How to combine Google Analytics with Relational Database

Question

I have a website with quite a lot of registered users, they are stored in a PostgreSQL database. I also running Google Analytics on the website to track the users. Is there a way to individually combine the GA data with the registration data from the website, e.g. finding out the e-mail address of a user we found in GA?

Also, is there a way for non-technical people to access the SQL database without knowing SQL?

Thanks!

• rlperez: Just from my experiences you usually don't want people that don't know databases directly accessing a database. At the very least not a non technical person. Your users definitely shouldn't ever have direct access. Could you explain what you are looking to accomplish regarding the SQL question?
• user1684645: Thanks for you answer. I want to give business people an easy option to generate insights out of the database without SQL skills. Like a visualization tool or data extractor.
• rlperez: The usual method for this is through reporting tools such as Crystal Reports (shiver). There are a lot of options but in general business people are not great at sql and should not have write privilege that does not go through an intermediate layer.
• user1684645: Great! Is Crystal Reports the recommended choice?
• rlperez: Really depends on how complex your reports need to be. Its a beast. If they are simple it might be easier to roll your own rather than learning the ins and outs of it.

Answer 1

Is there a way to individually combine the GA data with the registration data from the website, e.g. finding out the e-mail address of a user we found in GA?

Yes, there is a way. You can set custom variables to your visitors: Custom Variables @ GA docs

So, for example, if you want to identify your logged-in visitors by their emails, you should programmatically add this JS on the page (e.g. when the user logs in):

_gaq.push(['_setCustomVar',
 1, // Slot #1
 'email', // Variable name
 '[email protected]', // Variable value
 1 // Scope = visitor-level, optional
]);

It doesn't matter which type of DB engine you use, GA doesn't work with it directly anyway.

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is there a way for non-technical people to access the SQL database without knowing SQL?

You can provide them a user interface which they can understand and work with.

• user1684645: Thanks a lot, that was a great help! About the first question: What I'm looking for is to eventually be able to calculate correlations between say, one variable from GA and one in the database. Is that possible?
• user1684645: Furthermore, when I insert the JS to the page, how can I identify the individual user inside Google Analytics? Doesn't GA aggregate all the data and forbids identification of single users?
• scriptin: @user1684645 "calculate correlations" is a vague description. As for identification - if you set an email var in GA, isn't it enough to identify a user?