Hello Everyone Welcome Back! Today I thought I would begin a new series of pros and cons of different analytic websites! If you have any suggestions of sites you would like me to cover please leave a comment below!
So Google Analytics is probably the one your all most familiar with, it started in 2005 measuring the two basics;
Visitors to the Site
People arriving at the Site
If only it were still that simple? Well now we have a plethora of available measures with each new development in technology we gain a new way to follow, track or advertise to our consumers and a new pile of data. But, how do we do it and which website is best?
Google Analytics is the most popular website stats tool. More than 53% of all sites on the web track their visitors using Google Analytics. 84% of sites that do use a known analytics script use Google Analytics. It’s the most popular third-party request on the web. It accounts for 0.64% of all network requests.
So let’s look at the Cons first as usual!
CONS OF GOOGLE ANALYTICS
1. Ad Blockers RENDER ANALYTICS USELESS!
Popular ad blockers like Firefox and antivirus software mean that millions of people won’t even be counted in your google analytics. There is no definitive estimate on how many people will be missed but it is definitely something to bear in mind when choosing any analytic software.
2. Time Consuming to learn how to use!
If you plan on integrating Google Analytics into your marketing metrics and campaign then you would have to understand at least at a basic level how it works. This takes time and if you own your own business there is no free time to spend!
The time, effort and experience needed to analyse all the different optional metrics is complex and learning to ‘use this language’ can be difficult to follow and find online. There is resources available here; Analytics Academy It has four, easy-to-use, step-by-step courses ranging from beginner to advanced so if you have some free time I would definitely recommend it.
3. Too much data!
For many business and business owners there is simply too much information collected on website performance, For most site owners, the amount of data Google Analytics collects is overkill. It’s a powerful but complex tool that takes time to understand and requires training. With around 300 different metrics available and many only using a tiny number of metrics and ignoring the other data.
4. Questions about the reliability?
Though Google Analytics is a reliable source for majority of the data collected there can be inconsistencies. The skewing of data makes it less accurate and less reliable, spam and bot traffic are often reported as a referral, which cannot be removed meaning analysing the overall data will be inaccurate.
Another issue is that Google is in effect reporting on Google’s performance meaning it’s not entirely independent. Acquisition reports or how well Google search engines drove users to the site, the validity of this particular metric is questionable for obvious reasons.
5. Lack of COMPLEX Long Term Performance tracking.
If you want to analyse behaviour or evaluate long term performance then Google Analytics might not be the right metric source for you. Identifying which blog attracted long term subscribers or leads, similarly if you wanted to track and analyse behaviour over months or years again it doesn’t give results capable of that.
Pros of Google Analytics
1. it’s completly Free!
Google Analytics is free of charge so everyone and anyone can use it, if you have a website, blog or any kind of online presence. However, if you have more than 5 million impressions per month you will be required to upgrade to the Google Analytics 360 account which is a price to consider if you are on a budget.
2. It CAN BE Customisable TO YOU!
Like other marketing tools you can customize your Google Analytics with custom dashboards by adding widgets that are useful and most beneficial to your particular goals and value measures. Though this does mean you tend to overlook the other features and metrics that Google Tracks but it is easier to streamline your process and make better decisions instead of facing huge amounts of useless metrics.
3. multi – platform USAGE
You can use Google Analytics on any device; mobile, tablet, laptop as long as you have internet connection. This is perfect for busy businesses and owners who want to check metrics on the go and make sure everything on the website is running smoothly.
Another added benefit is you can connect your Google Analytics account with your Google Ads account. This will streamline your entire process and make the measuring and analysing of your data much faster and easier.
4. THE BEST AT MONITORING website performance!
The dashboards in Google Analytics are great for monitoring how your website is performing, showing aspects such as active visitors and user locations. You can see who is landing on your website and how they navigate between pages or posts, even how long they stay on each page. It will track the source and medium down to the social campaign, collecting landing page information and measuring if they met a goal such as making a purchase or subscribing.
You can see; your website audience, audience behaviour, website acquisition and conversion metrics as well as a real-time view of the audience on your site. If you want to confirm your website is loading smoothly for everyone, monitor the amount of traffic and quickly detect any bugs then it is ideal to use.
Another forgotten benefit is that anyone, anywhere can view your Google Analytics account and understand how your website is performing. This is particularly attractive for business owners working with third parties overseas such as international clients or agencies.
5. increased visibility
The smart interface neatly displays information in a collection of graphs, tables and charts, helping you digest the information quickly and easily at just a glance. This increased visibility also means that the tool is easily shareable and digestible by other users, should you need a third party to take a look at the account.
Google Analytics is clearly a valuable tool that will help you understand and monitor your website 24/7 for free! Along with monitoring your own goals and traffic measures and with the online learning resources available. There is with everything drawbacks but as a starter for basic analytics and metric measurements I really think it is great source to understand your business and visitors more!
So what are your thoughts on Google Analytics? Share your experience below!
Thanks for reading!
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