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whwytriright 30 Google Analytics
GA can track website visitors
from all online sources, including
search engines, display advertis-
ing, pay-per-click fi rms (in which
advertisers pay their host site only
when their ad is clicked), email
marketing, and links within PDF
documents. When integrated
with Google AdWords – a pay-
per-click venture that also off ers
site-targeted advertising for both
text and banner ads, and the pri-
mary source of Google’s reported
total advertising revenues of
$21 billion in 2008 – GA users
can review online campaigns by
tracking landing page quality and
conversions. “Conversions” can
Companies can therefore maintain a relatively accurate
be defi ned as sales, lead generations, specifi c page views, or
view of such trends as whether their site’s traffi c is grow-
downloads of a particular fi le. Th us, companies can quickly
ing, shrinking, or stagnating (by comparing unique visitors
and effi ciently determine which ads are performing best and
per period with a previous period, and looking at whether
adjust their marketing activities accordingly.
views are aff ected by particular promotions or advertising
In addition, GA can be used to determine poorly per-
campaigns); how useful visitors fi nd the site (by looking at
forming pages on a particular site, measured by tracking
average page views and average time spent per page, and deter-
where visitors originated (from a search engine, a competi-
mining possible reasons for signifi cant fl uctuations from one
tor’s site, etc.), how long they stayed on each page, and their
time period to the next); and where visitors – both new and
geographical location. Th e tool also off ers more advanced
returning – are geographically located (resulting in possible
features, including the ability to group visitors into segments
modifying of jargon to att ract visitors in given areas, or types
based on geography, past shopping activity, and so on.
of campaigns to increase new and/or returning visitors).
In terms of content, companies can look at what their
How It Works
most frequently visited pages are and decide if they corre-
spond with the company’s expectations. Th is can lead to
Th e gathering of such data is made possible by the Google
redesigning pages, tweaking off ers, or completely rethinking
Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) that is added onto every
a page’s content if company expectations or goals are not
page of a given website. Th e GATC collects private visitor
being met. Making pages more interesting or useful to users,
data and sends it to Google’s data processors, which usually
as well as making them more easily accessible by those users,
results in a report within four hours. Th e GATC also sets
is a key consideration.
“cookies” (a small piece of text stored on a user’s computer
In addition, tracking where visitors fi rst land on a com-
by a web browser; typically these include such information
pany’s site can be valuable. Not all visitors will automatically
as user preferences and shopping cart contents) on each visi-
land on a company’s homepage, especially if they’ve searched
tor’s computer. Th is information, in turn, is used to store
for a specifi c product via a search engine. Once combined with
anonymous information such as whether the visitor is new
tracking visitors’ click paths from the home page (where most
or returning to the site, how long the current visit lasts, and
visitors go once they’re on your site), a company may ulti-
from what online destination he came.
Continued On 34 whwytriright
32 February 2010
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