You’ve read a little about Web Analytics and you know it would help answer those questions but you can’t afford it right now. What to do? Not to worry. Google — the 800 pound gorilla in the Internet Search World with approximately 80% of the market — has come through for you. You need Google Analytics.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free tool offered on the Google website which will tell you more than you can possibly imagine about what is going on with your website. It is not for the faint of heart. The amount and complexity of the data available through Google Analytics can be overwhelming and you will have to add some tracking code to the HTML of the pages in your site. This should not scare you away — it’s free and well worth an investment of time and effort to learn how to use it. The reporting feature can start you off with broad overviews and then allow you to dig deeper into the data. If someone else set up your site you may have to get help from them in adding the tracking code. But with a little training and Google’s support it doesn’t take too long to learn how to use this tool. The actual installation process is quick and you’ll start getting traffic information for your site within 24 hours.

Getting Started with Google Analytics

Go to Google and create an account and their Sign Up Wizard will get you going. Step 1 of the process involves entering basic information, like your site’s URL, country of origin, time zone, and so forth. You’ll also be asked to establish a unique account name. Step 2 is where you begin entering tracking code into your pages so this is the place where you may need some outside help. Once the code is entered Google will begin its tracking but again, you’ll have to wait a day before you can start playing around with the reports. Spend this time learning what kinds of reports you will see and how to use them.

Google Analytics Reports

You can get a lot of help on how to generate and interpret reports within your Google Analytics account but there are also a lot of articles you’ll find on the web that can give you an idea which reports are the most meaningful and so forth. You’ll find the “View Reports” button within “Website Profiles” in your account. This brings you to the ‘Dashboard” — the main report overview page. You should know there is a help button for each report so you can “learn as you go.” You can tell Google what time frame you want to include in the reports — a week, a month, a day — but it may be awhile to before you have enough data to do this. Traffic reports are where most people start and you can see a graphic representation of your traffic for the time period you selected. Over time you will be able to “Compare to the Past” and see how you’re doing this month versus last month as an example. The Traffic Sources Overview Report will tell you how visitors are finding your site — search engines, referring sites, email links, or entering the URL directly. As you get a little better at understanding these reports you can start getting into the Content Overviews and detailed Site Usage Reports. Google Analytics will provide you with a wealth of information at a price that can’t be beat. Good luck!

By Susan Lipton. For information on Google Analytics or to talk to an SEO company in Toronto, contact a specialist at Wolf21.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Lipton

Also see Google Analytics and Marketing Strategy article at AusBusiness Review.