An Introduction to the Importance of Web Analytics

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An Introduction to the Importance of Web Analytics

 

 

By Janette Leon-Speyer & Katrina Mcneill, Web Success Team

Your company strives for first-class online marketing and works relentlessly to optimize those efforts. Now that you have come to know the value of online marketing, it’s time to dive head first into what will likely become one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal – a Web Analytics tool.

Marketing Uses of Web Analytics

As a beginner you may be asking yourself, “What do you use Web Analytics for?” Well beginner, you can use these platforms to track your social media traffic; understand which content is viewed most/least often; track key website engagement metrics be it unique vs. repeat visits, bounce rate, geographic location, how customers arrived at your website and even average time spent on that website.

One example of utilizing Web Analytics would be an expansion of your geographic reach by tracking where your visitors are physically coming from, and then figuring out a way to reach the places that you haven’t yet gotten traffic from yet.  Another example would be tracking the success of a marketing campaign via analyzing your data to see if sufficient traffic came in from that campaign.

Once you understand the data and the how, why and where, you will be able to set up appropriate goals for your specific needs, be it outreach to your top referring sites, changing content, advertising or even updating your site’s layout. Essentially you use Web Analytics to figure out where your traffic is generated and decide, based on that data, the sources that need more attention.

What Platforms Should You Use?

That’s all a matter of preference, so let’s review a few in order of least to most expensive; Google Analytics, Get Clicky and Raven Tools.

Google Analytics is the cheapest, so much so that it’s free. It’s incredibly user-friendly and has very few limitations. The downside with this free tool is that customer service generally gets low scores and some reviews do complain about a few bugs and other frustrations. Overall, it is incredibly useful for a free platform.

Get Clicky! This platform has an inexpensive starter pack that, for a smaller company, will work just fine. Of course, if you need to add all of the bells and whistles, you will have to pay more. Comparing it to most, it’s not over-priced, but it’s hard to imagine paying for the premium package at $19.99 a month, unless one of the premium features was of huge value to you and one that Google Analytics does not offer for free.

Last on my list is Raven Tools. This platform, unlike many others, receives great scores in customer service. It’s the most expensive, but it will do almost everything you need, the exception being that it does not currently provide lead management/tracking/nurturing capabilities. Lead nurturing is, simply put, engaging potential new customers and making leads ready for a sales follow-up. This missing tool is a very helpful one if your goals are sales focused.

Web Analytics is an amazing marketing tool, and as such, there are many other platforms available, have a look at the list available here.

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3 comments

  1. Edgar Danmer
    October 7th, 2012 7:32  / 

    You would be surprised how many client’s websites that I have worked on and they have no web analytics installed. Its like boarding an air plane, not knowing where you are going and without a map. I ponder why online businesses fail to grasp the importance of having web analytics’s. As this is a great post, thought it was well worth the buffer.

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