Google Analytics

I came. I saw the flashing lights. I was hooked.

I like them all. The expensive programs and memberships. Click-through "heat maps". How is a boy to contain his glee with all this hyper-real analytical motion and bleeps going on? Trouble is, for most startups it's too expensive if there is no one available with the time to learn how to use it, which is most every business owner and marketing department director out there today, with some exceptions.

What Google Analytics brings to the table is a hefty serving of what analytics can be most readily used and a good bit of muscle, to boot. They just don't put it into the form of an interactive city or with infrared click-map precision, but with precision nonetheless.

If your company is toying with the idea of analytics solutions that come in a box and require memberships and even licensing fees, be sure to get your feet wet with Google Analytics first. It's (trumpets here) ...free, it gives basic stats and it will prepare you for the real world of high-priced solutions that may be difficult to get a grip on and make pay off quickly.

When you are ready to take the jump, however, compare based on some basic guidelines:

1) Can this solution help us to cover everything we're able/ready to measure?

2) Is this solution too expensive for the ease factor it lends web analytics tracking?

3) Will someone be available to evolve with this solution as it changes over time?

Compare and try out as many solutions as possible when you're ready to graduate from Google Analytics, but don't expect it to get easy. People have devoted their entire lives to learning how to measure and predict traffic, and buying a packaged software solution is not going to flatten out the learning curve.

To learn more about this author, visit Mark Brimm's Website.

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