Analytics-DIY

Using Web Analytics for Enhanced Findability

Internet marketing without web analytics is like doing a crossword puzzle in the dark—you have no idea what is successful and what’s not working at all. Wikipedia defines web analytics as the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.

Purposes of Web Analytics

• Measure website traffic, both in numbers of visitors and number of page views.

• Market research giving you the information you need to drive sales on your site.
• Measure the results of traditional advertising campaigns, tracking website traffic after the launch of a new print, radio or TV campaign.
• Measure your competition.
• Gauge traffic and popularity trends for market research.

Web analytics measure a visitor's journey once on your website. Let’s break this down into real life examples…

You have a business, and a website. Perhaps you have a pay-per-click ad campaign. You need web analytics to track the number of people who click on your ad, the amount of time they spend on your site, and what they do while they are there. If they make a purchase, it is tracked. If one ad is more successful than the others, you will know it. If some keywords get more conversions than others, you will also know it. This type of data is invaluable for you to tweak your campaign, make it run as efficiently and profitably as possible, and keep you from spending too much on clicks.

If you have done any Search Engine Optimization to your site, by using the appropriate web analytics tools you can find out just how successful your efforts have been. Use of a reporting tool that gives you rankings by each of your keywords is invaluable. The main analytic tool we recommend is:

Google Analytics

Take a look at Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/ . It's free of charge and very easy to configure. You can set up goal tracking for the individual social media sites, as well as track everything that is happening on your website. One nice thing about Google Analytics is that it can filter referrals from specific social media platforms. You can see the sales that converted from your Facebook page, your PPC account, or just from Twitter. With this information, you’ll know that you're really getting a return on your investment for that particular social media sales initiative.

Also, if you are looking for additional social media analytics, consider these other free social media tools:

1. Hootsuite.com-- Custom Analytics including custom reports from over 30 individual report modules to share with clients and colleagues. Track brand sentiment, follower growth, plus incorporate Facebook Insights and Google analytics all without leaving the dashboard.
2. SocialOomph.com—allows you to track the clicks on your shortened links, and get all kinds of useful and insightful click statistics.

Don’t do your internet marketing by trial and error. Web analytics are the key to an internet marketing program that really works.

For more information, contact us at info@findabilitygroup.com.

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