Web Metrics with Google Analytics -Why and How?

Kategori: Artiklar

09 Mar, 2010

  författat av: Sara Andersson

Web Analytics from a Beginners Perspective:

Ex-Googler Brian Clifton released the second edition of his book Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics last week. Intended for everyone wanting to understand web metrics, or as Clifton explains it in the introduction: ”This book is intended for people who want to go beyond the basics of simply counting hits.” Clifton provides the reader with an understanding of web metrics using Google Analytics and the many aspects of it – without excluding anyone by over using complex technical terms.

When optimising a website for search engines, I always underline the importance to also implement web analytics tool. Without the ability to measure your traffic, its’ origin, where visitors head for and what they do on your site, your SEO will be without cause.
Google Analytics is my standard recommendation mainly because it’s free and easily implemented but also because it is straightforward to understand and adaptable to many levels.

If you’re a beginner to web analytics, Clifton’s book is a gateway to understand the advantages of measuring your web traffic. I especially appreciate the informal tone and the structure that enables me to adapt it for my level of prior knowledge. Thankfully, Clifton never talks over your head; his explanations are pedagogical, case-based and complimented with many visuals.

The book also discusses how different aspects can effect each other. For instance; the importance of user experience considerations when creating your website is also vital to your search marketing strategy. Discussions like these puts focus on the way everything is connected and underlines the fact that you can’t pick one field within the web area to focus on without considering the others. Something we also preach when considering search marketing.

The will to understand your visitors and see the results of your work should be a matter of course for anyone with a profitable business. When everything you do online is measurable, all you really need to do is learn how to read, interpret and use the information given to you. However, as Clifton says: ”analyzing your web analytics reports is similar to visiting the gym. Unless you go regularly, don’t waste your time there, because you will only become frustrated at the little impact made from previous sessions.”

Analyzing web traffic is interesting, revealing and intriguing. As I read about the subject in this book, I am fascinated with the information and directions it can take me in. I believe this book attracts the beginner as well as the experienced -as is Clifton’s aim. To find out if this is true, Sara Andersson will give her perception, as she is more widely travelled in the world of web metrics than I am.

Web Analytics from an Advanced Perspective:

Web Analytics can be very powerful if applied in a correct way. Yet for many companies using it, there is unfortunately loo little focus on getting the fundamentals right and collecting solid and reliable data.

I have spent years working with Fortune 500 companies around the globe and I have seen the same mistakes repeated over and over again -Data tags are implemented at the very end of a production phase, as an “add-on”, rather than an integral part of the building process. This can cause problems with testing the data before going live as there is simply no time and as well the planning and strategy phase of what to measure and how to set up the reporting will be excluded due to lack of time.

The result can be “superficial” reports that look reasonable on the surface but actually loose vital data. And that is the problem – so much data hides the flaws.

From experience about 7 out of 10 web analytics installations I have come across are wrong and in such magnitude that the data is not reliable. Believe it or not, the biggest issue for a large corporate website with web analytics is NOT how to get all filters, goals or funnels to work but how to get the data we have been looking at actually measured right. There are obviously some obstacles to overcome in the adjustment phase as well – but these are so much easier to change if we know that we have a good structure and a correct data in place.

On the other side of the spectrum I come across clients that have invested a great deal in a best practice web analytics tool implementation, but had no internal training and is totally reliant on an expensive consultant/agency to provide them with reports every month or upon request.

At the corporate level, the investment in analytics seems to be either nothing or a great deal on a very expensive tool and consultants. Here is my advice: Don’t buy a Rolls Royce when you can’t drive! In order to understand what you need, I advice you to follow these steps:

1. Define what you want to measure in order to know what is a success factor on your web site.
2. Start with a free or low cost tool like Google Analytics, or similar, that can provide you with most metrics.
3. Find a consultant that can help you with set up and guidance to get correct data in from the start and read up on the subject from Brian Clifton’s book.
4. Evaluate what it means to you to increase a conversion rate or to get better quality visits. This will help you understand how much time and money to keep spending on analytics as a division.

If you want to order Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics. It is available here on Amazon.