Analytics essentially are statistical data points on a specific item, such as a website. Analytics are very important to capture as part of your online activities. Analytics guide you on your actions, and tell you what activities are working best so you know where you should be spending more time, effort and money. Growth Hackers use analytics when testing out new ideas and methods as it guides them on what will work best when implemented. Below we will go through a few of the most popular analytic tools used in internet marketing.
Google Analytics
Google analytics is immensely robust and has a large amount of data you can collect on your website. The best part is, it’s free! The downside to Google analytics is there is so much data it can be overwhelming to understand what you are reading and how to interpret it to guide you on your future marketing activities. When we have customers that want to start reading their own analytics, we encourage them to download the app to their phone. The app is a much more simplified version of Google analytics that shows data on many key areas the average business owner wants to see.
If you have advanced past the app and want to learn more, here are a few guides & training activities to help you learn Google analytics in depth:
Analytics help center
The Google Analytics help center (support.google.com/analytics) has articles on all features and aspects of Google Analytics, including implementation, analysis best practices, and troubleshooting.
Analytics Academy & Google Analytics IQ
Analytics Academy is a free online learning platform that offers comprehensive training in Google Analytics and data analysis. You can also use Analytics Academy to prepare for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) exam. Passing the Analytics IQ exam gives you an industry recognized qualification. Learn how to prepare for and access the exam.
Videos
Videos on the Official Google Analytics YouTube Channel cover beginner to advanced topics.
Social Media Examiner
As well, here is a fairly straightforward guide from social media examiner
Social Media Analytics
Social media analytics are very similar to Google with the upside being, they are simplified and easy to use.The downside of them is, they are not as detailed and they are all separate reports inside each platform. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. all have an analytics tool built into the platforms for business which means you need to go into each platform to view or download each report which can be a lot of work depending on how many platforms you are using.
There are however paid tools that will gather your analytics from all your social profiles plus your website in an effort to run more detailed single reports and comparisons to guide you on your content delivery. These tools can be pricey but when your business is at the point where you need this service, it is worth the cost as it saves you money and effort going forward. gShift Labs is an example of one of these providers.
Where Do I Go From Here?
A big reason you want to track these analytics is to monitor and track your conversions from prospects to a paying customer. Tracking your conversions through analytics will help your business in finding areas of improvement, areas that are working strong, and lets you test new ideas. For now, this post should at least get you started on utilizing the different analytics platforms. In a future video post, we will review how to utilize analytics to make choices in your marketing, content, and web design. Subscribe to our YouTube channel today to keep up to date on our future videos!
