A few weeks ago I wrote in my Google Optimizer wish list the ability combine Google Analytics and Website Optimizer. I was actually in the process of creating a solution myself when it was brought to my attention that someone just created a solution:

Google Website Optimizer and Google Analytics: A Perfect Marriage

Kudos to Shawn Purtell from ROI Revolution for beating me to this 🙂

I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much this adds to GWO.
Almost every metric available in GA can now be broken down based on what combination the user saw. 

His solution uses the combination as a query parameter. I was originally thinking of using the user defined visitor segmentation for combinations, but after thinking about it, his solution seems better. The only situation I can think of where using user defined segmentation would be better is if you are doing advanced stuff like multi-page tests or full page testing (yes this is possible – more info to come soon).

One small note – when using the solution from ROI Revolution, be sure to call the new GA code after the GWO code. Otherwise you won’t be recording first time visitors to the page.