What's the best way to "not count" a visit in Google Analytics?

[OrganizedFellow]

My client has multiple computers at their office. I have my work station. We all have smartphones.

What's the best way to "not count" these visits in Google Analytics?

Hhmm.

[Ivan Gretsky]

I think there is a way to exclude by ip in analytics, but that won't help with mobile devices. As for me I just consider those visits a constant and do not bother about it. If you traffic is greatly influenced by those numbers, you should try hard doing your SEO .

[cstevensjr]

I would exclude the computers by MAC (Media Access Control) filtering, if possible in Google Analytics, because many PCs these days are using dynamic IP addresses.

Edited September 16, 2014 by cstevensjr

[pwired]

Computers in an Office are usually behind the same router ip,
so in that case:
Go to the Admin Section of Google Analytics
Select the Filters Tab
Select New Filter
Select ‘Create new Filter’
Name your filter, place the router IP address and save.

In case of a dynamic router ip usually your ISP only changes

the last two ip4 blocks so you can enter an ip range for them.

If the computers are behind different routers or otherwise
connected to the internet then:

Simply edit the hosts file and bypass the DNS server.

On Linux:
Path to the hosts file => /etc/hosts
Open a terminal window and type:
sudo nano /etc/hosts (you can substitute any other text editor)
enter your password


On Windows:
first go to file options and set:
1.show hidden folders and files
2.Unhide extensions for known file types
3.Unhide protected operating system files
4.In case the hosts file is owned by the system, in properties you have
  to open the security tab and edit owner ship to the computer user.

Path to the hosts file:
 
On windows => %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\

If windows was installed in it's default location then that would be:
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\Hosts

Easiest way is to open with notepad.

Example of how you could edit your hosts file:

# My filters
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 google-analytics.com
127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com

The hosts file has no file extension so When finished editing
save as all files and put hosts between quotes: "hosts"
Or save as hosts.txt go back to it's location and remove the .txt

Don't forget to revert back the 4 windows settings above.
Done.

Another good use of the hosts file is to block unwanted video advertisements in your browser
as they eat up your monthly surfing limit (usually 1 or 2 Gb) when you are mobile with

an internet dongle and sim card. (or your montly data limit on your smartphone)

For smartphones go here: (also usable for pc's)
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

or here

https://adblockplus.org/en/android

https://addons.mozilla.org/mk/android/addon/no-google-analytics/

 

[totoff]

I haven't done it for a while, but there used to be a method based on cookies. In short, you visited a dedicated page with all your relevant devices. The page set an "excluse me" cookie, which made this device not count anymore. Try to google if this method is still applicable. It worked fine for me.

[OrganizedFellow]

@pwired

HOLY SMOKES, thanks for the elaborate explanation

I've been custom editing my hosts files for years, from my Win desktop, my various Linux boxes and every one of my Android devices.

Been using this one here: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

It's quite large, and I always keep the latest one in my Dropbox

[pwired]

Your welcome   Yes, I also download hosts files with latest updates for blocking spam and ads.

Thanks for link btw. Nowadays I use firebug to trace back unwanted ads and forced video advertisements

with difficult to find url´s.

[OrganizedFellow]

Your welcome   Yes, I also download hosts files with latest updates for blocking spam and ads.

Thanks for link btw. Nowadays I use firebug to trace back unwanted ads and forced video advertisements

with difficult to find url´s.

Sadly I can only afford the lowest tier for our Internet services, which is around 2.8Mbps.

So I need to save all the bandwidth I can. It works well

Thank you for the links ~~> https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

I'll make sure they all install it at the office.