What users are saying about

Bitly vs Google Analytics

Bitly
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Top Rated
129 Ratings
Google Analytics
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Top Rated
3407 Ratings

Bitly

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Top Rated
129 Ratings
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Score 8.6 out of 100

Based on 129 reviews and ratings

Google Analytics

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Top Rated
3407 Ratings
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Score 8.6 out of 100

Based on 3407 reviews and ratings

Attribute Ratings

  • Bitly is rated higher in 3 areas: Usability, Performance, Support Rating
  • Google Analytics is rated higher in 4 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Availability, Online Training, Implementation Rating
  • Bitly and Google Analytics are tied in 2 areas: Likelihood to Renew, Product Scalability

Likelihood to Recommend

8.8

Bitly

88%
56 Ratings
8.9

Google Analytics

89%
187 Ratings

Likelihood to Renew

10.0

Bitly

100%
2 Ratings
10.0

Google Analytics

100%
50 Ratings

Usability

9.5

Bitly

95%
6 Ratings
8.0

Google Analytics

80%
6 Ratings

Availability

9.0

Bitly

90%
2 Ratings
10.0

Google Analytics

100%
5 Ratings

Performance

9.0

Bitly

90%
2 Ratings
8.0

Google Analytics

80%
1 Rating

Support Rating

8.0

Bitly

80%
15 Ratings
7.0

Google Analytics

70%
81 Ratings

Online Training

7.0

Bitly

70%
1 Rating
10.0

Google Analytics

100%
2 Ratings

Implementation Rating

8.0

Bitly

80%
2 Ratings
9.0

Google Analytics

90%
13 Ratings

Product Scalability

9.0

Bitly

90%
1 Rating
9.0

Google Analytics

90%
1 Rating

Likelihood to Recommend

Bitly

Generally I would recommend. If you are doing a tiny amount of volume (price sensitive and/or your team needs hands on support) you may be better served elsewhere, but I don't think you're going to get the easy of use and feature set that you would with Bitly. We have found that our user base is also used to seeing Bitly-shortened links in their daily browsing, so are less reticent to click a URL that isn't on our domain

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Google Analytics

A Marketing analyst or paid media analyst is the right person to use Google Analytics. An analyst needs to be technical enough to write the right expressions to fetch correct data. Suppose they are Google Analytics certified, then great. Consumers of this data will be digital marketing managers. The main use case of Google Analytics, as I see it, is web analytics. They can't be used to do campaign analytics or attribution. Though Google Analytics offers these features, I don't find them easy to set up.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 187 answers on this topic

Pros

Bitly

  • Shorten and link branding: Bitly helps to turn long URLs into short ones that can also be customized to suit any business name.
  • Tracking and analytics: A great thing to be able to see the social media channels that visitors are clicking from and where they are in the world.
  • Integrations: Bitly integrates well with third-party tools to help improve workflow and tech tools.
  • Free plan: There are some great features on the paid plan but for those not yet ready to invest Bitly provides a great free option.

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Ayo Bamgbose, Assoc CIPD, MSc | TrustRadius Reviewer
Ayo Bamgbose, Assoc CIPD, MSc
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Google Analytics

  • Multiple reports to see website use and behavior
  • Allows you to customize reports with days, weeks, months, and years
  • You can build out a dashboard to easily view stats from multiple websites in one place
  • You can share analytics reports via the dashboard, automatically emailed PDFs or in other formats

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Cons

Bitly

  • One thing I've noticed is that if you're shortening a link that you didn't create - for example shortening the link to a news article that you then want to share on Twitter - the analytics will continue to pull data from the original URL as a whole, and not just your unique Bitlink. It would be nice to be able to pull out the traffic that just my efforts are pulling to the site, and not every single source of traffic that site is getting.

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Corinne Aherne | TrustRadius Reviewer
Corinne Aherne
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Google Analytics

  • Data sampling is somewhat inaccurate on the free tier - this is addressed in premium but is expensive.
  • Some of the UI is very similar in naming when presenting different data, some in-situ information might be useful.
  • Gotchas around filtering and data validation.
  • Implementation can be tricky, it can take a lot of time and expertise to get a full, accurate picture of your metrics.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pricing Details

Bitly

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

$0

Bitly Editions & Modules

Edition
FreeFree
Basic$352
CustomizedContact sales team
  1. none
  2. per month
  3. none
Additional Pricing Details
—

Google Analytics

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

$0 per month

Google Analytics Editions & Modules

Edition
Google AnalyticsFree
Google Analytics 360$150,0002
  1. none
  2. per year
Additional Pricing Details
—

Likelihood to Renew

Bitly

Bitly 10.0
Based on 2 answers
We've had great success with Bitly and will continue using it.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
View all 2 answers on this topic

Google Analytics

Google Analytics 10.0
Based on 50 answers
We will continue to use Google Analytics for several reasons. It is free, which is a huge selling point. It houses all of our ecommerce stores' data, and though it can't account for refunds or fraud orders, gives us and our clients directional, real time information on individual and group store performance.

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John Laudisio | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Laudisio
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Usability

Bitly

Bitly 9.5
Based on 6 answers
Using Bitly to create shareable, trackable short links for social media couldn't be easier. Bitly is super easy to manage and offers easy monitoring of short links. Even with the few shortcomings or cumbersome features, Bitly is ranked number 1 for shortening links for our organization because of how simple it is to use.

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Stefanie Cash | TrustRadius Reviewer
Stefanie Cash
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 8.0
Based on 6 answers
Google Analytics provides a wealth of data, down to minute levels. That is it's greatest detriment: find the right information when you need it can be a cumbersome task. You are able to create shortcuts, however, so it can mitigate some of this problem. Google is continually refining Analytics, so I do not doubt there will be improvements

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Victor Campos | TrustRadius Reviewer
Victor Campos
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Reliability and Availability

Bitly

Bitly 9.0
Based on 2 answers
I've witnessed very little availability issues with Bitly. This includes very rare occurrences of application errors and unplanned outages, of which I very much appreciate. When there are application errors or outages, Bitly does a great job of handling the issues in a timely manner and I am rarely out of the site for long at all. This is great, considering I was using Bitly for nearly every link that was posted to our social media accounts.

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
View all 2 answers on this topic

Google Analytics

Google Analytics 10.0
Based on 5 answers
There are rarely any outages or application errors. If there are errors, the vast majority of the time it is user error and not the fault of Google.

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John Laudisio | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Laudisio
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Performance

Bitly

Bitly 9.0
Based on 2 answers
I have used Bitly's service on a variety of computers, systems, and browsers. With this being said, I have not noticed much of a change at all between the browsers and computers, and Bitly's performance is top notch. Reports are also completed in a reasonable time frame, and I have had very little problem with lag time on loading different pages on the site. Pages tend to load quite quickly.

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 8.0
Based on 1 answer
When creating segments, sometimes Google Analytics will take a bit or more than likely slow down older computers a bit. That said, in general google analytics is extremely reliable and is there when you need it.

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John Laudisio | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Laudisio
View all 1 answers on this topic

Support Rating

Bitly

Bitly 8.0
Based on 15 answers
For us, Bitly is a Godsend an an almost perfect solution. I have no complaints and would recommend them to almost anyone. I guess I would hold back from a 10/10 because short URLs can sometimes look spammy. For us, and what we need it for, it's just about perfect!

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 7.0
Based on 81 answers
The Google reps respond very quickly. However, sometimes they can overly call you to set up an apportionment. I'm very proficient and sometimes when I talk to reps, they give beginner tutorials and insights that are a waste of time. I wish Google would understand my level of expertise and assign me to a rep (long-term) that doesn't have to walk me through the basics.

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Sarah Hoffman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Sarah Hoffman
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In-Person Training

Bitly

I did not receive any in-person training, as I felt that I didn't need this type of training in order to understand and learn Bitly. It was quite easy for me to explore Bitly and learn the features myself without needing a person to give me a demo or tutorial. Kudos to making a platform that is very straightforward.

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
View all 56 answers on this topic

Google Analytics

No answers on this topic

Online Training

Bitly

Bitly 7.0
Based on 1 answer
I haven't experienced direct online training - However, several times while learning Bitly by myself I went to the main Bitly page to answer a few questions I had. This includes determining exactly what features I was receiving and then I would explore the website and find these features. Also, I went to the Enterprise tab when both deciding to purchase that upgrade, as well as after I purchased this upgrade. It was very helpful in learning exactly what came with that package and after the upgrade, I was able to look there and learn some of the aspects of the upgrade that I was missing

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 10.0
Based on 2 answers
love the product and training they provide for businesses of all sizes. The following list of links will help you get started with Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented by Google Analytics.
  1. How to Use Google Analytics for Beginners – Mahalo’s how-to guide for beginners.
  2. A beginner’s guide to Google Analytics – A free eBook walking you through Google Analytics from setup to understanding what data is being presented.
  3. Getting to Know Your Google Analytics Dashboard – The title says it all! This is a brief post with one goal: to introduce you to the Google Analytics dashboard.
  4. Google Analytics for Beginners: How to Make the Most of Your Traffic Reports– This guide doesn’t cover setup, but it does a great job of helping you to better understand the data being presented.
  5. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 1: Setup – A video presentation that walks you through Google Analytics setup.
  6. Google Analytics Video Tutorial 2: Essential Stats – A video presentation that introduces you to some of the most important data being presented in Google Analytics.

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Roy Morejon | TrustRadius Reviewer
Roy Morejon
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Implementation Rating

Bitly

Bitly 8.0
Based on 2 answers
Very excited to use bitly for link tracing - I was very excited to begin using Bitly for this company, and I've had very favorable impressions of using Bitly in the past for a variety of different jobs. Knowing the amount clicks on each link is important for our overall strategy.

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 9.0
Based on 13 answers
I think my biggest take away from the Google Analytics implementation was that there needs to be a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it before you start. Originally the analytics were added to track visitors, but as we became more savvy with the product, we began adding more and more functionality, and defining guidelines as we went along. While not detrimental to our success, this lack of an overarching goal resulted in some minor setbacks in implementation and the collection of some messy data that is unusable.

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Joshua Van Horsen | TrustRadius Reviewer
Joshua Van Horsen
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Alternatives Considered

Bitly

We use Pretty Links for custom URLs from our Word Press website. When that is not possible because the URL doesn't originate from the website, we use Bitly. It definitely has a purpose in our day-to-day operations. We also appreciate the information you receive like total clicks, top referrer and top location.

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GAIL PABST | TrustRadius Reviewer
GAIL PABST
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Google Analytics

Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics 360 are both paid/premium options for website tracking. Though there are certain use cases when these might make sense (you operate entirely in the Adobe suite, you're a massive company/site that doesn’t mind the price tag on Google Analytics 360), Google Analytics (standard) should be a no-brainer for every company out there. I’d advise still maintaining the account, even if you operate in the Adobe Suite and use Adobe Analytics, for the synergistic benefits of Google indexing/SEO.

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Thomas (TC) Riley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Thomas (TC) Riley
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Scalability

Bitly

Bitly 9.0
Based on 1 answer
Bitly's scalability is great. When I began using it, I only used it once in a while to promote blog articles from our WordPress site on Twitter. This was due to Twitter's character limit and URL shortening was necessary. However, once I became more familiar with it and started seeing the benefits of many of Bitly's features, I began using it for nearly every link I posted across all of our social media accounts. This increased the workload I filtered through Bitly, and we also upgraded from free to a paid account. This growth was handled very well by Bitly and I was very pleased with its ability to scale so easily.

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Holland Pintarch | TrustRadius Reviewer
Holland Pintarch
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Google Analytics

Google Analytics 9.0
Based on 1 answer
Google Analytics runs 24 hours a day and rarely do we see any issues with going down or missing particular data

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John Laudisio | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Laudisio
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Return on Investment

Bitly

  • We have seen an increase in event surveys since user Bitly in addition to the QR code
  • There are less technical issues when users are trying to use the Bitly URL
  • Can't beat free and when we have the budget would upgrade as the costs for benefits is worth it

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Shannon Miller | TrustRadius Reviewer
Shannon Miller
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Google Analytics

  • It has helped us gain understanding of what is going on on our website.
  • It has helped us determine areas that need fixing (i.e. pages with extremely high bounce rates may need to be redone).
  • It has helped us understand our biggest avenues for bringing traffic to the website and business in general.
  • It has helped guide our website redesign.

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Heide Rembold | TrustRadius Reviewer
Heide Rembold
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