Saturday 10 May 2014

Why our businesses spying on their blog viewers using Google Analytics?

For those of you who are as clueless as I was, Google Analytics is a free, powerful analytics tool that allows organisations to monitor their web presence whether it be a website, a blog, or a social media platform (Google Analytics, 2014a). Google Analytics is an extremely popular digital monitoring system due to the fact it provides relatively in depth data, and is easy to use (Mann, 2013). 

So what does Google Analytics actually allow organisations to do? 

1. Track the effectiveness of their content easily. 
Google Analytics can be used to optimize the performance of a blog. There are a number of features that allow organisations to evaluate whether their content is transcending accordingly to viewers. As a result, organisations are able to increase their knowledge upon consumer behaviour, which fundamentally helps them to approach future content more successfully (Jackson, 2009). 

2. Target their intended audience more effectively.
Google Analytics allows marketers to target their intended audience in order to maximise the effectiveness of their blog posting. It provides features that enable organisations to monitor existing viewers, their interests, geographic location, the number of times they have visited and so forth. Ultimately, this tool allows businesses to penetrate consumers by shaping their content to cater for them (Atre, 2012). Chief Marketing Officer at Urbansitter can support this as she claims their customer acquisition costs have decreased by 30% since the implementation of Google Analytics (Google Analytics, 2014b). 

3. Evaluate traffic flow
Atre also suggests that Google Analytics is useful in determining where the incoming traffic is sourced from as it contributes to defining organisations marketing strategy (2012). It enables businesses to track their user activity whilst catering to specific needs of the viewers, this increases the opportunity for a viewer to become a consumer. 

4. Increase sales and conversions.
Sales and conversions are obviously the driving force for organisations using Google Analytics. Google Analytics as a whole help organisations to understand what features and content influences consumers to buy. Referring back to Urbansitter, they claim that conversions have increased by 26% since with Google Analytics (Google Analytics, 2014b). 

We now understand why they are using it, but what are some of the specific features that Google Analytics provide? 

  • Page Views. 
  • Returning or New Visitor? 
  • Duration spent on the blog. 
  • Age. 
  • Gender. 
  • Interests.
  • Geographic location. 
  • Language.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 Below is a screen shot from a Google Analytics Dashboard that shows some of the features above in  practice.



From the evidence provided, you would assume it would be beneficial for every organisation to incorporate Google Analytics into their digital platforms. However large, successful businesses presumably have already managed to target their consumers effectively, or could do so through more advanced analytic tools that require a fee. Although, it would be worthwhile for smaller organisations to monitor their blog through Google Analytics as they have a smaller marketing budget.

If you feel as though you would like to incorporate Google Analytics into your digital initiative, take a look at the links provided in the text or below. Or if your unsure and want to gain a better understanding of the drawbacks to this tool, take a look at an article here by Crestodina, 2013.

References 

Atre, S. (2012) 5 Top Benefits of Using Google Analytics for Your Business. [online] Full Traffic. Available from: http://www.fulltraffic.net/blog/84842/5-top-benefits-of-using-google-analytics-for-your-business/ [Accessed: 10th May 2014]

Crestodina, A. (2013) Google Analytics. [online] Orbit Media. Available from: http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/inaccurate-google-analytics-traffic-sources/ [Accessed: 10th May 2014]

Google Analytics. (2014a) Introduction to Google Analytics. [online] Google Analytics. Available from: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008065?hl=en-GB  [Accessed: 10th May 2014]  

Google Analytics. (2014b) Why Google Analytics. [online] Google Analytics. Available from: http://www.google.com/analytics/why/convert.html [Accessed: 10th May 2014]

Jackson, S. (2009) Cult of Analytics. 1st edition. Oxford: Elsevier.

Mann, N. (2013) 5 Ways to Use Google Analytics to Boost Your Online Sales. [online] Business Bee. Available from: http://www.businessbee.com/resources/sales/5-ways-to-use-google-analytics-to-boost-your-online-sales/ [Accessed: 10th May 2014]



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