Cool Google Analytics Options
OK, I admit it. I am a huge fan of the Google search tools. I use Google at several times a day as a research tool. If you are like me, you probably already use, or at least know about some of the advanced operators such as the +, or - to include or exclude certain words from your search results. You may even be aware of some of the more advance search term combinations referred to as Googledorks.
What I am going to refer to in this article are generally called Analytic tools. Specifically I am going to talk about Google Analytic tools. I have known about some of the analytic tool offerings in Google from Google labs for some time now, and have used them occasionally. There are some very handy things in the labs , such as Fusion Tables, Google Squared, and Google Sets, but these tools can tend to be a bit of overkill, and cumbersome to use. What I really wanted to mention is some of the tools that are embedded right into the Google home page under the “show options” tab.
After you perform any search in Google, a hyperlinked tab appears near the top left corner of the results page, called “show options”. Some of my favorite options within the options grouped under the Standard View heading. The related searches link will bring back all of the searches that other people have used that are similar to the search criteria that you have used. This is a handy option to discover keywords that other people have used that you not have originally considered. You can then use these new keywords to refine your search, until you find what you are looking for.
Wonder Wheel is really neat. In some ways this tool is similar to the “Image Swirl” tool available in Google Labs. This handy option will arrange the top hits from your search in a graphical pattern as “spokes” on a wheel. If you click on any of these spokes, another wheel appears with more hits that are more closely related to the link that you clicked on. What you end up with is a visable trail that can be followed as the search scope gets more, and more refined. This can be real handy if you are susceptible (as I am) to getting lead astray during your research , and trying to follow the “Alice in Wonderland” method that got you to the point that you currently find yourself.
The Timeline tool is also very handy. All of your results are grouped by their posting date, or relevancy rating, on a timeline. You can then click on a specific time segment of the timeline to instantly confine your search sciope to that time period. Allof the search results within this time segment are grouped accordingly. This is very handy hwne doing historical research, or when trying to visually map out trends.