The Network Properties report on Google Analytics generates some pretty basic information on network locations, hostnames and connection speeds.

The Network Location report tells you which Internet Service Providers your traffic is utilising to view your website. Whilst this list typically generates the names of a few service providers, occasionally larger corporations will have their own ISP Networks registered in their name. So if you find you’re getting traffic from one of these corporations, yet have no current dealings with them, you might like to reach out to them. Alternatively, you might be able to unveil data on competitors visiting your site.

The Hostnames report helps you see if you’ve got multiple domain names pointing to the same website. So if you have a couple of domain names for your site, such as .com, .com.au, .net, .org etc, you can see which ones are working the best for you. The hostnames report can be effective for identifying the URL or domain name that your audience associates with your brand. The most popular hostname can be used more pre-dominantly on marketing collateral.  

An effective marketing application of the hostnames report is to use different available hostnames to differentiate the traffic coming in from offline marketing campaigns. For example, the URL www.internetrix.net can be advertised on TV advertisements, whereas print campaigns can advertise with a different URL, such as www.internetrix.com.au. This will help you better identify which campaigns are generating traffic (print vs. TV)

The Connection Speeds report provides the most actionable data. By learning what internet speeds your audience is experiencing, you can accommodate your audience more precisely. If, for instance, your audience is running a high speed connection like Cable or T1 then the opportunity is there to create a highly interactive site with video etc because page loading times won’t be inhibitive. If, however, visitors are using a low speed connection, like dial-up, then large file download times would make your site user unfriendly. Our suggestion here would be to cut down on flash and video applications and other bandwidth intensive features.

Benefits for Different Sectors

Multi-National Corporations

• Possible identification of specific clients/competitors via the Network Location report

Domestic Corporations

• Possible identification of specific clients/competitors via the Network Location report

Medium

• Develop site to accommodate as many prospects connection speeds as possible

Membership Based Organisations

• Develop site to members’ connectivity restraints

Public Sector

• Develop site to meet constituents connectivity restraints