Google Analytics

Citation

Thornton, S. (2007), "Google Analytics", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pmm.2007.27908aae.003

Google Analytics

Google AnalyticsMary E. Tyler and Jerri L. LedfordWiley PublishingIndianapolis, IN2006ISBN 0 470 05385 2316pp$29.99Keywords: Internet, User studies, Library users

Google Analytics is something that librarians have been wanting for many years – an efficient and effective means of measuring website use. In the past I for one was always fobbed off with the Web master reluctantly providing me with a limited series of measures of site use, most of which seemed to be of interest only to the Web master. With patience, and a series of enquiries to find out specifically what was being measured, it was possible to get some useful data, but I was always surprised that a computerised system couldn’t provide me with more tailored information I wanted. Google Analytics have done that, and Tyler and Ledford have created a readable and comprehensive guide on how to get the best out of it.

Why Analytics? The authors make the case very effectively from the start. For the Boss it is “Because it’s there and it’s free, and web-page counters are so 1997” (I actually approve of their alternative answer for your underlings – “Because!”).

Now that’s the filip for all Librarians – it’s free. I’ll say that again – it’s free. Conventional analytical tools for monitoring your website cost, and can cost a lot. Google bought Urchin, a relatively small but dynamic analytics company that had created a small business analytical tool in 2005, and a few months later offered the product for free – a move that was, shall we say, unprecedented and if somewhat naive. With over a quarter of a million customers registering over the first two days, Google had to impose limits on the number of sites users could monitor, and also introduced a delay between applying and availability. Those days are now passed, and you can sign up and download the software – Urchin 5 – immediately. Whether you will be able to get the next version for free is a bit problematical at the moment, but the current version is not only free but has an impressive list of major commercial organisations as user exemplars, including Nestlé, Roche, the Financial Times and so on. But those are all major players, and regardless of how intuitive (or not) any product is or how well guided or documented, if you don’t have a massive web support team behind you an “idiot’s guide” can be worth its weight in gold.

Tyler and Ledford have produced a simple and straightforward guide on how to get the best out of Google Analytics, explaining what it is and what it can do, and – perhaps more importantly – what it isn’t and what it can’t do.

The book is broken down into six major sections, which take you from absolute beginner onward. The first section explains the history of Google Analytics, how to get the software and the basic principles of Analytics and AWStats (Advanced Web Statistics). It is full of simple explanations and points to remember – why you shouldn’t let your web page designer dream up fantastic-looking but computer-intensive screens, for example.

Part Two outlines setting it up from scratch, the Settings Dashboard, data filters and Analytics Goals. The latter is an enormously important feature in my opinion. It enables you to define a variety of target pages, how they were reached, what happened then – in short, what factors influenced traffic on the site the most, and if you change things, how successful those changes have been. You can only set up four goals at any one time, and oddly although you can modify them at anytime, you can never turn them off altogether. I gather such foibles in systems are known as “features”. Analysis of other, more commercial elements, such as Google Adwords are also available, and merit their own chapter.

The Third part explains the reporting “Dashboards”. Analytics provides three main viewpoints of the data it stores and analyses: the Executive providing the quick overview; the Marketer largely targeted at marketing campaign analysis; and the Webmaster Dashboard. This is the one, which provides all the data and analysis I used to want, and could never get hold of, from platform to visitor type, from connection speed to content.

The Fourth part is about marketing optimisation, and although many of us would normally associate marketing with commercial, it is stacked full of goodies that we could all use to help improve the use of our sites. You can track individual visitors to the site, how many times they return, a host of comparisons and daily analyses, their locations, map display overlays, and so on. It is also possible to set up ROI tools for marketing campaigns.

Part 5 covers Content Optimisation, everything from length of visit, navigational analysis, exit points, depth of visits and so on. The chapter that particularly interested me covered web design parameters – the number of screw-ups that can happen if you do not take other browsers and platforms into consideration. It all may look perfect on your XP machine using IE6, but what about Firefox or Safari 1.3? Possibly the most disconcerting this is that if you decide to use Analytics, the embedded scripts mean that nothing appears on the screen if you are using IE4, but (let’s be honest) who the heck uses IE4 these days?

The final part is all about e-commerce analysis, commerce tracking, loyalty, revenue sources and product merchandising.

Almost all software packages come with instruction manuals, usually electronic these days, but they rarely hit the nail on the head in meeting the real needs of the users. That is where a well written, clear and sometimes amusing guide such as this is invaluable. When you can spend a couple of hours trying to fix a simple bug, or figuring out the best way of attaining a simple end, such guides repay their cost many times over. If you are starting out with Analytics, or even if you think you are reasonably expert, this book is well worth the investment.

Steve Thornton Editor, Performance Measurement and Metrics