Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides statistics and basic analytical tools for search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing purposes. The service is part of the Google Marketing Platform and is available for free to anyone with a Google account. In this article, we talk about What is purpose of Google Analytics??
Purpose of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is used to track website performance and collect visitor insights. It can help organizations determine top sources of user traffic, gauge the success of their marketing activities and campaigns, track goal completions (such as purchases, adding products to carts), discover patterns and trends in user engagement and obtain other visitor information such as demographics.
Features of Google Analytics
- data filtering, manipulation and funnel analysis
- data collection application program interfaces (APIs)
- predictive analytics, intelligence and anomaly detection
- segmentation for analysis of subsets, such as conversions
- custom reports for advertising, acquisition, audience behavior and conversion
- email-based sharing and communication
- integration with other products, including Google Ads, Google Data Studio, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Google AdSense, Google Optimize 360, Google Search Ads 360, Google Display & Video 360, Google Ad Manager and Google Search Console.
Dimensions
Dimensions can be customized in Google Analytics. Examples of common dimensions include:
- language;
- browser type;
- city and country;
- models of devices; and
- user age group.
Benefits of Google Analytics
- The service is free, easy to use and beginner friendly.
- Google Analytics offers a variety of metrics and customizable dimensions. Many different types of useful insights can be captured using this platform.
- Google Analytics also contains many other tools, such as data visualization, monitoring, reporting, predictive analysis, etc.
Shortcomings of Google Analytics
- Overall data accuracy can be compromised by users who block Google Analytics cookies, certain browser extensions, ad filtering programs and privacy networks.
- Reports are generated by sampling 500,000 random sessions to reduce server load. In addition, margins of error are only given for the number of visits in these reports. Therefore, small segments of data may contain very large margins of error.
How to view the Network Report in Google Analytics
Follow these steps to access the Network Report:
- Log in to Google Analytics
- Under ‘Audience’, click ‘Technology’
- Then, click ‘Network’
- Set the required date range
Summary
Small and medium-sized retail websites often use Google Analytics to obtain and analyze various customer behavior analytics, which can be used to improve marketing campaigns, drive website traffic and better retain visitors.
