3 Ways to Get More Out of Google Analytics

Although it doesn’t cost you a dime to use, Google Analytics is an extremely powerful tool. While it’s not perfect (but I would venture to say that even expensive analytics solution aren’t one hundred percent perfect), you can gain so much information about your website by looking at the data provided by Google Analytics. While some people use it for nothing more than seeing how many visitors andpageviews they get everyday, if you are serious about taking advantage of the data provided by Google Analytics, I have three ways to get more out of this program.

Social Media Metrics Greasemonkey Plugin: I’m kicking off the post with this plugin because it is one the most useful (and coolest) add-ons for any program that I have come across. Before I explain what it does, let me tell you what you need to use it. While it’s completely free to use, you will need to use the Firefox browser (which, as someone with an interest in search engine marketing and the Internet in general, you should already be using). Additionally, you need to download and install Greasemonkey for Firefox (which is a free add-on that allows you to customize certain things within your browser by using small bits of JavaScript).

Once you’ve installed Greasemonkey for Firefox, you can add the Social Media Metrics plugin. As you can see from the screenshot above, this awesome plugin adds additional data to your Google Analytics interface. All you have to do is navigate to a specific Content Detail page, and in addition to the standard information provided by Google Analytics, you will be able to see the number of votes for that piece of content fromDigg, Sphinn, Mixx and Reddit. You also get the number of delicious saves, the amount of reviews on StumbleUpon and the number of backlinks (according to Yahoo) that are pointing to that page.

Keyword Trends in Google Analytics: Like the Social Media Metrics plugin, Keyword Trends uses Firefox andGreasemonkey to enhance your Google Analytics experience. This really cool script allows you to see the changes that are taking place in the traffic that is being sent to your website. Not only will the tool show you the keywords with twenty percent higher traffic over the last seven days, but it will also show you keywords with twenty percent lower traffic over the last seven days.

This information is not only useful in regards to your SEO efforts, but also in understanding potential changes or trends in how visitors are searching for the information that you have to offer.

Combine Google Website Optimizer and Analytics: While this last item is not aGreasemonkey script, it can be just as useful as the first two items on the list. As you probably already know, Google Website Optimizer allows you tofind out how different versions of your website and landing pages perform. With this handy script (which is uploaded to your server), you will be able to combine the information provided by Google Website Optimizer and Google Analytics, which will give you an even deeper insight into how to maximize the effectiveness of your website.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Insider View, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.