How to Add Views in Google Analytics

Setting up your Google Analytics account correctly is one of the most important first steps for accurate website reporting. One foundational piece of a healthy setup is creating multiple Views - a step that gives you much more control and reliability over your data. This tutorial will walk you through exactly why you need more than one View and how to create them in just a few clicks.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

What is a Google Analytics View Anyway?

Think of your Google Analytics Property as a giant container that collects all the raw, unfiltered data from your website. A View, then, is a lens through which you look at that data. You can apply filters and settings to these lenses to change what you see.

When you first set up Google Analytics, it gives you one default View, usually called "All Web Site Data." Most people just start using this View for everything. However, relying on this single, unfiltered View is risky because once you apply a filter, it permanently alters how data is collected for that View moving forward. You can't undo it or get the original data back.

That's why creating multiple Views is not just a nice-to-have, it's a critical best practice. Separating your data into different Views helps you:

• Preserve Your Original Data: By keeping one View totally raw and unfiltered, you always have a complete, untouched backup of your data to reference.
• Create Accurate Reports: You can create a master reporting View that filters out traffic from your own company, bots, and other irrelevant sources, ensuring your metrics like sessions and conversion rates aren't skewed.
• Test Safely: Want to try a complex filter or change a setting? Do it in a "Test View" first. If you mess something up, your main reports remain unaffected.
• Customize for Different Teams: You can create specific Views for different parts of your business. For instance, a view that only shows traffic to your blog for the content team, or another that only includes traffic to a specific country for a regional marketing manager.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

A Quick Note: Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4

Before we go any further, it's essential to understand a major distinction. The concept of "Views" as a structural part of a Google Analytics account is specific to Universal Analytics (UA), the older version of GA.

If you've recently set up a new account, you are likely using Google Analytics 4. GA4 has a different data model and does not use the same account/property/view hierarchy. Instead, its structure is more reliant on a Property-centric approach.

Step-by-Step Guide to Create a New View in Universal Analytics

Creating a new View is straightforward once you know how to do it. You'll need admin permissions to the account to perform these steps:

1. Log in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the Admin area.
2. On the Admin panel, ensure you have selected the correct account and property for the website you're managing. In the third column, where the Views section appears, you can create new ones.

The Three Essential Views You Should Have

While you can create Views for almost any purpose, there are fundamental ones that every UA setup should include:

1. Raw Data View (The Backup)

This is your most important View and should be the first one you create after your initial setup. It serves as a backup of all your website traffic in its raw, unaltered form. You should never add any filters to this View. Here's why you need it:

• This is your golden copy. If anything goes wrong when setting up filters in your main reporting View, you can always go back and reference your unfiltered View as a complete dataset.

Steps:

• Name the View something clear like "Raw Data View" or "DO NOT TOUCH" to avoid making any accidental changes to settings or data.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

2. Master View (The Main Reporting View)

This will be your day-to-day View for analysis and reporting. It's where you'd include all your most important filters, like removing traffic from your office, bots, and spam, and setting up goals for conversions.

Why you need it: To create cleaner reporting metrics by filtering out internal traffic, spam, and other metrics that aren't relevant to your users.

Example Settings:

• When you create it, name it something clear like "Master View" or "Reporting View."
• Add filters to exclude internal traffic like company IP addresses, and set goals to exclude bots and spiders.

3. Test View (The Sandbox)

The Test View is your sandbox. Use this View to test new filters, configurations, goals, or anything else before applying them to your Master View. Even an experienced Analytics user can make mistakes when setting up a filter. If a test filter turns out to be wrong, it can permanently damage your data in that View by pre-empting your original data history.

Why you need it:

• Create it and name it something like "Test View" or "Sandbox."
• Use this View to experiment with filters than, for instance, include data from a test version of your site without affecting traffic from a specific campaign.

Implementing and Filtering for New Views

Once you have your three core Views, it’s time to add and refine filters to your Master View and Test View to get a cleaner idea of your website metrics.

Excluding Internal Traffic (Exclude by IP Address)

This is probably the most important filter to add. It removes your team's interactions with the site from your metrics to avoid skewed session data. Here's how to do it:

• Find your own IP address. You can quickly search for "what is my IP address."
• In the View settings, go to "Filters," then "Add Filter."
• In the filter setup, choose "Exclude" and Filter Type: "Traffic from IP addresses."
• Enter your IP address in the field provided.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Excluding Known Bots and Spiders

Google Analytics has a built-in option to automatically filter known bots and spiders. This makes data more reliable by removing non-human interactions with your site.

How to do it:

• In the View settings, go to the "View Settings" tab, scroll to the bottom, and check the box that says "Exclude all hits from known bots and spiders."

Setting Up Site Search Tracking

If you have a search bar on your site, enabling Analytics to track this can create valuable insights about the users' intent. This data is instrumental in keyword research, content ideas, and improving user experience.

How to do it:

• In View Settings, under the "Site Search Settings" section, toggle the switch to turn on Site Search Tracking.
• Enter the query parameter(s) your website uses for search results (e.g., "term," "query").

Setting Goals for Key Actions

Google Analytics allows tracking of specific criteria you want to measure, like form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, or other signals of success. Set up goals in the Master View to track important conversions.

How to do it:

• In the View, navigate to "Goals."
• Select templates or start from scratch to set your goals. For example, choose an "Event" goal and name it "Contact Form Submission."

Final Thoughts

Setting up multiple Views is one of the best strategies to ensure your Google Analytics data is both accurate and reliable. By maintaining an unfiltered backup, a clear reporting View, and a sandbox, you can make confident decisions knowing your numbers are being presented accurately and are understandable by your team or other stakeholders.