What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics (GA) is the industry-leading web analytics tool. GA has changed the way we track, analyse and optimise websites to convert visitors into customers. Most people don’t know that Google was not a pioneer in analytics like they were in organic and paid search. However, Google recognised early on that the seismic shifts the web was creating would ultimately be judged by performance measurement.

In April 2005, Google acquired the analytics software company Urchin and rebranded it as Google Analytics. Over the past fifteen years, Google has dedicated resources to ensure its analytics offering has kept pace with the growth and increased sophistication of other digital analytics tools. Today’s web-enabled world is not just about how many visitors you get to your website – it’s also about converting those visits into sales by giving users what they want when they need it most.

The best way for web marketers to improve conversions is through user analysis: understanding who customers are before designing online experiences and delivering content in a format that matches customer expectations across any device (desktop, tablet, mobile). Google Analytics is an essential part of our process, providing valuable insight for SEO, PPC and Web Design projects.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics can measure website traffic from different sources, track user behaviour and display trends. GA also provides detailed information on the conversion rates of a site. The tool tracks how long users spend on pages, where they click, what device they use to view your content (mobile vs desktop) and more. For channels such as PPC, GA can track the performance of ads by providing insights into which keywords are most successful at driving conversions. This information helps to make improvements to websites and off-site marketing efforts.

How does Google Analytics work?

Web tracking code is embedded on every page of your site. Installing a snippet of JavaScript on your site, accompanied by a Google Analytics ID, enables you to track conversion rates and visitor behaviour anonymously.

GA does not give user-specific information; instead, it shows aggregated data of people who visited. This data provides valuable insight into user intent, behaviours and patterns so marketers can make adjustments to help them optimise future content and campaigns.

What is GA4?

Google’s latest iteration of its analytics software is called GA4. Launched in October 2020, this new version of web analytics aims to provide better tools to analyse user behaviour on apps and websites. New features have allowed more granular event reporting, flexibility and increased visibility.

google analytics dashboard

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a free, highly versatile digital analytics platform. If you own a website or mobile app, GA provides an excellent solution to track and analyse user behaviour. For marketing agencies, Google analytics provides invaluable data to optimise and improve campaigns – leading to better results. If you’re interested to learn more about Google Analytics or have any questions about our marketing services, please get in touch.

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