Web Analytics is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It seems like every article and video about website optimization has some mention of analytics. But what is it? How can you get started? What are the most common uses for this thing everyone keeps talking about? In this article, you will learn about web analytics from its simplest version to the more complicated aspects of it. If you want to succeed as an online business, then you need to understand your audience. That’s why understanding your audience is such a fundamental part of any online business strategy. After all, how else are you going to know what type of content your target demographic wants and needs if they don’t let you know in advance? There are many different ways to understand your audience when it comes to marketing and one of them is through Web Analytics. Read on to learn more!
What is Web Analytics?
Web Analytics is the measure, tracking, and analysis of website and online marketing efforts. While it is closely related to marketing, it is also a scientific method and tool for research. Web Analytics is one of the most important functions of any website. It’s what helps you see what your website looks like, where people are coming from, and what they are doing when on your site. Web Analytics is able to show you a lot of information about your visitors, like where they are from, what browser they are using, and how long they spent on your website. This information can be used to better target your marketing efforts and make your website more user-friendly and efficient.
Simple Web Analytics
A simple web analytics solution will let you set up a basic tracking code on your website that will give you basic information about your visitors like their country of origin, the browser they are using, how long they spent on your site, and more. If you decide to go with a Simple Web Analytics solution, you won’t be able to get as much out of your tracking as a more advanced system. However, a simple system will still be able to provide you with enough information to make decisions about your website. A Simple Web Analytics solution will probably include the following features: - Tracking Code - You have to put the tracking code on each page of your site that you want to track. This will let Google Analytics know which pages your visitors are coming from, and it will also let the other analytics programs know where to send their own tracking information. The tracking code is not on the actual page, but inside the HTML code of the page. - Analytics Option - You’ll need to be able to choose between Google Analytics and one of the other main web analytics programs. - Reporting - You can usually get basic reports with a simple system like this.
Advanced Web Analytics
With advanced web analytics, you’ll be able to track more information about your visitors, like how they got to your site, what kind of device they were using, and what they were doing when they were on your site. This type of web analytics system also lets you set goals for your website and track actions that you want to improve like how many times your visitors return to your site, how many sales they make, how many leads they generate, etc. You’ll also be able to see how your website is performing and if it’s meeting the goals you set out for it. Advanced web analytics systems will let you see things like where searches are coming from and what other websites are linking to your website from.
Benefits of Web Analytics
- Knowing where your visitors are coming from and what browser they are using helps you better target your marketing efforts. If you know what your competitors are doing, you can create a better version of your own website and get a leg up on your competition. - Knowing what time of day people are coming to your site helps you create better content and better decisions about how long your website will be down. - Knowing what your visitors are doing on your site helps you create more user-friendly and efficient websites. This will make your website more appealing to your audience and less confusing to your visitors. - Knowing how your website performs lets you make adjustments as necessary to keep your website running smoothly. This will help ensure your business stays active and doesn’t become stagnant.
Types of Web Analytics
- Most analytics systems offer more than one type of web analytics. Some examples of the types of web analytics that are available are: - Site Search Analytics - Track how many people search your site and where they are looking. This helps you understand what topics people are interested in and find ways to keep your site current with the latest topics. - User Flow Analytics - Shows you what pages people are going through and how many times they visit each page. This will help you understand which areas of your website are confusing to your visitors, what pages should be prioritized and where, etc. - Attractiveness Rankings - Shows you where people are looking and where they click to help you prioritize what to work on next.
Software for Web Analytics
Most web analytics systems are available online or as a software or plugin that you install on your own website. Some of the top web analytics systems are: - Google Analytics - Google Analytics is the most popular and most well-known web analytics system. It has been around since 2006 and offers so much more than the other analytics systems. Everything from site search analytics to user flow analytics is available with Google Analytics. - Mixpanel - Mixpanel is a newer web analytics system that is extremely promising. It offers every feature that an advanced web analytics system does and then some. It also offers you the ability to track your site with the click of a button. - KISSmetrics - KISSmetrics is another newer web analytics system that is also becoming very popular. It offers more of the features that most people want to see in their analytics system like user flow analytics and attractiveness rankings.
Conclusion
If you want to know what your website is doing, where they are coming from, and what they are doing while they are there, then you need to get started with web analytics. Web analytics is easy to get started with and can be used for many different purposes. It’s important to remember that these analytics systems are dependent on the data that you provide them. If you are not providing accurate data, then your web analytics will not be as effective. So remember, when you’re trying to get your business noticed online, you need to know where your audience is coming from. That way, you can better target your marketing and make your website more appealing to your target demographic.