The most important thing you’ll do on most reports is simply choose the right dates!
The Google Analytics “date picker” is always towards the top-right of each reporting screen. The dates you select, including any comparison, will stick around as you move between reports, including Dashboards and Custom Reports.
Choose your dates carefully
When comparing date ranges, compare “like with like”! Think about how weekends and holidays can impact visitor behaviour and keep that in mind when you’re selecting your ranges and looking at the results.
For example, comparing a month with a major holiday to another month with no holiday might not be a fair comparison (unless you’re interested in seeing that holiday’s impact). Even one set of dates covering an extra weekend could make a big difference.
DO IT: Apply a new date range to the Geographic Location report
We want to get a very broad and accurate picture of the countries sending your shop traffic, so apply a date range spanning the past 6 months. It doesn’t need to be perfectly accurate, or choose the past 6 whole months if that’s easier.
(If you haven’t had Google Analytics installed for that long, select the dates anyway and follow along with whatever shows up.)
