Now Reading

How to Select the Best Web Analytics Software for Your Business

After launching a website, you want to know how well your site is performing in terms of internet searches and online traffic. This is where web analytics software comes in.

Web Analytics software refers to computer tools that help with the of collecting, measuring and analyzing web data to help improve the effectiveness of your website. Web analytics software help you determine who’s visiting your website, how they found you, how often they visit, who’s following you on social media, where you rank on internet searches, amongst other things.

Web Analytics applications provide you with information that can be used to measure and improve your website and online presence. It is also the bedrock of a good digital marketing campaign. As a digital marketer, it helps you determine the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and also know which marketing strategy works best for you and why.

Initially, Web analytics software were developed basically for clickstream analysis. Clickstream analysis involves collecting information about which pages a website user visits - and the particular order. Most times, there is need for IT specialists to interpret this data for the marketing team and it only contains basic information like clickstream, on-site time, leads and page views.

Today, many web analytics software are integrated with other business tools taking analytics to a whole other level. The new look software features a more user-friendly interface and incorporates a wide array of data. This data includes the locations from which the most and least people visit and also the most viewed products. It is sometimes used to forecast which products customers are more likely to purchase in future.

This way business owners can focus their marketing strategy on these specific products and the customers who are most likely to buy them. For companies that advertise through search engine marketing; a web analytics software will provide you information about your marketing campaign and each keyword. It lets you see the number of clicks, leads conversion rate, cost of each campaign and in the situation where all these leads to an actual transaction.

You may like to read: Top Free & Premium Web Analytics Software

What are the Features of Web Analytics Software

There are several web analytics tools around, each one with specific features that make them valuable in different ways. However, just because a feature sounds exciting and provides you with some extra data about your website doesn’t mean it will help you achieve your goals.

Therefore, you need to know which additional functionalities are required to fill the gaps in your current reporting system and be sure that those extra features improve your business going forward. Keeping your needs front, right and center, some software features that will help you maximize web analytics software include data exploration, data visualization, mobile access, actionable data, mobile access, email reporting, traffic filtering, social media traffic, data storage, message alerts, forecasting, data analysis, customizable dashboards and site overlay.

What are the Features of Web Analytics Software?

Mobile Access: This is a flexibility feature allows you to access web analytics information anywhere and anytime via a mobile phone
Data Visualization: This feature provides you marketing reports in form of graph, charts and other form of visuals; these visualization helps you process this information quickly.
Data Exportation: In case you encounter a problem with your current software, this feature allows to export your data and setup on another system.
Actionable Data: This feature enables you to perform complex analysis and correlation on data sets.
E-mail Reporting: Rather than login into the system to view your web analytics, this feature makes sure that you receive customized electronic mails containing the desired information.
Traffic Filtering: Chances are you and your staff spend quite some time on the company’s website, this feature helps to filter off traffic from you and your staff when compiling reports by specifying IP addresses.
Social Media Traffic: This feature helps you determine which social media accounts are contributing more to your website traffic.
Data Storage: This feature allows the website analytics to store all the website analytics information collected, this storage might be an inbuilt or a cloud storage.
Message Alerts: This feature is very important as it allows low-skilled employees to navigate the software with relative ease
Forecasting: Using past and present data, the web analytics software can make projections into the future regarding future sales and website traffic.
Customizable Dashboards: With this feature, companies can customize the software dashboard in a manner that suits their business needs.
Data Analysis: This feature allows the software to analyze website data and extract information that is of use to the business
Site Overlay: This feature allows you determine how often your links are being used- it opens your website and allows you hover above your links and see how many clicks they each have over a given period of time

You may like to read: Top Free & Premium Web Analytics Software

What are the Types of Web Analytics Software

Although, several web analytics software are developed to perform multiple analytics functions. Some of them were designed to perform specific web analytics based on your requirements. We take a look at the different types of web analytics software.

User Analytics Software: The user analytics software is a type of web analytics tool that provides detailed information about a website visitor. Some of the user information that can be extracted using this analytics tool is gender, age, location (extracted from the IP address), customer buying and browsing habits, clickstream and lots more.
Traffic source Analytics Software: There are different types of website traffic. Organic traffic refers to people visiting from website searches while Paid traffic refers to customers that are redirected to your website via several digital ads that you are running. The traffic source analytics software helps you monitor and track traffic based on location, type of traffic, source site.
Behavioral Analytics software: This type of web analytics software is used to record navigational flow and all form of action that a user performs on a website. With the information provided by this tool you can influence user behavior.

What are the Types of Web Analytics Software

What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) of Web Analytics Software

Response Time: You do not want a web analytics software that takes time to respond when in use. Therefore, one very important criteria for criticizing the web analytics software is its response time.
Satisfaction: You might need to get rid of a web analytics software that does not provide utmost satisfaction for you and your employees.
Reporting: Majorly, web analytics are in form of visuals. You might need to do away with any software that does not present information in formats that are easily interpreted.
Value: A good analytics tool provide optimum value for money.

You may like to read: Top Free & Premium Web Analytics Software

What are the Benefits of Web Analytics Software

A web analytics tool is very important to the growth of any business. Below are some of the benefits of web analytics.

Traffic and Conversion: With information from analytics, you can optimize your website to increase lead conversion rate and drive more customers to your website.
Monitor Social Media Leads: Another important benefit of web analytics software is that it allows you to monitor all your social media accounts from one software. This way you can manage your customer base and develop a good reputation for your business on various social platforms
SEO Management: Some web analytics tools are incorporated with SEO; they help you optimize your website using keywords
Understand User Behavior: Understand user behavior and address important issues in real time using a web analytics software.
Understanding Customer Demographics
Improve Marketing Campaigns

You may like to read: Top Free & Premium Web Analytics Software

What are the Latest trends in Web Analytics Software

Automation: With machine learning, intelligent automation and deep learning, the web analytics software can be used to collect complex data and perform analysis accurately. This feature fills a big hole in the web analytics industry
Individual User Tracking: Customer Experience is crucial to the success of a business. Individual tracking helps you monitor each customer so that you can monitor their online experiences to yield better results.
Prescriptive Analysis: This way business will not only have knowledge about what will happen next as regards their promotional efforts but also will have an idea about what the next course of action should be.

How to choose the right Web Analytics Software

Choosing the right web analytics software is an important step in your digital marketing strategy. The following criteria will help you select the best tool for your business.

Requirements: Consider your requirements and prioritize your requirements.
Features: Consider the features required for running your business of today. Do not be excited by the number of features that a web analytics tool has whilst ignoring the goals and objectives of your project.
Costs: You must be fully aware of the present & future costs of any web analytics solution that you choose so that it doesn’t become a liability to your business in the long run.
Data Storage: It is necessary that the web analytics tool hosts your information in such a way that you can access across multiple platforms.
Scalability: You have to select web analytic tools based on your plan for the future. You have to select a tool that allows you to transition your business easily.