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Google Analytics: Free and FlexibleTyler Banfield, 07-10-2007 |
Google Analytics is one of my favorite programs for tracking data and statistics about my web sites. Not only is it free, but it displays all my data in an easy to digest format, and has a lot of advanced features and functions that really help me analyze my web sites' performance.
Once you log into to your Google account, you can easily create a profile for each web site that you want to track. Each time you create a new profile, Google provides you with a small chunk of Javascript. All you need to do is paste this Javascript onto each page (or template) that you want to track (the code should be pasted right above the closing BODY tag).
Once your pages have been updated, Google will tell you that it is Receiving Data. Within approximately twenty-four hours, Google will start display statistics about your web site.
The statistics above are known as the Dashboard. This is the view that Google shows each time you view an analytics report. I find this to be very convenient, because it allows you to quickly look over all your major statistics.
One of the Analytics high points is that it allows you to view all of your historical data. By default, Dashboard shows one month of data, but you can easily click the arrow and choose a custom date range, as demonstrated in the screen shot below:
Although the Dashboard may be all you look at the majority of the time, there are other times when you really need to analyze specific aspects of your web site, such as the traffic sources. The easiest way to do this is to click the View Report button underneath the set of data that you desire. This will take you to an advanced page that allows you to see more detailed statistics, ranging from sources of traffic to what browsers your visitors are using.
Another one of this program's strong points is the ability to define goals. In my opinion, this is essential for utilizing an analytics program to its fullest. A goal is simply a method for measuring conversions that take place on your web site. You can define a goal as anything from viewing a specific page to completing a lengthy survey. To learn more about goals, you can read this post by Analytics Talk (and also view the fourth video tutorial in the series listed below).
Although I can spend all day typing out the specific things that you can analyze with Google Analytics, Ian from Conversational Marketing has five great video tutorials that cover the following topics: Basics, Essential Stats, Digging Deeper, Goals and Search Analytics. He also has a video tutorial that explains some of the latest features in Google's newest version of Analytics.
The last major point I feel deserves attention is the ability to integrate AdWords with the Analytics program. If you are running an AdWords campaign, you can find out how to tie your accounts together here, and you can also view one of Google's videos about the kind of analytical data that they can provide for your PPC campaigns.
As with any program (especially those that are free), there are some downsides to Google Analytics. However, I believe they are minimal to the benefits that it provides. Obviously, the biggest concern among the internet marketing community is the level of data privacy that Google Analytics provides. Although Matt Cutts has stated that his team does not use the data, and he is relatively confident that the rest of Google does not use it, there will probably always be a certain degree of trust issues about this data.
In addition to this potential downside, there are really only two other issues. The first is that although it offers a lot of data, Analytics does not have some of the extremely detailed custom reports that paid solutions offer. Also, direct support for this product is minimal, but once again, that is to be expected from a free product.
Overall, I think Google Analytics is a great program. It provides lot of data, stores your data overtime and is free for anyone to use. I personally use it on all of my web sites, except for the experimental ones that may potentially push the envelope a little too much. If your team has not tried out Google Analytics, I recommend looking through the resources I have provided and giving it a shot yourself.
Feel free to add your personal experiences or additional/advanced questions you may have about GA.
Once you log into to your Google account, you can easily create a profile for each web site that you want to track. Each time you create a new profile, Google provides you with a small chunk of Javascript. All you need to do is paste this Javascript onto each page (or template) that you want to track (the code should be pasted right above the closing BODY tag).
Once your pages have been updated, Google will tell you that it is Receiving Data. Within approximately twenty-four hours, Google will start display statistics about your web site.
The statistics above are known as the Dashboard. This is the view that Google shows each time you view an analytics report. I find this to be very convenient, because it allows you to quickly look over all your major statistics.
One of the Analytics high points is that it allows you to view all of your historical data. By default, Dashboard shows one month of data, but you can easily click the arrow and choose a custom date range, as demonstrated in the screen shot below:
Although the Dashboard may be all you look at the majority of the time, there are other times when you really need to analyze specific aspects of your web site, such as the traffic sources. The easiest way to do this is to click the View Report button underneath the set of data that you desire. This will take you to an advanced page that allows you to see more detailed statistics, ranging from sources of traffic to what browsers your visitors are using.
Another one of this program's strong points is the ability to define goals. In my opinion, this is essential for utilizing an analytics program to its fullest. A goal is simply a method for measuring conversions that take place on your web site. You can define a goal as anything from viewing a specific page to completing a lengthy survey. To learn more about goals, you can read this post by Analytics Talk (and also view the fourth video tutorial in the series listed below).
Although I can spend all day typing out the specific things that you can analyze with Google Analytics, Ian from Conversational Marketing has five great video tutorials that cover the following topics: Basics, Essential Stats, Digging Deeper, Goals and Search Analytics. He also has a video tutorial that explains some of the latest features in Google's newest version of Analytics.
The last major point I feel deserves attention is the ability to integrate AdWords with the Analytics program. If you are running an AdWords campaign, you can find out how to tie your accounts together here, and you can also view one of Google's videos about the kind of analytical data that they can provide for your PPC campaigns.
As with any program (especially those that are free), there are some downsides to Google Analytics. However, I believe they are minimal to the benefits that it provides. Obviously, the biggest concern among the internet marketing community is the level of data privacy that Google Analytics provides. Although Matt Cutts has stated that his team does not use the data, and he is relatively confident that the rest of Google does not use it, there will probably always be a certain degree of trust issues about this data.
In addition to this potential downside, there are really only two other issues. The first is that although it offers a lot of data, Analytics does not have some of the extremely detailed custom reports that paid solutions offer. Also, direct support for this product is minimal, but once again, that is to be expected from a free product.
Overall, I think Google Analytics is a great program. It provides lot of data, stores your data overtime and is free for anyone to use. I personally use it on all of my web sites, except for the experimental ones that may potentially push the envelope a little too much. If your team has not tried out Google Analytics, I recommend looking through the resources I have provided and giving it a shot yourself.
Feel free to add your personal experiences or additional/advanced questions you may have about GA.
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