Listing Details
| ID: | 2058 |
| Title: | Google Analytics Blog |
| URL: | http://analytics.blogspot.com/ |
| Category: | Internet: Webmaster Resources |
| Description: | The official blog contains tips, news and resources from the Google Analytics team. |
| PBS saves time with automated reports - 2012-01-26 10:01:00 |
For most companies usingGoogle Analytics, reporting on website traffic and performance for a few web properties is a straightforward task. However, if your company manages hundreds of web properties, delivering useful and timely reports can become a significant challenge. For many, the only apparent solution is to manually export analytics data for each web property, then combine and compare that data to answer relevant business questions. It’s a slow and costly process and you spend most of your time creating reports instead of carrying out meaningful analysis. ThePublic Broadcasting Service (PBS)faced precisely this challenge when it made the decision to useGA Data GrabberbyAutomateAnalytics.com. GA Data Grabber works within Excel and uses theGoogle Analytics API. Users create or choose reports and GA Data Grabber automatically retrieves the Google Analytics data from any number of websites. And with multi-login capabilities, users can seamlessly combine data between Google Analytics profiles that reside under different Google Accounts. Designed for non-technical users, GA Data Grabber generates great-looking visualizations and can automatically highlight important changes in key metrics over a date range. It’s also possible to use Excel’s visualization and data processing features. For example, formulas can be added to calculateKey Performance Indicators (KPIs)based on any set of metrics. Amy Sample, Director, Web Analytics,Public Broadcasting Serviceexplains the challenges that PBS faced and how GA Data Grabber was able to help. “ThePBS.organdPBSKIDS.orgweb sites are made up of hundreds of individual companion sites to broadcast programs. From a business perspective, there is a need to evaluate performance of individual program sites relative to each other.” As is common for many large organizations, PBS has separate Google Analytics accounts for each program site. “While multiple accounts works well to evaluate the site content and performance, it makes it difficult to look at all of the sites side-by-side without a lot of manual effort. Our previous attempts to create this type of report were time-consuming and often subject to data input errors.” “Using Google Analytics, combined with GA Data Grabber, we were able to create a benchmark report for our program sites. The monthly report pulls a standard set of KPIs from each of the program accounts and ranks the programs by traffic. The report is used as a management tool by both the PBS.org and PBSKIDS.org teams to monitor monthly performance of programs. The teams have also used it to identify opportunities for programs that are no longer being broadcast but still getting significant online traffic. Our program producers use the report to benchmark their performance against other sites of similar content or size and determine ways to improve audience engagement. As a result of using GA Data Grabber to pull the data, we can produce this report quickly and accurately on monthly basis.” GA Data Grabber Mikael Thuneberg, Founder& CEO of AutomateAnalytics.com has been using the Google Analytics API since its launch. “I’ve been very happy with the API. Having developed for several other APIs, I can say that theGoogle Analytics APIis by far the easiest to develop for. It’s logically structured and flexible, the documentation is excellent, and it’s easy to get help through the forum. I’ll certainly continue developing for the Google Analytics API. I’ve expanded to other APIs as well, but Google Analytics is still by far the most important one for my business.” GA Data Grabber can be found through theGoogle Analytics App Galleryand can be downloaded from theGA Data Grabberwebsite. If you’re interested in developing solutions for the Google Analytics platform, visitGoogle Analytics Developer Program. Posted by Pete Frisella, Google Analytics API Team     |
| Update to Search Engine Optimization reports - 2012-01-25 14:10:00 |
| In October, we made Google Webmaster Tools available to all users in Google Analytics, allowing everyone to surface Google search data in new Search Engine Optimization reports. Starting today, Webmaster Tools will update how they calculate data to make it better match expectations about what a search engine ranking really means. Based on their research, the answer to the question "What is your rank in search results?" is the first position of a link to your site. Previously we reported the average position of all links to your site. Now your Google Analytics reports will be updated to reflect the first position. An example calculation  We anticipate that this new method of calculation will more accurately match your expectations about how a link's position in Google Search results should be reported. How will this affect my Google Analytics data? This change will affect your Search Engine Optimization reports, when your data in Google Analytics Search Engine Optimization reports will be calculated using the new method.Historical data will not change.Note that the change in calculation means that the Average Position metric will usually stay the same or decrease, corresponding to the same or improved search ranking. We look forward to providing you a more representative picture of your Google Search data. Please let us know any feedback you have. Posted by Chris Anderson, Google Analytics team    |
| A new initiative connects analysts with non-profits - 2012-01-24 17:17:00 |
| The Google Analytics Team has always supported the promotion of analytics education and professional development. We’d like to share this guest post by Wendy Greco& Eric Peterson from Analysis Exchange - an initiative designed to provide hands-on training opportunities for aspiring web analytics professionals while providing free web data analysis to the entire nonprofit community. In the right hands, technologies like Google Analytics can do great things, but unfortunately not every organization is able to hire resources to dedicate to web analytics. What’s more, there are thousands of talented individuals out there who would love to work in this field but don’t have the hands-on experience required to get their first web analytics job. Two years agoWeb Analytics Demystifiedlooked at this problem from both angles and decided to create a solution -The Analysis Exchange. The Analysis Exchange pairs a non-profit organization with pair of web analysts --- one a student wanting the experience and the other a mentor with years of direct work in the field. The trio work together to have the student learn to use Google Analytics to “tell a story” with the data about how the non-profit can better meet their business goals. Thanks to the generosity of all of our sponsors and participants, Analysis Exchange projects are completely free. Google Analytics is the standard analytics tool for Analysis Exchange for a few key reasons:
Most Analysis Exchange projects take less than a few hours for non-profits and mentors. Students spend more time, but students have the most to gain as they develop the types of “Analyst Ninja” skills that are required to get a great job in this field. We’re looking for more partners to sign up to theThe Analysis Exchange- who are interested in supporting this initiative. You can learn more about our effort atwww.analysis-exchange.comor write our Executive Director Wendy Greco directly atwendy.greco@analysis-exchange.com. Posted on behalf of Wendy Greco& Eric Peterson    |