Google Analytics
Among major search engines Google is considered the king of all. Their search algorithms are among the most difficult to defeat according to SEO specialists and spammers alike. Thus it is no surprise that Google Analytics, one of their primary SEO tools offered for free online, is also considered the most accurate and reliable.
Google Analytics is a more sophisticated version of the Google Sitemaps offered in the Webmaster Tools of Google. It has up-to-date tracking of all your site’s pages via a code embedded into each. After data is gathered, they are computed and presented in graphs and charts easily comprehensible even for non-SEOs. The interpretation of data is also summed up in simple English and direct to the point.
Google Analytics can help SEOs and webmasters keep track of their site’s statistics and from these data make informed decisions regarding the content of their site, navigation and architectural structure. They can opt to have the tracking delve deeper into which content attracts the most number of visitors and which pages internet users visit the most. This free online SEO tool from Google can also give advice to internet marketers concerned with their ad campaigns and whether their goals have been reached after optimizing their site. What’s more, users of Google Analytics can choose to exclude their IP addresses from the tracking stats to ensure reliable feedback.
As an SEO tool, I feel Google Analytics is a most useful and trustworthy measurement aid ever to come across in the SEO industry. There are many SEO tools available online but what makes one tool the preferred tool used is its reliability and accuracy in delivering analytic information. Just like in any business endeavor, timely reports are important when making vital decisions regarding marketing strategy.
As the saying goes, “Nothing is perfect in this world�?, so is Google Analytics. Its drawback lies in its complexity of reports. Because the reports can be chosen by users to be delivered everyday, often SEOs and webmasters may be fooled into thinking these reports is the be-all-end-all of their site’s performance.
A sharp SEO will immediately know that it is patience and the ability to look at the larger picture that makes a good SEO analysis. It takes more than three months for an organic SEO to show positive results. It is rather the norm for a new site not to surface in SERPs for a time because of the Google Sandbox phenomenon. The reason for this is to keep the playing field even between those sites who are already ahead in their SEO efforts and those latecomers who prefer to do their SEO slowly but surely.
I guess, it wouldn’t take so much persuading for SEOs and webmasters to trust Google Analytics to deliver the goods. The Google name alone represents an image of credibility and authority and whatever product the company will offer to users will surely be a success. In order to use Google Analytics, however, it is required that users have a Google account. So if you haven’t got an account, go and sign up now at http://www.google.com/analytics/.
Claire Bretana is the SEO and technical webmaster of Diversity Working, GoAfrican.com, The Hispanic American, Daycelebration.com, and New York NY Limo.
