My question is this.  I orginally created a profile for http instead of
https which I should have used.  Is it necessary to create a new
profile with https or can I just sub in the new url on pages that
require the https?

Some of my pages have this code:

<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js"
type="text/javascript">

while others have this:

<script src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js"
type="text/javascript">

Does this make a difference?

I just use the ssl on every page.  It won't make any difference, and I
don't have to worry about putting the ssl one on my secure pages, and
the regular one on my non-secure pages.

As far as I understand, you do not need to create a separate profile
for 'https://' vs. 'http://'. It is perfectly fine to create just a
single profile. And you can just use the SSL version of the Analytics
script on every page. The only reason to setup multiple profiles in
your case is if you wanted to track things differently somehow for one
protocol vs. the other (unlikely) and found that creating separate
profiles was somehow an easier way to execute your tracking plans vs.
using filters, etc. within the same profile (also unlikely).

Technically speaking, it is slightly "better" to use the 'http://' code
in NON-SSL pages because the file "urchin.js" will then be cached by
the end-user's computer and only downloaded once for all 'http://'
pages whereas the file "https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js"
will never be cached by the browser (no files loaded over SSL should
ever be cached by the browser). So the 'https://' version will be
downloaded in full every single time.

In "real life" though (as Fred previously mentioned), doing things this
"better" way probably will make no measurable difference to the end
user since the "urchin.js" is not a very large file. It might make a
difference to Google's bandwidth costs though (but I imagine they can
probably swing the cost!).  :)

I want to point out one additional "obvious" tidbit to other people who
might stumple upon this thread. The SSL URL for the Google Analytics
code is under a different sub-domain than the non-SSL URL.

NON-SSL: http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js
SSL: https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js

This third URL may appear to work at first, but it is WRONG!
WRONG!!!! --> https://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js

You should never use that last URL to load the SSL version of the
'urchin.js' file. It actually does laod the file, but the problem is
that the domain name "www.google-analytics.com" does not have its own
dedicated SSL certificate. The certificate for that domain is
registered to the domain "www.google.com" NOT to
"www.google-analytics.com". Most end-users using Internet Explorer will
never know the difference, but some browsers (such as Firefox) actually
popup a "scary" and confusing (to average users) error message saying
something like, "...the certificate is not registered to the domain
"www.google-analyutics.com". Someone may be trying to interecept your
data..." The end user can click "OK" and everything will be fine, but
it is more likely IMO that the average user will probably get out of
your website as fast as they can after receiving a message like that.

SO, THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS, NEVER USE:
BAD BAD BAD --->  https://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js
FOR SSL PAGES ALWAYS USE:
GOOD GOOD GOOD --> https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js

Cheers!

I have a question. After our site started getting the "insecure
content" warnings from our SSL pages, I build a script that in ASP that
will either display the javascript for the Non-SSL or the SSL depending
on if the pages are HTTP or HTTPS. Am I going to get bad results if I
am using both those links or should I just stick to one?

If you're curious, the script is like this...

<%
secureFlag=Request.ServerVariables("HTTPS")
if secureFlag = "on" then
%>
<script src="https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.js"
type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "XX-XXXXX-X";
urchinTracker();
</script>
<%
else
%>
<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js"
type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
_uacct = "XX-XXXXX-X";
urchinTracker();
</script>  
<%
end if
%>

Thoughts?

Monkey,

I use a PHP script to perform the same function and it works fine.

No warning messages on IE or Firefox, no errors.

Data is being passed along just fine to Google Analytics for me.

BFCase

There will be no problem with this as long as the line:

_uacct = "XX-XXXXX-X"

...is the same for both versions. That "_uacct" value is what is most
important to make sure the tracking is...well...tracked appropriately.
The two paths with which to downlad the "urchin.js" file both download
exactly the same file, just from different "places" and using different
protocols. So the way you have it setup is perfect, I think. It's
similar to the way that I have it working with a Perl script.

Lately my site has been performing poorly i.e. 15 second page loads.
Could these google analytics links be hurting my page loads?

Cheers,
Max Hodges
Publisher
White Rabbit Press
www.whiterabbitpress.com

I have been waiting on a SEO compay to work with Google to come up with
a published script which will handle the secure/non-secure issue.
Well, I'm still waiting...so I found this forum and read thru it...I
then copied the script from "Monkey"...it seemed to handle everything
fine until I hit SUBMIT and received this error...

"[Error processing dynamic tag
secureFlag=Request.ServerVariables("HTTPS") if secureFlag = "on" then :
Tag must evaluate to a method name: =methodName()] [Error processing
dynamic tag else : Tag must evaluate to a method name: =methodName()]
[Error processing dynamic tag end if : Tag must evaluate to a method
name: =methodName()]"

Now I'm no programmer...just a business owner trying to get this issue
resolved...I need some kind of Analytics and FREE sounds good to
me...(I was fortunate to sign up before the other 200,000+ people
did...

Any help would be appreciated...

There recently was a similar discussion about slowing down the site -
http://groups.google.com/group/analytics-help-basics/browse_thread/th...
. I hope it helps.