What are simple web analytics tools actually good for? | Ep. 8 cover art

What are simple web analytics tools actually good for? | Ep. 8

What are simple web analytics tools actually good for? | Ep. 8

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 Hello, and welcome to another episode of Growth Detectives show. I am your host, Chris Planeta and in this episode, we are going to talk about simple web analytics tools - what are they, what are their advantages and disadvantages and who are they for. So. In my view, there are three qualities that make simple web analytics tools. First, they can track mostly very basic information like number of visitors, bounce rate, top pages, traffic sources and sometimes goals or events. So this is number one. Number two - the data you are getting is, in most cases, squeezed on one page. So you've got only one page with reports, with some tables, graphs, things like that. And the third thing is that there are very few ways of changing the data in the tables, segmenting traffic, filtering it. Usually it's pretty shallow when it comes to the number of options you are getting. And yeah, so these are the three things that in my view make simple web analytics tools. Some could also argue that these tools most often don't use cookies in order to track visitors. However, well, there are also other tools that don't use cookies. So I wouldn't just count it as a feature for simple web analytics tools. However, when it comes to those cookies. It is true that simple web analytics tools most often don't use cookies. They don't track personally identifiable information and as such they don't require the use of a cookie notice. So, as a result, the number of people that are tracked is much greater in comparison to tools that require cookies. However, it also comes as a disadvantage, because the cookies are actually useful to increase the precision of tracking. So without them there is big chance that a returning visitor will not be counted as a returning visitor. If this is something that is important to you, and in most cases it is, well, bad luck. Your visitors, in most cases, will not be counted as returning ones, even if they are. Now, other advantages and disadvantages. Advantage of a simple web analytics tool is the fact that they are simple to use. They have low learning curve. They are accessible to most people without any extra trainings. They can jump right in and they can feel at home which is very nice. Tools that are much more complex, like a Google Analytics, Matomo, well, they are not the best choice for users who haven't had any experience with them before. And now when it comes to disadvantages the data that is being tracked, is mostly vanity metrics. It's not very useful in finding the issues on the website, improving the website or the business itself. So for many situations, the data that you're getting will simply not be enough. Yeah, so you'll either have to send to those tracking tools some extra events with extra information or, or you're left with vanity metrics alone, and then they will be useful only for a smaller group of people. And when it comes to groups of people, who are simple web analytics tools for? In my view, there are a few groups that can benefit from these tools. However, it all depends on how these tools are set up. First, we have website owners whose sites are either non-profit or very new. In most cases getting deeper into web analytics or more complex web analytics tools is just overwhelming for them. Right. And it's good to have some data. even though it may not be super useful, but it keeps their motivation going to see their, the numbers of, I don't know, visitors, et cetera, go up. It's always good to have data to keep your motivation to keep your spirit up. So, now the next group of people that can benefit from simple web analytics tools are people who are running sites with affiliate links or a lot of ads. Why is that? Because in these cases, the vanity metrics that simple analytics tools track, they become your KPIs . So the number of visitors is important. The number of page views that specific pages are getting is important. And if the tracking tool that you're using can also track clicks on affiliate links or on advertisements. So the people who are running these sites will be really, really happy with simple web analytics tools. And finally, we have one group that may come as a surprise to some and these are CEOs. CEOs who need a dashboard with reports, with graphs, with metrics, with data showing only the KPIs, the most important stuff about their business, how it's doing. They don't need to know. All the advanced stuff, all the nitty-gritty, they just need simple to understand panel, simple numbers, simple way of getting the basic information they need, and such simple web analytics tools can give it to them. On one condition - that the KPIs that the CEOs care for are tracked by those tools. They are properly configured by the integration and sent to those analytics tools. So. In my view, these are the groups that can greatly benefit from simple web analytics tools. When it comes to other uses like online stores, like more specialized websites, business websites, ...
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