GoogleAnalytics.com
Revision as of 06:43, 6 August 2009 by Athen OShea (talk | contribs) (→Enterprise-class website monitoring and analysis)
Enterprise-class website monitoring and analysis
Tracking, measuring and optimizing website traffic and performance is integral to online success. As it turns out, it can also be fun, especially when it's free. Google Analytics is the free, online web analytics solution that can be used standalone or in tandem with other advertising and analysis tools from Google such as AdWords and Website Optimizer.
Hosted on the same enterprise platform that supports Google's world-class search engine, Google Analytics is safely used by Fortune 500 companies, e-commerce startups and celebrity bloggers to track, measure and optimize website performance. Friendly to both marketers and webmasters, Google Analytics presents an easy-to-use online interface and tools for discovering how users access site content, utilize new features and respond to purchasing, marketing, and lead-generation campaigns.
Google Analytics was launched as a free, online tool suite in November 2005. It compares to commercial products such as Coremetrics, VisiStat and Hitbox.
Website measurement and optimization with Google Analytics
When the Huffington Post required web analytics software to evaluate the success of story formats, news, and other featured content on the site, it turned to Google Analytics. "We needed to continuously isolate our products -- news, editorial, blogs and more -- and see how each one was performing over time," says Chief Technology Officer Paul Berry. Whereas most web analytics tools come at a price, Google Analytics is free.
"Google Analytics gives us all the features of a high-end analytics package and delivers the data we need to continuously optimize site performance. And at no charge, the price is right," says Berry.
Websites using Google Analytics to track visitor activity and monitor site performance include:
- Agency.com
- ACS
- BuildDirect
- Carolina Rustica
- CKE Restaurants
- Discount Tire
- RE/MAX
- TCHO
- Vueling
- Weather Bill
- WNYC
- Yelp
- PBS
Google Analytics software is also used by bloggers to track and improve blog content. Useful statistics include top referring sites, most-searched keywords and where AdSense pays.
Using Google Analytics
After creating a Google Analytics account, a user adds a Google Analytics Tracking Code (a snip of JavaScript that can be included in page templates) to pages on the website. The code enables Google Analytics to track visitor activity and sort the information. After 24 hours, a new user can login to Google Analytics and begin using its many features to understand visitor activity.
New users typically start out by using Google Analytics Graph Mode to study statistics such as daily unique visitors, average time on site, keyword conversions and bounce rate. As users become more sophisticated, they can set up new campaign goals, compare benchmarks with similar sites, generate automated email reports and even access the Google Analytics API to create new features or customize existing ones.
Technical support is available from the following sources:
- Google Analytics Help Center
- Google Analytics User Forums
- Google Analytics Blog
- Google Analytics Authorized Consultants
More about Google Analytics
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