What is Google Analytics and How Does It Work?
Milwaukee Web Development Company Explains its Favorite Tool
Google Analytics is a free web analytics application used by both web development companies and business owners to track information on how their websites are used and how they are performing for them.
Google launched Analytics in 2005 after acquiring the service from Urchin Software Corp. With numerous refinements made by Google over the years, Analytics has become the most popular web analytics tool in the world.
Bring a Shovel, Because Analytics Is An Information Goldmine
The amount of information in Analytics is astonishing—everything from how many people accessed your website last month to the time of day they visited, the city they’re in, and the computer and browser they were using. Although the data runs deep, the user interface is easy to navigate. Even if you have no background in web data analysis, you can get a clear picture of how your website is being used.
Google Analytics is especially useful for identifying which pages on a website are drawing in visitors and which aren’t. It’s also an invaluable tool for ecommerce sites looking for insights on where their customers are coming from. Here’s a screen grab from Analytics showing a year-over-year comparison of online transactions (Yes, that 185.66% increase in online transactions is for real):
How Does Google Analytics Work?
Google Analytics collects information on the activity of visitors to your website, including the browser used to access your site, content viewed on your site, length of time spent on each page visited, even the time of day/night when your website was visited.
Google gathers all this data on each visitor to a website and stores it on a server. Then, usually within a few hours, it processes this data. Users are categorized based on whether they’re new or returning visitors to the site, how long they stayed on your site, the number of pages they viewed and in what order. Google then makes all this information accessible through their Analytics interface.
In case you’re wondering, yes, you can exclude yourself and others in your office from being counted as visitors to your site. This enables you to get a clearer picture of visitors from the general public who are visiting your site.
How Do You Access Google Analytics?
Businesses are often under the impression they have to sign on for a Google Adwords account in order to access Analytics. This just isn’t so. There is a free version of Analytics available. If you don’t already have Analytics on your computer, go ahead and sign up for it now.
All iNET Web clients who have us doing monthly SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work for them are set up with a Google Analytics account so they can track activity on their website whenever they want. Additionally, these clients receive a bi-monthly SEO report from iNET Web with the most relevant data from Analytics compiled in an easy to digest report. It’s a great way to keep track of how your website is performing for you.
Google Analytics Is An Invaluable Tool for SEO, Like iNET Web
The SEO specialists at iNET Web use Analytics all the time to see which web pages on our clients’ websites are working and which aren’t. While learning your way around Analytics isn’t all that difficult, knowing how to use the data and adjust an SEO strategy for a website is a bit more involved. Fortunately, there’s iNET Web to deal with this.
If you’re interested in learning more about how iNET Web harnesses the power of Google Analytics to create profit-generating websites for businesses throughout Wisconsin, we’d love to show you. Why not set up a no-obligation meeting with us to learn more?
