Importantly, there is no impact on the Standard version of Google Analytics i.e. the free version that most busiensses use today.

Google continues to show commitment to the no-cost product  as demonstrated by the many new features that Google continues adding in to the Standard version.

Google Analytics [...]]]> Google has just announced the immediate availability of Google Analytics Premium.

Importantly, there is no impact on the Standard version of Google Analytics i.e. the free version that most busiensses use today.

Google continues to show commitment to the no-cost product  as demonstrated by the many new features that Google continues adding in to the Standard version.

Google Analytics Premium is designed for the large enterprise sites with high traffic volumes. Below is a quick summary on Google Analytics Premium features:

Google Analytics Premium Features

Processing Power
• Guaranteed processing for up to 1 billion hits per month
• Faster, intra-day processing for up to 1 billion hits per month
• Service Level Agreement around data collection, reporting, and processing
- 99.9% on Collection up-time
- 99% on Reporting up-time
- 98% on on-time Data Freshness (within 4 hours)

Advanced Analysis Tools
• Up to 50 Custom Variable slots
• Unsampled report downloads for custom report requests
• Unaggregated report downloads for large report requests (up to 1 million rows per download)
• Premium-only features, such as the Attribution Modelling tool for Multi-Channel Funnels

Dedicated Support
• Phone & Email support 10 hours per day, 5 days per week
• Implementation Consultation & Tagging Audit
• 24/7 Product Emergency Escalation Support, if the product is ever outside of the SLA

The major areas of difference between Standard and Premium include:
• Scale: 1 Billion hits
• Pace of innovation
• Cost: flat fee of $150,000/year (billed in monthly installments)

If you need assistance or more information on Google Analytics, why not call WSI Chester today?

However these can be daunting and confusing to the non-technical person.

To help address this, Google has just released a free e-book – “Improving Online [...]]]> Google supply a number of free tools and product features to help a website owner to improve the conversion rate of a website i.e. the number of visitors that take a desired action.

However these can be daunting and confusing to the non-technical person.

To help address this, Google has just released a free e-book – “Improving Online Conversions for Dummies”, in conjunction with John Wiley Publications. Although it will probably be of most benefit to AdWords users, it gives a good layman’s explanation of how and when to use the various Google features to help improve conversions and raise return on investment.

You can find more information on http://www.google.com/conversion/fordummies or download the e-book directly from Google – Conversions For Dummies

If you would like help or guidance in implementing some of the features described in the e-book, call WSI Chester today.

Facebook provides plenty of useful statistics through the Insights panel, which is available to the Page Admins. This includes -

User information (tracked daily):

Page Activity:

Privacy is an issue with any tracking or monitoring mechanism, whether its web analytics or video surveillance cameras. The collection of data by [...]]]> Over the past few years, Google Analytics has become very popular with website owners wishing to track website usage and visitor statistics. It has everything most businesses need, its easy to use and free.

Privacy is an issue with any tracking or monitoring mechanism, whether its web analytics or video surveillance cameras. The collection of data by technology such as Google Analytics is normally covered within the Terms and Conditions of Use for a website.

However Google has decided to implement a new way for web users to protect their privacy by allowing users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics.

It was announced in the Google Analytics blog last week by their product manager Amy Chang:

“Over the past year, we have been exploring ways to offer users more choice on how their data is collected by Google Analytics. We concluded that the best approach would be to develop a global browser based plug-in to allow users to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics.”

They anticipate this new technology will be available in the next few weeks.

What does this mean for website owners?

It removes a level of certainty in the statistics collected – the Google Analytics reports will only show a proportion of the traffic. Conversion tracking data from e-commerce sites will no longer match up with the shopping cart statistics. etc etc etc.

On a more positive note, it is likely that the number of web users who will be interested in the browser plug-in and actually install it will be very small.

So, will you be installing the Google Analytics browser opt-out plugin?

If you would like to learn more about how Google Analytics can help your business, call WSI today on 01928 787026.

A very valid concern as the traditional web analytics methods can only really measure activity on your own website.

However there are now a wide variety of new tools and services available to allow companies and their [...]]]> One of the often heard concerns about the use of social media by business is “How do I know its working?”.

A very valid concern as the traditional web analytics methods can only really measure activity on your own website.

However there are now a wide variety of new tools and services available to allow companies and their marketing consultants to monitor the social media and to measure the “buzz” surrounding a brand name, product and keyphrases.

Now, the effectiveness of social media campaigns can be tracked and measured.

Some tools are free, such as -

Google Alerts – emails updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Social Mention – for one-off keyword searches,  it provides results from blogs, twitter (microblogs), video, comments, bookmarks, news, events etc.  and includes information such as Sentiment, Top Keywords, Top users and Sources. A lot of useful information at a glance.

However the bulk of the social media monitoring tools are chargeable based on access and usage. These offer much more sophisticated data collection and analysis across a wide variety of keywords, with comprehensive dashboard and reporting facilities.

If effective use of the social media is part of your marketing plans for 2010, we can advise you on the tools available and provide a regular social media monitoring and reporting service for your business. Call us today on 01928 787026