Choosing a Web Analytic Tool Provider

Choosing a web analytics provider can prove to be a difficult task.  With the number of providers, the vast data that can be compiled, and finding the best fit for an organization, this task can become overwhelming.

According to Kaushik, a three-bucket strategy can be used most effectively for comparing these providers.  Each bucket contains providers that have similar tools, while each of the three buckets represents different aspects of analytics.  

Bucket One

These are providers are well known, provide lots of data, and have overlapping services.  Examples include: Omniture, Coremetrics, and Webtrends

Bucket Two

Bucket two contains providers that are the alternative to buckets one and three.  These providers are less popular than the providers in the remaining buckets, but each offers important analytics for various marketing campaign metrics.
Examples include: Net Insights, XiTi, and ClickTracks

Bucket Three

This bucket contains the two largest search engine providers.  Both offer free services and are very commonly used by all Internet users, including businesses, bloggers, and personal pages. 

Examples include: Google Analytics and Yahoo! Web Analytics

A business can make a well-informed choice by choosing a provider from each bucket to incorporate into the analytics test. 

Comparing Web Analytic Tools – Google Analytics vs. Web Trends

Web Analytic Tools

Each provider offers an array of tools that can be used to evaluate web traffic and metrics (Ankit, 2014).  The most common tools that are offered by the most popular providers include visitor metrics, page metrics, SEO information, keyword data, referral traffic metrics, geo-location, and behavior metrics.  All of these are important metrics when making decision about design and marketing campaigns. 

Deciding which tools may be the most useful to an organization can assist in making the best choice for a web analytic provider.  Tools that measure ROI, allow for cross-referencing, analyze visitor behavior, and accurately track online campaigns can be the most important for a marketer.  

Google Analytic Tools

Google Analytics is the most common provider of web analytics, with 57.3% of websites using these tools.  Google provides a robust analytical suite, free of charge (unless choosing the premium option), with easy to navigate reports, customized dashboards, and cross-referencing options (Ankit, 2014).   Google analytics breaks these reports into four sections: audience, acquisition, behavior, and conversion reports (P.I. ReedSchool of Journalism, 2013).

Each report segment provides valuable information for business operations.  Audience reports provide valuable data about visitors.  Acquisition reports provide information about traffic flow, while behavior reports are used to provide insight on site’s functionability with user, and conversion reports provide information in regards to completed action (transactions, email signups, etc.) (P.I. Reed School of Journalism, 2013). 

WebTrends

WebTrends is an alternative choice to Google Analytics.  WebTrends was the first company to offer web analytics.  They understand the importance of analytical data and have provided services for Coca-Cola, Toyota, Microsoft, and the New York Times (Ankit, 2014).  

 The analytical company provides solutions that assist organizations with multi-channel measurement, conversion optimization, campaign optimization, and collaboration optimization.   Multi-channel measurement provides organizations with information on increasing conversions and revenue and understanding consumer motivations.  The conversion optimization uses multivariate testing, A/B testing, advanced segmentation and targeting to increase customer experience optimization, landing page optimization, and properly personalize the website.  WebTrends uses search engine tools can be used to effectively analyze and improve search engine marketing, Facebook campaigns, and ad spend optimization, while collaboration optimization can be used to link internal engagement and collaboration to real business value by measuring employee consumer interaction (WebTrends, 2014). 

WebTrends can be effectively used by organization to optimize online presence, user experience, and overall business operations.  But, unlike Google Analytics, this optimization comes with a price. 

Audience Insight

Google Audience Analytics 

For a marketer, the audience category used by Google Analytics provides an overview of visitors based on demographics, interests, geo location, behavior, technology, and mobile metrics.  This information is critical in understanding the online behavior of users visiting an organization’s site.  These tools provide insight into who is visiting your site, the location used to access your site, the engagement level of the site, which technology (browser and providers) are being used to access the site, and mobile metrics based on types of devices.  These tools are very important in creating a profile of the online user.  This, in turn, can be used to create campaigns that will effectively reach and engage the audience.  

Google Anatlyics provides an easy way to use this information in cross-reference with other data, create a dashboard for quick analysis, and analyze this data in comparison to previous reports with an easy option to transfer data into Microsoft Excel. 

WebTrends Optimization

WebTrends understand the needs of the marketer.  The analytics tools cover three important marketing tiers: web marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing.  WebTrends provide audience insight by providing data about what visitors are doing on each of your pages, while providing demographic information, psychographic information (likes and dislikes), and geographical location.  WebTrends also uses heat maps as a quick way to show user activity on a site.  This provides valuable information in regards to user behavior on the site.  This can assist in conversion rates, behavior data, and website design. 

WebTrends provides valuable information that can be transferred into Microsoft Excel for comparison.  The audience data acquired is specific to that organization and ultimately “owned” by the organization.  The optimization features WebTrends boasts about are very helpful, and can be used in a user defined dynamic user interface.  WebTrends UI is more advanced and appealing than Google Analytics, but not as user friendly overall (WebTrends, 2012). 

Overall, Google Analytics provides valuable information for FREE.  That is a hard comparison to make when price may be a factor.  Based on dashboard and reports, Web Trends provides a dynamic user interface that wins for most eye appealing.  As for data, both do a great job providing audience insight, with WebTrends offering better optimization statistics and tools designed for the marketing world, and Google provides the best deal financially, with a strong geo-location and technology metric option.

Web analytic providers should be chosen based on the needs of the organization.  Price, depth of information, user data, online presence, and advertising campaigns should all be considered when choosing the most effective provider for an organization.