Removing 'not provided' from Organic search reports...
Christine Cahoon Mon 20 May 2013 updated: Thu 02 Oct 2014
As requested from our last GA workshop, here's the custom segment that you can use on your data to filter out all the not provided searches so you can concentrate on analysing the useful keyword referral data that's displayed in your GA account:
https://www.google.com/analytics/web/template?uid=cjAJTzH_QiOnY2s1K00ljg
Make sure you are logged into your Google Analytics account, select the link and it will automatically display an alert box requesting that you select the profile you wish to add this segment to. Once added, you can select the segment within Advanced segments and display only the organic searches that show actual keywords within the Traffic Sources -> Search -> Organic reports.
As background... in 2011 Google decided to 'protect' personalized search results by removing the keyword data for those who have found your site through a Google search query while being logged into their gmail or another Google account. Instead the keyword not provided is displayed in these reports.
Also... it's worth looking at Google's Webmaster Tools dashboard. It's not that comprehensive compared to Google Analytics, but in this particular instance, the metrics it gathers does add some value. Specifically, you can see a very basic overview of keywords that lead visitors to your site in the Traffic menu, under Search Queries. Note: remember you (or your webmaster) will need to have set up your site with Webmaster Tools before you see any report.