Analytics

In bygone years, people tracked visitors on their web site using server logs. While this is still accepted practice, it's difficult and time consuming to access enormous log files to figure out what's going on with your site. Several years ago, companies started releasing tools to make that process easier. They called their products Analytics.

Analytics packages help you track visitors on your web site—where they came from, what they do while on your site, where they are in the world, and if they bought your products or filled out your forms. It works by installing a small piece of JavaScript code in the footer of your site that pings a server every time a visitor loads a page. You could do this yourself but you'd have to process, filter, and store all that data on your own. A good analytics program is easier, faster, more robust, and in many cases free.

A good analytics program will help you learn which online marketing initiatives are cost effective and see how visitors interact with your site. With that information, you can make informed design improvements, drive targeted traffic, and increase your conversions and profits. Analytics won't make the tough decisions for you—they will give you the data you need to make those decisions.

It's important to install analytics as soon as possible, so that you can start to accumulate data about your site visitors. The more data you have, the better the reports and decisions you will be able to make. Depending on your site traffic, it may take weeks or months before you have enough meaningful data to put to use improving your site.

While you only need one analytics program, two will allow you to compare results and be sure that your stats are relatively in sync with each other. Different programs track data in different ways. If they're inconsistent then it could reveal a problem that needs to be fixed on your site.