Website Analytics: There's Power in Numbers

"Do I really need analytics? Which should I use?"

In our last blog post we touched on the importance of analytics as a tool to help you decide which PPC (pay-per-click) advertising network might work best for your website or blog. So, we thought it would be a good time to address the importance of website analytics, more generally. 

It's a question we get with some degree of regularity: "Do I need analytics, what do I use?" Our answer is invariably, "yes." Even if you just blog for fun, or have a website that is just a hobby, don't you want to know who is visiting it, where they are coming from, and how long they are staying? Don't you want to know which of your posts, and which of your pages are really striking a chord with people? 

There is a little known fact that most bloggers, in particular, are unaware of: For the majority of trafficked blogs out there, most of those blog's followers and regular readership come in by way of a bookmark, and never add themselves to one's "Followers" list! Moreover, they tend to not comment, even anonymously. How are you going to entice these people into your fold if you don't know they're there or where they are coming from? Typically, people blog because they genuinely have something to say, and want the world to hear and know about it. Bloggers want their word spread, and hope to have people interact with their ideas. Analytics can help one do that. 

For example, let's say you've made a particularly popular post on your blog that is getting far more attention than the other posts you've written. You're getting a lot of comments; and that, coupled with the very rudimentary analytics provided to you if you are using a platform such as Blogger, is all that you have to go on. But, in-depth analytics can tell you if your post is being shared, where it is being shared, how long people are looking at the post, where they exit to, where on the Internet a link to your post has been made, etc. This is all information that you can use to guide you in the direction you are writing and posting. Here is a specific example: If you have made a post about popular music on your blog that is going mildly viral, perhaps it wouldn't be so wise to then blog about mayonnaise...? You want to keep the proverbial ball rolling: If you want a trafficked blog, it's all about responding to your audience. Website analytics will reveal who your audience is, where they are and what they want; and, provide you with information about how to find like-minded individuals that you can then actively seek-out and communicate with.

More standard websites function the same basic way, except they are not so much about providing perpetually updated content; and, with the exception of Web 2.0 sites, are rarely about interactivity. Indeed, most websites are vehicles for one-way information gathering, and the sales and/or promotion of a product or service. That being said, without analytical data, how do you know any of the things you need to know to be able to effectively include relevant information, or to sell your wares? Just as with bloggers: Who's coming to your website? Where are they coming from? what are they looking at and how long are they looking?...have they been to your website 13 times, but have yet to pull the purchase or sign-up trigger...? This might read as a bit harsh to more sensitive eyes, but millions of people every single day have what they believe to be a big idea, attempt to implement it blindly on the Internet, only to fail horribly because they had no data to verify or falsify the relevance, and more importantly, the market for that idea. Obviously, research prior to launch is key. But, the analytical tracking of that idea--post launch--is at least as important as the idea, itself. Without analytics, the best e-business idea in the cosmos will fail...and then that idea will be taken by someone who plans properly--and uses analytics. 

So which should you use? There are stellar products out there that are absolutely free that will prove just fine for the majority of people, including HiStats (which we use on this blog), Clicky (the best real-time analytics optimized for websites), StatCounter and Google Analytics. The downside to these, however, is that there are certain types of traffic that none of those are good at tracking, such as redirected traffic services (e.g. Revisitors) and popunder traffic (e.g. Growstats). Indeed, if you intend on purchasing any sort of traffic to your web property that you want to be able to track, a product such as Xtremline Proactive eCommerce Client will pay for itself in short order. You probably noticed the Wibiya toolbar at the bottom of either The Making Money Depot.com or here at our blog. While this toolbar will not provide you with in-depth analytics, it does provide you with an additional layer of traceable interactivity that will also increase the time people spend on your website or blog; and, provides nice sharing functionality, features and data. 

It doesn't matter why you have a website or blog. What matters is that you want people to see it for one reason or another...right? We'll close with a phrase that we feel encapsulates the message of this post--make it your mantra. Website analytics: There's power in numbers.