The core application of segmentation is to isolate a subset of traffic to the site. The risk, though, is that the traffic that is *not* included is often useful context for the main segment. In many cases, the way Google Analytics segments get created is such that it is very easy to use one segment to make a segment that is "everything else." This is done by simply switching the overall filter condition for the segment from its default of being an "Include" segment to being an "Exclude" segment as shown in the first figure, which is a simple example of "visits that entered the site on the home page."

This is a 4-step process (all four steps are shown in the first figure, Link 1):

1. Open the original segment and click "Copy" to make a copy of it.

2. Update the name of the new segment to make it clear that it is an "Exclude" segment (I like to pre-pend most of my segments with "Include:" or "Exclude:" if their nature is such that that makes sense).

3. Change the filter type to be "Exclude" rather than "Include."

4. Click "Save" to save the segment.

The example shown is a very simple one. This technique works any time the segment is a "Condition" segment with a single filter. More advanced segments require more care to create the "everything else" version, but it is still often a worthwhile exercise to do that.

The second image (Link 2) shows the two segments applied side-by-side within Google Analytics. It's generally a good idea to also initially include the "All Users" segment to ensure that, as intended, the sum of the main two segments equal the total.

RELATED: Link 1 · Link 2