Google Analytics

Quite simply, this is the complete package:

• In-depth: There are so many options in this, you'd struggle to find something you can't find out! The data kit is really powerful once you've got it set up, and I've used it with several clients to monitor everything from basic views on the page, to the journey across the site and how far they scroll down a specific page.

• Mobile App: For headline stats, I've found this really useful as someone running a small business. You can quickly see on the go if what you've put up has made an impact, and there's still a surprising amount of flexibility and in-sight in a mobile app. If you've got a couple of accounts on the go, you're also able to log into multiple ones at once without faffing around.

• Notes: Recently discovered and a big fan! The ability to make notes natively about spikes or troughs so when you're looking back later is great, so you can make sure you still view stuff in context.

Generally, I'm pretty impressed with this - the only faff is actually getting it set up in the first place. However, with a couple of tutorials from Google I was able to sort this out myself, so it is do-able!

The only thing I've struggled with is checking outbound clicks - but I'm sure that is something someone who knows what they're doing can sort!

Google Analytics is one of the most powerful tools available and it's free. It's very simple to deploy as long as you have backend access to a website. I use Google Analytics on a daily basis to track website analytics, behavior flow, conversion, and goal tracking, and build custom marketing funnels. Google Data Studio is an excellent way to directly pull data from the tool and make a completely customized dashboard with the top metrics that you analyze on a consistent daily basis. The user management and ability to set permissions adds an extra layer of security and the integration with Google Ads and YouTube properties is seamless and makes real-time reporting very dynamic. What we can measure, we can ultimately improve.

Google Analytics sometimes reports Facebook analytics differently from the backend of Facebook Ads Manager. However, Google is getting a lot better with tracking user performance, not just cookies (especially for cross-device interactions). The courses for the Google Analytics certification and somewhat bulky - I wish there was a better way to track your coursework and more online video tutorial similar to how Facebook Blueprint has organized their free online courses. Google Analytics can seem very daunting to beginners but there are a lot of great resources available from Google for education and tutorials.

If you know what you are looking for--and how to find it again after Google makes approximately 300 changes and updates--Google Analytics can be exceptionally useful. In our business, it is extremely important to not only know that a given media product is working for the client, but also to be able to PROVE the success (or failure) of a product to the client. Our clients--the business owners and their staff--want to be sure that they are spending their money on advertising products that work. It is very easy to claim that, yes, this product is working for you, but it is another matter entirely to be SURE and to be able to prove that success. Google Analytics allows us to track digital interactions with the customer's website. Typically, our clients have no idea if their websites are seeing increases in customer traffic following advertising campaigns (such as television and radio), or if the digital ads placed are doing exactly what they should be doing.

While the concept behind Google Analytics is great, the actual execution leaves much to be desired, at least for me. Maybe I'm completely stupid (a fair assessment) or too Gen X and not Millennial enough to find Google Analytics easy to use. It surely doesn't help that it seems that the user dashboard/interface changes every time I use it. Knowing how to navigate through the various levels and sections of the monstrosity that is Google Analytics to find exactly what metrics are needed in any given situation is an artform--and I feel like I've only just mastered stick figures and maybe a smidge of finger-painting. In short, I'm not an artist.

The GA snippet is simple to install if you have access to your sites source code. Analytics are quickly available, real time or next day, with an amazing array of detail. Reports can be created simply and exported to multiple file types and regularly mailed to anyone who has the need to view your site analytics.

While I appreciate the power and customization available in GA, setting up goals and conversions for a large, multi-domain website can be complicated for someone who doesn't specialize in using the tool. There are many setup resources available through Google support and independent sites, but its often difficult to decide which directions to follow for proper setup.