Chow says, “I remember a few years back taking my first job as a web analyst – it seemed pretty easy at the time. I mean, how hard was it to read some Google Analytics reports and explain what was going on to the clients. Little did I know how deep I would explore the world of analytics, and how this data has such a big impact on how businesses both big and small can use it to mold so many facets of their business. Studying the teachings of super-smart guys like Avinash Kaushik taught me the art of interpreting data, and how data may be more than meets the eye”. How To Understand Google... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Are you doing what’s best, or simply seeking the protection of the herd? It’s an enticing idea: ‘Best practice’. It suggests a clearly defined path to success; a recipe for perfectly honed websites, trouble-free projects, delighted users; a silver bullet. But what is ‘best practice’? I don’t mean best practice for UX design, or best practice for SEO, or best practice for project execution. But the concept of ‘best practice’ itself.  Where do best practices come from? How do we recognise them? How do we adopt them?”. The... [...]

Frederick Vallaeys says, “AdWords is great at telling you how much money your ads cost and how many conversions you’re getting but what happens between the click and the conversion remains a mystery unless you add Google Analytics to the equation. It can tell you what people do on your site, so if they’re not converting, it can help you find out why. And when you can fix conversion rate issues, your AdWords performance will get better. With the speed at which new features get added, it’s easy to overlook one or two cool capabilities so here’s a roundup of 10 of my favorite ways to... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “We’re pretty big on measurement on this blog, and we use analytics to identify key topics, improve our content, and prove our effectiveness.  To this end, we’re big users of Google Analytics, supplemented by paid tools from Moz and others. We use a bunch of custom reports, segments and dashboards for measurement but I’ve only recently come across the Google URL builder, thanks to our Head of Social Matt Owen”. How to use Google Analytics URL builder to track campaigns ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

David Moth says, “All digital marketing activity is measurable. Right? It’s nice to think that’s the case and there are a lot of people who believe it, but unfortunately it’s simply not true. The reasons for this are numerous, not least that companies are struggling to keep up with the constantly shifting digital landscape. In the past digital analytics mainly focused on desktop activity, but now businesses have to employ a broader range of analytics products to measure activity across relatively new channels such as mobile and social”. Which analytics tools do marketers use?... [...]

Kevin Webster says, “It’s fairly simple to come up with a list of “goals” that describe a website’s success. These typically include lead generation, downloads (i.e., coupons, menus, or whitepapers), and ecommerce transactions. Noted web analytics writer and practitioner Avinash Kaushikdescribes these as “macro goals” that are clear and easy to define. But these end points aren’t the only actions a user can take on your website that have value. Enter the concept of a “micro goal.” A micro goal may well be a step in the conversion funnel, such as adding a product to a shopping... [...]

Christina Warren says, “Google on Thursday finally released a version of Google Analytics for the iPhone. The iPhone app [iTunes link] comes more than two years after Google released Google Analytics for Android. Like the Android app, Google Analytics for iPhone lets users check in on their website analytics — including real-time visitor reports — from the comfort of their smartphone. In addition to real-time and time-based reports, the app can be used to view behaviors, conversions and more”. Finally, Google Analytics App Arrives on iPhone Mashable  [...]

Robert Miller says, “Google Analytics is always updating and adding new features. Here are four methods to help you get the most out of your analytics tool. As a part of the consulting services I provide to clients, I often do trainings of Google Analytics. Sometimes it’s one-on-one or to a small group, and other times it’s to multiple teams at once. As such, there is usually a broad range in the knowledge base of training participants. Here are four resources that I find are helpful for clients to get started with Google Analytics. A number of them would actually be helpful with... [...]

Tom Capper says, “Customer loyalty is one of the strongest assets a business can have, and one that any can aim to improve. However, improvement requires iteration and testing, and iteration and testing require measurement. Traditionally, customer loyalty has been measured using customer surveys. The Net Promoter Score, for example, is based on the question (on a scale of one to ten) “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”. Regularly monitoring metrics like this with any accuracy is going to get expensive (and/or annoying... [...]

Kevin Webster says, “Knowing the source of your web traffic — organic search, paid search, social media, direct — is important. But taking a look at what your visitors are actually doing and accomplishing on your website is also key. Studying traffic flow can indicate a few potential problems in website navigation or marketing messages, as well as point out what your website is doing well. Google Analytics provides a tool in the Behavior section that can help you visualize the intent of your web visitors, and determine where visitors are dropping out of your goal funnels”. Google Analytics:... [...]