An introduction to Google Analytics

What is Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a popular, free web analytics tool that collects data of website usage and provides that data in easy to use reports. This data can be very valuable when analyzed properly and its main purpose is to provide you with a way of improving and optimizing the website experience you offer your visitors – or prospects. Even though free tools tend to have a reputation of being very limited or unreliable, Google Analytics offers a large number of reports which forms excellent basis for most SMBs and individuals interested in improving their sites and conversions.

How Google Analytics came to be

Back in March 2005, Google acquired Urchin which at the time was one of the more popular providers of web analytics solutions. Google was expected to come with a branded tool, but nobody expected this tool to be free. The introduction of Google Analytics as a free tool rocked the web analytics world and sparked a craze never seen before with any launch of new Google tools. In fact, Google received so many applications they had to shut down the open submissions and had to start a system of invitations because of the overwhelming demand (and traffic loads). Google Analytics invitation codes were worth gold in those days and were sold for big bucks on Ebay. Besides the usual interest for new Google stuff I believe the timing was right: The use of web analytics was on the rise and demand for data reporting tools was on the rise but many solutions were out of reach for most businesses due to budgeting constraints. Paid solution providers were at first concerned with this development. Although some claimed they were in a different league and could not be compared to a free tool, there was much more demand for a basic tool than advanced reports which not many professionals knew how to tame. Google Analytics offers a healthy start to web analytics and in some cases may be all that organizations (non-profit or commercial) and individuals need.

Google Analytics competitor tools

Competitors such as Omniture, WebTrends and WebSidestory took a laid back stance when Google Analytics was announced as a free-to-all web analytics tool. They claimed that Google Analytics would only spur the interest in web analytics and the more powerful tools they offer. Even though they’re likely to be missing out on web analytics beginners at the moment, these newcomers will once want more powerful tools to base their business on and therefore the larger companies will probably be proven right.

Microsoft have announced the release of a free web analytics tool, code-named Gatineau, which will be a supporting tool for Microsoft’s AdCenter platform of search marketing PPC advertising. The recent acquisition of Indextools by Yahoo indicates a third easily accessible web analytics tool is on the way, likely to be the most powerful free tool yet.

How to get Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a hosted service to which you log in with a Google account and is accessible for free here: http://www.google.com/analytics/