Google Offers Free Web Traffic Statistics to Site Owners
Google is now giving away its Google Analytics service - formerly known as Urchin. Google Analytics can help any business identify performance data for their Web site and to improve their online marketing campaigns and Web sites. With Google Analytics, businesses can determine what keywords attract the most visitors, how to design web pages that hold people's attention, among other benefits.
"We want to give all online marketers and publishers access to powerful web analytics to help them better understand what their customers want. With this knowledge, businesses can create more accurate advertising and build better websites," Paul Muret, Google engineering director, and one of the founders of Urchin said in a press release. "By making this powerful service free, we aim to give all websites - large and small - the tools they need to better serve their customers, make more money, and improve the web experience for everyone."
| Google Analytics can help attorneys enhance numerous aspects of online marketing - from selecting and bidding on effective keywords, to optimizing Web site design. By acting on this information, law practices of all sizes can attract more visitors to their Web sites, convert more prospects to customers, and improve the overall return on their marketing investment. Google Analytics is meant to be easy enough to use by almost any Web site owner - yet sophisticated enough for the most advanced online marketers. |  |
In addition to being free, Google Analytics includes:
- Integration with Google AdWords, and works with any online ad network: Users of Google AdWords can access web analytics from a new interface within their AdWords account. Google Analytics automatically tags keyword destination URLs (which saves time and reduces the potential for errors), and imports cost data for ROI reports (for fast set-up and ease-of-use). Google Analytics is also able to track the results of any online marketing campaign, including banner ads, referral links, email newsletters, and organic and paid search.
- New reporting dashboards: Google Analytics executive summary reports for the three most common decision makers - executive, marketer, webmaster - will ease access to crucial information across departments.
While Google Analytics is offered for free, it is not immediately available to new users. After the free service was announced in November '05, it quickly reached capacity, and Goolge began a waiting list for those interested in signing up for the service when enrollment is re-opened. Based on a similar waiting list process for the now-popular G-Mail free e-mail service, we expect Google will be contacting those who have submitted their e-mail addresses for notification within the first quarter of 2006.
To read more about recent additions to Google's functionality, see these articles: