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How to create a custom segmentation
How to create a custom segmentation

Create page groups and categorize pages according to filters defined based on any metric you want. Discover how to create your segmentation.

Updated over a week ago

If you're reading this page, you've understood how segmenting pages into page groups based on pertinent metrics will help you read your analyses and extract actionable conclusions from your data.

Below, we go over the basics on how to create a custom segmentation by building the page groups you want to use to view your data.

In OnCrawl, a segmentation is a series of page groups that should be examined together. To create a segmentation:

  1. We'll first create the segmentation, which acts as a container for the page groups.

  2. Then, we'll create the page groups in this segmentation.

  3. Next, we'll define which pages of your website belong to which groups.

  4. Finally, we'll make sure that the pages are distributed correctly by checking the pages included in the page groups.

Step 1: Create a new segmentation

First, navigate to the Segmentation page:

  • From the project home page, scroll down to the "Analysis" section and click on the "Configure Segmentation" button

or

  • When looking at any analysis, click on the "Configure Segmentation" button at the top right of the page.

On this page, you'll see the list of all of your current segmentations. You can:

  • Modify an existing segmentation, including the default segmentation: click on the name of the segmentation

  • Download a segmentation: click on the arrow icon

  • Rename a segmentation: click on the T icon

  • Delete a segmentation: click on the trash icon

  • Duplicate a segmentation (create a copy) : click on the icon showing two pages

Click on the "+ Create segmentation" button at the top of the page.

You will need to decide how you want to create the new segmentation.

Create a custom segmentation starting from JSON

This option allows you to copy a segmentation that you already have (in order to modify it later), or to upload a segmentation that you downloaded from another project or received from someone else.

  1. Select "Start from JSON".

  2. Choose the method you want to use:

    Upload file: Upload a segmentation that you have saved on your computer.
    An upload zone will appear below.
    Drag and drop your segmentation onto the upload zone, or click on it to open a standard upload window in order to navigate to the file on your computer.
    Note: files must be in the format .json

    Paste JSON: Paste the JSON text of a segmentation that you copied from somewhere else.
    A text field will appear below.
    Paste the full text of the segmentation and click "Continue".

    Note: You might see a warning if you're using a segmentation that is not based on the URL. It's okay. We're just reminding you that if you segment your pages based on data that isn't available in a report, we'll hide the segmentation for that report.

  3. Click "Next" to enter a name for your segmentation. This is the name you'll see listed in the segmentation menu at the top of the crawl results, so pick something that helps you identify this segmentation. You can change this later if you change your mind.

  4. Click "OK." This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation.

See below on how to modify the segmentation to fit your needs.

Create a custom segmentation starting from a field

This option allows you to create a segmentation automatically based on a few different options regarding the URL structure. (It's also a good way to re-create the default segmentation if you've modified or deleted it and now want to get it back.)

  1. Select "Start from field".

  2. Choose the field you want to use:
    URL first path: create a page group for each item that occurs in the first directory position after the domain in the URL. (The "first-path" in https://mysite.com/first-path/my-slug/.)This will re-create the OnCrawl default segmentation.

    URL host: create a page group for each different domain and subdomain in the URL. If you're looking at data from a website with help.mysite.com, www.mysite.com, shop.mysite.com, blog.mysite.com… you'll end up with page groups for help, www, shop, blog…

    A custom field that you created.

    This will automatically list all of the possibilities for the field you selected. If there are too many to be listed, like in the screenshot above, the list will be automatically capped after the 15 groups with the most pages in them.

  3. Click "Next" to enter a name for your segmentation. This is the name you'll see listed in the segmentation menu at the top of the crawl results, so pick something that helps you identify this segmentation. You can change this later if you change your mind.

  4. Click "OK". This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation.

See below on how to modify the segmentation to fit your needs.

Create a custom segmentation starting from scratch

This option will create an empty segmentation (all URLs will be listed as "Other") for you to modify in order to set it up exactly the way you want it.

  1. Select "Start from scratch".

  2. Enter a name for your segmentation. This is the name you'll see listed in the segmentation menu at the top of the crawl results, so pick something that helps you identify this segmentation. You can change this later if you change your mind.

  3. Click "Create segmentation." This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation.

See below on how to modify the segmentation to fit your needs.

Step 2: Modify a segmentation to create page groups

If you've just created the segmentation you want to modify it will already be selected, and its rules and list of URLs will show up on the right.

If you want to modify an existing segmentation, on the Segmentation page, click on the name of the segmentation you want to modify.

In the list of Groups on the left, you can:

  • Change the order in which page groups are displayed, or even change their hierarchy by dragging and dropping them on top of one another

  • Change the name, change the color, or delete a page group

  • See if there are any groups that contain pages that are also in other groups

On the right-hand side of the screen, you can:

  • Create and modify page groups in the segmentation

  • See how many pages are in each group, and whether or not some pages appear in multiple groups

Create a page group

  1. Click on the blue button at the top of the list of Groups to create a new group.

  2. Enter a name for the group of pages. For example, if you're creating groups based on how many incoming links the pages have, you might want to name your first group "0-50 Inlinks".

  3. Choose a color that will represent this group in certain OnCrawl charts.

  4. Click "OK".

Your new group appears in the Groups list on the left, and its information is automatically displayed on the right.

Step 3: Decide which pages to put into a page group

If you've just created a page group, you'll already be on the right page to set up the pages that will go into this group.

If you want to modify an existing page group, on the page for the segmentation that lists the page groups, click on the name of the group you want to modify.

In the top section on the right, you can use filters to set the pages that you want to include in (or exclude from!) this group.

  1. Select a metric in the first drop-down menu. Type part of the metric you're searching for to narrow down the options. For example, to create a group of pages with 0-50 incoming internal links, we'll click, type "Inlink" and select "Range of Inlinks".

  2. In the second drop-down menu, select the way you want to evaluate the metric. To create a group of pages with 0-50 inlinks, we'll select "is".

  3. In the final field, enter the criteria you want to use to evaluate the metric. To create a group of pages with 0-50 inlinks, we'll select "0-50".

  4. Click "Refresh matching URLs" to update the box below, where the URLs in the group are listed.

You can use multiple metrics at a time to define exactly the page set that you want.

Step 4: Check pages in a page group

You might want to include pages in multiple groups -- or you might not.

We'll show a little icon next to the groups that include pages that are also part of another group.

If you click on that group, you can see the list of pages that create an "overlap" between this group and other groups. Just switch to the "Group overlaps" tab of the list of pages.

Matching URLs
These are the URLs that are placed in the group, based on the filters set up above.

You can add columns and sort by any column in order to make sure that the URLs you want appear here, and that the URLs you don't want in this group don't show up in this list.

Uncategorized URLs
These are the URLs that do not appear in any page group in the current level of your segmentation. These pages are placed in the category "Other". You might need to create another page group for these pages, or you might want to adjust your current groups to include them.

Group Overlaps
These are the URLs that currently appear in more than one page group in your segmentation. A drop-down menu at the top of the list lets you filter this list by the groups that this one overlaps with.

If you have pages in this list, it means your page groups overlap. If you want each page to be part of only one group in your segmentation, you should modify the rules for your page groups so that each page is listed in one and only one group.

Saving your segmentation

Don't forget to save your segmentation before you head off to use it in your analyses! If you navigate away from this page without saving, we'll remind you:

The save button is up at the top right of the segmentation page.

Going further

If you still have questions, drop us a line at @oncrawl_cs or click on the Intercom button at the bottom right of your screen to start a chat with us.

Happy crawling!

You can also find this article by searching for:
cómo crear una segmentación customizada con grupos de páginas
comment créer une segmentation customisée avec des groupes de pages

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