If you're reading this page, you've understood how segmenting pages into page groups will help you read your analyses and extract actionable conclusions from your data.
In Oncrawl, a segmentation is a series of page groups that should be examined together. To create a segmentation:
We'll first create the segmentation, which acts as a container for the page groups.
Then, we'll modify the page groups in this segmentation.
Finally, we'll make sure that the pages are distributed correctly by checking the pages included in the page groups.
You can also do this automatically, or even import a JSON file containing an existing segmentation.
Viewing the list of segmentations in a project
Manage or create segmentations from the Segmentation page:
From the project home page, click on the Configure Segmentation button
or
While 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 any segmentation by clicking on its name of the segmentation, or manage it by clicking on the three dots at the end of the row.
This presents a list of actions:
Download JSON: download the JSON file for this segmentation
Rename the segmentation
Duplicate the segmentation to create a copy
Delete the segmentation
Creating a new segmentation
From the segmentation page, click on the + Create a segmentation button at the top of the page.
You can create a new segmentation using different methods:
Manually from scratch. You'll create a segmentation, then set up each segment, or page group, within it. This is often a good choice if you want to use complex rules to decide which page should go into which group.
Automatically based on a single metric.
By uploading a JSON file of an existing segmentation.
Or by using a template.
No matter which method you chose, you will always be able to modify the segmentation afterwards.
Creating a new segmentation automatically
This option allows you to create a full segmentation automatically based on a single metric or field.
Select Automatic.
Choose the crawl you want to use to preview your segmentation. This should be a crawl that contains the metric you want to use.
Choose the metric or field that you want to use. This will automatically list all of the possibilities for the metric you selected.
You can then change the number of groups you would like to display for this field and to view the results by clicking on Preview. Some metrics offer a limited number of groups and can not changed.
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. You can also provide a description for this segmentation to help you identify it later.
Click OK. This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation, where you can pick colors for each group or make any other changes.
Creating a segmentation manually (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.
Select Manual.
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.
Click Create segmentation. This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation, where you'll need to set up page groups to classify your URLs.
Creating a segmentation by uploading a JSON file
This option allows you to use the JSON structure for a segmentation that you already have. You can upload a segmentation that you downloaded from another project or received from someone else.
Select Upload JSON.
Choose the method you want to use:
Upload file: An upload zone will appear.
Drag and drop a segmentation you have previously saved to your computer onto the upload zone, or click on the zone to open a standard upload window.
Note: The file you upload must be in the format .json.
Paste JSON: 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 itself. 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.
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.
Click OK. This will take you to the segmentation page for your new segmentation.
Creating a segmentation by using a template
Select From template or switch directly to the Templates tab on the segmentation page.
You can hover over the Use case column to see a description of how the template can help you interpret your analysis results.
Available templates
Current available templates include segmentations based on the following metrics:
URL directory structure
Analytics sessions
Google Search Console impressions
Google Search Console clicks
Ranking pages
Average SERP position
Bot hits in log files
SEO visits in log files
At the top of the list, you can use the funnel symbol to filter the list of available templates based on the column Tags (the type of insights the template can help reveal) or based on the column Required data (the type of data required for the template).
Unavailable templates in your project
Templates that require data that isn't available in your project can't be used. They'll appear grayed out in the list. You can hover over the Required information column to find out what's missing.
To unlock the template based on Google Analytics sessions, for example, you must first connect Google Analytics data to your account.
Previewing and using a template
Click any available template that is not greyed out to preview how it fits your site's data.
The page groups in the segmentation will be automatically adjusted to your site. For example, the ranges of number of bot hits in the Bot hits template will be based on the actual data for your site.
Add the template to your segmentations by clicking on the Use this template button at the top right of the preview screen.
Modify a segmentation and create or manage 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
Then on the icon + next to groups, you can :
Create a new group
Create automatically subgroups within each group
Exclude or Include the group other
Create a page group
Click on the + (New group) button at the top of the list of Groups and choose Add a group in the list to create a new group.
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.Choose a color that will represent this group in certain Oncrawl charts.
Click Apply.
Your new group appears in the Groups list on the left, and its information is automatically displayed on the right.
Changing the pages that are part of 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.
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
Inlinkand select No. of inlinks. We're then asked to specify if we mean follow or nofollow inlinks.In the next 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 "between".
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 provide those values,
0and50.Click Refresh matching URLs to update the previews to the left and in the list of URLs below.
You can use multiple metrics at a time to define exactly the page set that you want.
Creating sub-groups
You can create page groups within page groups. There are two ways to do this action. You can either create subgroups within one group or create subgroups automatically from group level.
Creation automatically from group level:
Click on the icon + next to groups then on Add subgroups for each group
A pop-up window will open where you will have the possibility to either :
create automatically subgroups based on a field chosen in the list within each group already created.
create automatically subgroups based on existing segmentation
Creation from one group :
Click on the three dots beside an existing group to open the menu.
Choose Add subgroup to create a group within this group.
The rules of the parent group will apply before the rules for the subgroup are evaluated.
This means that even if you create a group for pages with 100+ inlinks inside of your group 0-50 inlinks, it will remain empty. In the 0-50 inlinks group, there are no pages with 100+ inlinks.
Example of an empty subgroup:
Changing the order of groups
You can change the order your groups are displayed in by dragging them and dropping them in a new position in the list Groups.
If you drop them on top of another group, it will create a subgroup.
Checking pages in a page group
You might want to include pages in multiple groups -- or you might not. Both options are possible in Oncrawl
When pages are part of more than one group, Oncrawl shows a little icon next to the groups they are part of:
If you click on that group, you can see the list of pages that create an "overlap" between this group and other groups.
Switch to the Group overlaps tab of the list of pages to see the pages that are in this group and another group.
Group pages table
The other tabs of this table help you see pages that are in this group, or aren't in any group.
You can also add columns to the table to help you better understand the information provided.
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 have the possibility to exclude or include them in your groups.
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 the Group overlaps list, it means your page groups overlap one another, like in a Venn diagram, and that some pages are in two groups at once. 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.
Removing the "Other" group
When creating or editing a segmentation, use the + (Create new group) button when editing a segmentation to choose whether or not the "Other" group should be included in your segmentation.
If you choose to include it, a group will be created in your segmentation for all of the pages that aren't part of any other group in the segmentation. You'll see this "Other" group on all graphs, just like you always have. New segmentations will continue to include an "Other" group by default.
If you choose to exclude it, you won't see it anywhere in the crawl reports. This may make it much easier to read some charts. Keep in mind that without an "Other" group, your segmentation's total pages may not represent all pages on your website.
You can change your mind at any point. Go back to the segmentation editor to switch the "Other" group on or off.
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.
