Web analytics
Web analytics are techniques and tools for
recording and analysing the behaviour of visitors to web sites or
web applications. For e-commerce companies, they are vital for
identifying and refining the aspects of a website which
are important in achieving business objectives or goals (for example,
making sales or generating enquiries).
Web analytics software automates the process
and can output the results of the analysis in tables, charts and
other visual formats. They may be viewed on or off line or even
exported to other applications.
The use of web analytics is essential if you
need to track visitors’ behaviour and progress through a web site.
When you have invested time, effort and money through paid and
natural search in order to get visitors to land on your site,
nothing is more disappointing than to find they leave before
achieving the goals you have intended they should reach.
Web analytics software can measure quantitative
details such as how many people visited a site, how many of them
were unique visitors, how they came to the site (e.g. if they
followed a link, typed in the URL or were referred by a search
engine), which keywords they entered into the site's local search
engine, how long they stayed on a given page or on the entire site,
which links they clicked on and when they left.
Web analytic software can also be used to
monitor whether or not a site's pages are working properly. With
this information, web site administrators can determine which areas
of the site are popular and which areas of the site get little
traffic. They can use the data to streamline a site to create a
better user experience and improve visitor outcomes.
The right software lets you visualize as well as
record the progress of visitors through a site and see exactly where
they leave and join the paths designed for them to follow. In
particular, funnel visualisation gives a striking representation of
the way in which some visitors pursue while others abandon their
path to a goal.
ivantage has long-term experience of many
analytics packages, but we recommend that Google’s products —
Google
Analytics and Urchin — should be the first a client assesses for
suitability. This is because of their low cost, advanced
functionality and easy availability. ivantage, being a Google
Analytics Authorized Consultant (GAAC), provides setup, advisory and
fully-managed services to customers, as well as training.
more about Google Analytics
learn more about services for Google Analytics
more about Urchin
learn more about services for Urchin
sign up for Google Analytics
trial Urchin free of charge
purchase Urchin licences
