Google Analytics

[Sian Wood HISA]

I'd love to know how you all feel about Google Analytics. This week Google Analytics announced that they would retire Google Analytics in July next year and GA4 would take over.

I work with businesses that sell products and services for homeowners. Almost none of them use analytics until I'm involved. At best, the developer may have installed it with the website but nobody looks at it.

If you are a business owner, I'd appreciate your thoughts about it. Do you use it - understand it? Would you use it if it was easier to understand? Do you use website traffic and engagement as a metric in planning your business growth? Any thoughts - confused, confident or otherwise appreciated.

If you are using Universal Analytics and haven't set up GA4, you have a whole year to get used to it. In the meantime at least start it tracking so you have data to work with. Log into your dashboard, go to the admin panel and you'll see Google have a wizard there for you.

 

[fisicx]

Or better still, don’t use GA. There are far better analytics tools.

 

[Sian Wood HISA]

There may be better tools but Google Analytics is free so it's a good start, especially when you can see that my thread is concerned with small businesses that generally are unaware of what goes on with their website. Are you a moderator or here to stamp on any thread by other people in marketing?

 

[fisicx]

Not at all, there are plenty of free analytics tools and all better than GA.

As to your question, I suspect most members here are well aware of analytics. The sort of small businesses you are targeting are unlikely to be reading this thread.

I’d also suggest that many small businesses aren’t that fussed about detailed analytics. As long as the phone keeps ringing that’s all they care about.

 

[Sian Wood HISA]

Well, thanks for speaking for them all. I'll let Google know that they are wasting their time. ???

 

[ctrlbrk]

She's got you there @fisicx !

 

[Paul Carmen]

@fisicx point is valid for many SMEs, in that there are easier tools to use and understand, with a far more straightforward interface and on the surface better usability.

In reality, there are no better analytics tools than Google Analytics, there are only people who don't know how to use Google Analytics to its full ability, or more likely haven't got the time to learn and set it up properly.

If you're really serious about marketing any business online, and want to understand how a high traffic website performs via digital marketing, measuring traffic, behaviours and conversions properly you need to use Google Analytics. It integrates out of the box with all other Google products; e.g. Ads, Search Console, You Tube, Optimize, Data Studio etc.

Every serious 3rd party tool for research, data management etc has native integrations for Google Analytics. For many others you're looking at building your own API links or using another 3rd party system, which is beyond the scope of most small business users. Which is why many don't know whether their marketing works and what actually drives their leads/sales.

 

[ctrlbrk]

@fisicx point is valid for many SMEs, in that there are easier tools to use and understand, with a far more straightforward interface and on the surface better usability.

Care to name a few? Asking for a friend

 

[fisicx]

Try this:

Privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative | Real-time Web Analytics | Clicky

Clicky's privacy-friendly web analytics is simply the best Google Analytics alternative. Monitor, analyze, & react to your website's traffic in real-time.

clicky.com

 

[fisicx]

If you're really serious about marketing any business online, and want to understand how a high traffic website performs via digital marketing, measuring traffic, behaviours and conversions properly you need to use Google Analytics. It integrates out of the box with all other Google products; e.g. Ads, Search Console, You Tube, Optimize, Data Studio etc.

Indeed. But Pete the Plumber and most small and/or local businesses don't need all that. They often just need something simple that tells them who visited the site and what they did. Anything more complicated usually needs specialist skills (as you suggested). You will know from reading the many marketing threads here on UKBF that small businesses are expert at what they do but struggle with marketing (which would include understanding analytics).

 

[Blackbook]

Not a fan of GA myself despite using it with clients. I don't use it for my own properties! I use Visitor Analytics for my own and have used OpenWebAnalytics in the past.

 

[SEO_Freelancer]

The issue here, I think, GA4 is completely lacking features in comparison to Universal Analytics. I've done a quick blog post on my site about it but what I would like to see is a feature wind up in GA4 and wind down in UA (which is happening now).

You'll never get the granular reporting in GA4 (for the reason they have transitioned). I'm also seeing clients struggling to get their heads around data streams and the new smart events.

Google Search Console is far better than GA for SEO, GA is good for PPC albeit the granular elements of the automated bidding strategies are well hidden in both GA and Ads!

 

[Sian Wood HISA]

Personally, I like it. I've completely immersed myself in it for the last week and refused to look at GA. Bit like learning a new language. I probably phrased my question wrongly and asked it in the wrong group, not realising it is almost entirely made up of businesses related to marketing. What I was looking for was answers from small business owners outside of my own industry (marketing) and the industry I serve (home products/services) to see if the complete lack of interest in analytics of any sort, regardless of whether it's supplied by Google or third parties, was universal among small businesses.