Google Analytics - A googol's worth of features
Updated February 25, 2015
Google Analytics - A googol's worth of features
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Google Analytics
Modules Used
- Web stats
- eCommerce
- Goals
Overall Satisfaction with Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics (GA) for various external sites around our ecosystem. Not only is GA a free tool, but it's many features and new ability to connect and monitor eCommerce activity are great. It is very helpful in monitoring web traffic and activity and helping to determine next steps in marketing and web projects. It's permission based roles allow us to assign users for overall use, dashboard or reporting only, etc. We can also create users and dashboards corresponding to specific sites, regions, or products. Sure, there are things GA can't do that others can, but we find the reverse is also true. Overall GA is a very good and helpful tool especially with it's recent updates from late 2013 to the Universal Analytics engine.
- It's free. Can't beat the price.
- It's permissions, reporting, and dashboards allow for great flexibility for users to get what they need
- It has advanced features many don't know of such as eCommerce reporting tools, goals and trending tools, and a plug-in API.
- GA still misses a few of the features some of the commercial tools do in regards to in depth data mining and trending.
- It would be nice to see more Social sentiment in the GA system. This is an up and coming area that many are now adding to their tools, but most of the algorithms are so-so. Given the data Google captures they could build a good picture for social sentiment, but today are doing very little other than some social connectivity.
- Google Analytics (GA) has a googol of features, but it takes time and effort to find, understand, and set them up. Go for it, but do some internet reading to help you.
- Hey, it's free. Even if you're just trying it out, free is nice. I often use GA in parallel with a commercial tool to self check results
- Beware the SEO algorithm updates! With any tool like GA, changes to the way Google does search listings and implementations can drastically effect your reports and results. Before you panic about large drops in traffic, do your homework to see if it's real or SEO changes.
Both tools have their place. Both can do things the other cannot. One is free, or near free if you're a Premium subscriber, while the 'O' software can cost considerable $$$. We often run them in parallel for sanity checks, but ultimately GA is the go to for new and proto sites. Now with the features gained from the update to Universal Analytics, it's more powerful than ever.