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Google Analytics - Still Misunderstood?

September 24th, 2007 by Nick

Google Analytics (GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about visitors to a website. As of August 2007, there were 59 GA reports, with more being added all the time. Some of the highlights include reports detailing where the visitors came from, how long they stayed on the website, how many pages they viewed on the website and their geographical position. GA was rolled-out in November 2005 to anyone who wished to sign up. However due to extremely high demand for the service, new sign-ups were suspended only a few days later. As capacity was added to the system, Google began using a lottery-type invitation-code model. Prior to August 2006 Google was sending out batches of invitation codes as server availability permitted; since mid-August 2006 the service has been generally available. A new version of the user interface was released to all users on May 17, 2007, with the old version to be removed by July 18, 2007.However, recent surveys have found that many organisations are not taking full advantage of GA. Out of 1,000 analytics practitioners, consultants and end-users worldwide who took part in the Web Analytics Association’s (WAA) April 2007 survey, 82% of respondents said analytics was poorly understood in their organisations and that most people interacting with web data did not understand what it meant. Furthermore, over half (56%) said web analytics was difficult, despite the majority of respondents having at least two years of experience with these technologies and 23% having more than five years of experience.

5 steps are recommended for companies to make better use of their data:

1. Recognise that analytics is not easy – invest in education for analytics end-users and data consumers. Moreover, invest in learning and implementing the core processes behind analytics.

2. Recognise that most people inside organisations probably don’t understand web analytics data when it is presented to them. Simplify reports that are distributed to staff and take the time to explain clearly and concisely what the data reveals.

3. Re-evaluate the depth at which analytics is used and work to understand what 'strategic use of web analytics' means. Re-assess the use of analytics and aggressively look for strategic opportunities wherever possible.

4. Invest in dedicated resources to manage web analytics systems and produce high-quality analysis.

5. Provide web analytics professionals with high-value work and high-visibility opportunities. Few experienced web analytics professionals wake up in the morning looking forward to 'generating reports'; bright, well qualified people want to ask and answer really hard questions and produce analysis that can positively impact the entire online business.

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