm with stakeholders
  3. Consider archiving instead

To delete (if you have permission):

  1. Go to Administration → Websites → Manage
  2. Find the website
  3. Click delete
  4. Confirm the deletion

Website Configuration Checklist

When setting up a new website, ensure you:

  • Set a descriptive name
  • Configure the correct timezone
  • Add all relevant URLs
  • Set up excluded URL parameters
  • Configure site search (if applicable)
  • Install tracking code
  • Verify tracking is working
  • Set up goals
  • Configure user permissions
  • Set up any needed funnels
  • Configure Tag Manager tags (if using)

Common Configurations

Multi-Domain Websites

If your website spans multiple domains (e.g., main site and blog on different domains):

  1. Create one website in Ghost Metrics
  2. Add all domains to the URL list
  3. Use the same tracking code on all domains
  4. Enable cross-domain tracking if needed

Staging/Development Environments

Options for handling non-production environments:

Option 1: Exclude from tracking Don’t install tracking code on staging/dev sites.

Option 2: Separate website Create a dedicated website for staging to keep data separate.

Option 3: Filter in reports Use segments to exclude staging traffic if it reaches production tracking.

Recommendation: Keep staging traffic separate from production data.

Subdomain Tracking

For websites with multiple subdomains (blog.site.com, careers.site.com):

  1. Decide if they should be one website or separate
  2. Same website: Use the same tracking code, add all subdomains to URL list
  3. Separate websites: Create individual websites for each subdomain

Microsites and Landing Pages

For campaign-specific microsites:

  • Create separate websites if they have distinct purposes/audiences
  • Use the main website tracking if they’re just landing pages for the main site
  • Consider using campaign tracking (UTM parameters) instead of separate websites

Troubleshooting

Website Not Showing Data

  • Verify tracking code is installed
  • Check that the correct tracking code is used (matches this website)
  • Clear any caching
  • See Troubleshooting

Duplicate Websites

If you accidentally created duplicates:

  1. Identify which one has the correct data
  2. Update tracking codes to point to the correct one
  3. Delete or archive the duplicate

Wrong Timezone

If your timezone was set incorrectly:

  1. Change the timezone in settings
  2. Note that historical data won’t be retroactively adjusted
  3. Future data will use the new timezone

Next Steps

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