Many companies are switching to using Google Analytics to track their site. A recent econsultancy survey found that 70% of businesses surveyed were using it, but the majority were using it in parallel with another paid system.
I believe Google Analytics is particularly strong for tactical optimisation of a site or campaign, but it is slightly limited compared to paid-for solutions for business reporting. There are some standard dashboards available in Google Analytics and you can add to these from other reports and design custom reports. But there are some features of enterprise reporting available in the popular paid systems such as Omniture and Webtrends which aren't possible:
Calculation of new metrics derived from existing variables
Creation of custom dashboards
Use of many custom variables to identify visitor behaviour over a time period
Bookmarking queries based on specific segments, e.g. paid search
That said, Google has recently published an API which makes it easier to get information out of Google Analytics into Excel where you can customise calculations and visualisations to fit your needs. I have outlined some of the options for working with Google Analytics in Excel here
Dr Dave Chaffey is director and lead consultant at Market Insights Limited, an independent digital marketing consultancy, and author of internet marketing books including eMarketing eXcellence: Planning and Optimising Your Digital Marketing, co-written with PR Smith.
You can read more of Dave's Insights on digital marketing on his Right Touching Digital Marketing blog
E-mail your digital marketing questions and problems to Dave at digital@themarketer.co.uk
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