Google Analytics Support sent a fantastic reply during the week to my query over how Analytics tracks traffic across 301 Permanent Redirected/302 Temporary Redirect pages (eg. http://www.michaelvisser.com and http://michaelvisser.com.au).

Support recommended to enter the same tracking code (eg. UA-692602-1) on the redirecting page as well as subsequent landing page. What needs to be established is whether Internet browsers redirect before the JavaScript call from the code can be made; it would make sense not to as browsers interpret the error code before calling for the page data.

In cases of redirects, the redirecting page becomes the landing page’s referral. For example, if a user searches for a specific keyword, such as’used books’ on Google, there will not be any referring data showing that this keyword was searched on Google. Instead, the referral will be shown as the redirecting page.

Provided by Google Analytics Support

This squashes concerns over a loss of 50% of tracking data for redirected pages.