When it comes to tracking
your web traffic, finding a good analytics tool is the first step to success.
Before you implement a tool and begin tracking, it is important to sit down and
determine your goals and objectives. Once you have done this, it will be easier
to decide which metrics you need to track in order to achieve success. Now that
you know what information you are looking for, you can begin researching web
analytics tools.
Of course, the first tool to
come to mind is likely Google Analytics. Google Analytics is the darling of the
web metrics tools industry—it is popular, it is widely used, and everybody in
the business is familiar with it. There are many benefits of using Google
Analytics, but it might not necessarily be the right tool for you. Do not feel
pressured into using it simply because it seems like the tool everybody uses.
While it might be the most popular tool, it has not by any means monopolized
the industry. There are actually hundreds of alternatives out there, and many
of them are worth a second look before you make your final decision. One great
alternative is Adobe SiteCatalyst. In this blog post, I will give a brief
overview of each tool, as well as a comparison/contrast between the two.
Google Analytics
In a nutshell, Google
Analytics is a free web metrics tool that enables you to track information
about who, what, when, where, and why people are visiting your site. You can
use this “big data” to make more informed marketing decisions.
Big data can be quite
intimidating. Google Analytics, no matter how user-friendly it may be, is no
different from any other web tool in this respect. This graduate-level course
has been my first hands-on experience with the tool, and I was a little
overwhelmed at first. There are a lot of reports, a lot of numbers, a lot of
graphs, and a lot of information in general… if you do not what you are looking
for it is very easy to get lost in a sea of information that is irrelevant to
helping you achieve your pre-determined goals.
Google Analytics provides
excellent tutorials that show exactly how to navigate through reports and which
reports show what information. They also give tips on how to turn this data
into actionable insights. Needless to say, it is definitely user-friendly,
which is a big plus. Another big plus is that the tool is constantly being
updated with new metrics, and it is very easy to find blogs and reviews online
to help you determine which metrics you should be keeping an eye on.
Google Analytics has over 80
reports to help you understand your web traffic (WVU, 2014). These reports are
grouped in the following categories: Real Time; Audience; Acquisition;
Behavior; and Conversions.
Within these categories,
some of the reports you can run include Audience Demographics, Geography,
Referrals, Behavior Flow, and E-Commerce Performance. Also, Google Analytics
can run reports from your Google AdWords account (WVU, 2014). This tool has the
ability to customize dashboards and date ranges, making it easy to compare data
for any given time period.
Google Analytics appears to
receive mostly good reviews online, although there have been a few complaints.
The main complaint I found online is that the bounce rate and time-on-site
reports might not be accurate due to the way the tool measures this information
(Melaugh, 2013). On the contrary, Google Analytics is well respected by many
web analysts. As one blogger points out, based on Google’s business model, it
is in their best interest to know as much as possible about all websites. This
will help them be more successful. The benefits end up coming back to the
business owners who use Google Analytics for tracking purposes (Superweb,
2014).
Adobe SiteCatalyst
As
mentioned above, if Google Analytics does not seem like the best choice for
you, one great alternative is Adobe SiteCatalyst. This tool isn’t free like
Google Analytics, but it is said to be a much more in-depth product (Chianis,
2013). Having the name “Adobe” attached definitely gives the product some
credibility, as this brand is often associated with excellent, high-quality
products. According to an Adobe data sheet, SiteCatalyst offers real-time data,
provides a snapshot of KPIs directly in the dashboard, and sends automatic
alerts anytime a KPI moves below an acceptable level (ominuture.com, 2014).
Also, Adobe states that SiteCatalyst is a one-stop shop to “measure, analyze and optimize all of
your online and multi-channel initiatives.”
Along with the hefty price tag, there are a few things
that SiteCatalyst provides that Google Analytics does not. One such thing is
24-hour customer service, which might be needed as this tool is said to not be
as user-friendly as Google Analytics. Both
tools provide a plethora of free online tutorials and guides to help you make
the most of their product. However, SiteCatalyst comes with 24/7 support and
account management (Chianis, 2013). It should be noted, however, that Google
provides free training through their Analytics Academy, while Adobe charges an
additional fee for their training services.
Another noteworthy characteristic of SiteCatalyst is that
it allows a significantly high amount of variables to be set. This includes 75
traffic variables, 100 event variables, and 75 conversion variables (Ingle,
2013). Moreover, your back data will never be lost. They will hold onto all
your data as long as you are a customer (Chinais, 2013).
As you can see, the fee for Adobe’s services comes with
several benefits. The old saying, “You get what you pay for” can be applied
here. If Google meets your needs, by all means use their free services. If you
need something a little more in-depth, Adobe SiteCatalyst might be the tool for
you.
While I’ve never used SiteCatalyst, I did find this image
of its dashboard online so you can get a feel for what it looks like:
(Google Images, 2014)
To sum things up, here is a quick side by side comparison
of the two tools:
|
|
Google
Analytics
|
Adobe
SiteCatalyst
|
|
Free
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Customer Service
|
Free Online Tutorials and Guides
|
24/7 Support and Account Management.
Free Online Tutorials and Guides
|
|
Training
|
Analytics Academy (A Free Online Tool)
|
Training Provided for an Additional Fee
|
|
User-Friendly
|
Yes
|
Slightly Difficult
|
|
Real Time Data
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Custom Variables
|
5/Page
|
75-Traffic, 100-Event,
75-Conversion
|
|
Back Log Of Data
|
25-months
|
As Long as you
are a Customer
|
References:
Chianis, Alexia. (2013). Google Analytics vs. Adobe
SiteCatalyst — Which Data Analysis Platform is Better for Business? Retrieved
on February 9 from http://www.businessbee.com/resources/news/operations-buzz/google-analytics-vs-adobe-sitecatalyst-data-analysis-platform-better-business/
Ingle, Sarah. (2013). What’s the Difference? Comparing
Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst. Retrieved on February 9 from http://www.paceco.com/google-analytics-adobe-sitecatalyst-comparison/
Melaugh, Shane. (2013). Web Stats: Alternatives to Google Analytics. Retrieved on February 8 from http://imimpact.com/web-stats-alternatives-to-google-analytics/
Omniture.com. (2014). Data Sheet: Adobe® SiteCatalyst®: Real-Time, High-Performance Analytics & Reporting. Retrieved on February 9 from https://www.omniture.com/offer/170
PI Reed School of Journalism, WVU. (2014). Lesson 5: Google Analytics. Retrieved on February 8 from https://ecampus.wvu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2FdisplayLearningUnit%3Fcourse_id%3D_7879_1%26content_id%3D_335304_1%26framesetWrapped%3Dtrue
Superweb. (2014). Google Analytics Review. Retrieved on February 9 from http://www.superwebanalyst.net/Google-Analytics.php
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