 "makes the whole concept easy to wrap your mind around" | 2009-08-14 |
| - Reviewed By c_major_7th |
The first half of this book is like a user manual for Google Analytics. It is a rehash of the help topics you find on the Google site. Some appear awfully close to having been lifted directly off the webpage.
However, the other half of the book is filled with some first rate, real world concepts which are followed by a detailed how-to-do-it walk through.
Great details provided on using regular expressions to create filters.
Yes you can get this all free online at Google and elsewhere but this inexpensive package makes the whole concept easy to wrap your mind around.
Highly recommended for anyone responsible for setting up practical web analytics for medium and small size sites. |
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| "The Challenge of Acting on Web Analytics" | 2009-07-27 |
| - Reviewed By sergevs |
Brian Clifton, who is deeply involved with web analytics at Google, usually succeeds in his endeavor to make Google Analytics accessible to an audience who is not just made up of webmasters. Chapter 9 called "Google Analytical Hacks" is probably by far the most challenging chapter for a non-technical audience. Mr. Clifton is very straightforward on this subject. He assumes that his readers have an in-depth knowledge of JavaScript.
Whoever reads this book will realize how much data Google Analytics can yield. Of course, data overkill can lead to analysis paralysis. For this reason, Mr. Clifton emphasizes that acting on the data is the single most important aspect of web analytics. Yet it is this that most people do not achieve. Furthermore, Bill Hunt, CEO of Global Strategies International, who Mr. Clifton quotes at the beginning of his book, observes: "Eight out of 10 implementations of web analytics solutions are incorrectly set up." Search engine and web site optimization requires time and resources dedicated to this endeavor.
In conclusion, Mr. Clifton shows with success how web analytics can be used to improve the key performance indicators for one's online success without minimizing the amount of work required to get it done.
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 "Great Book" | 2009-07-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1MMVSUN547341 |
Well written with lots of practical examples. Goes well beyond the basics and deals with what the data means. Well worth the cost for anyone who is serious about using Analytics Professionally. This is not a beginner book but it does go into lots of details that are hard to find from other sources. I go to this book before I search the Analytics help text.
[...] |
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| "An outstanding resource for Google Analytics users" | 2009-01-11 |
| - Reviewed By rhodytrader |
This book is an excellent resource for anyone using or looking to use Google Analytics. It's extremely detailed in its coverage of the many different ways you can use the system to collect and report important visitor statistics regarding your website. I'm definitely a stat geek and have used Google Analytics for a while. This book gave me loads of ideas on how I can better use the system to improve the tracking of visitor patterns, thereby helping me improve my site's efficiency and by extension, that of my business.
One word of warning, however. There is a considerable discussion of manipulating the Javascript which makes up the Google tracking code. It comes up on a very regular basis. These aren't madatory elements at all, just ways of extending the functionality in different ways. That means they can be bypassed in the case of most readers, but could make the text a bit intimidating for those without any programming know-how.
Now for my gripes. I found the arrangement of the materials somewhat sub-optimal. It's a situation where certain information on a subject is presented early on, then after much discussion of other subjects, a more detailed discussion is done later. Also, the reference source URLs listed in the book are too often ridiculously long - longer than a reader would be inclined to type in.
That stuff was minor, though, in light of the great value of the material. |
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| "THE Complete Guide to Google Analytics" | 2009-01-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A314SBPRTA6I1F |
I've used WebTrends for some time. Used a very early version of Urchin circa 2005. Started with Google Analytics in 2008. Google Analytics has come a long way since Urchin. WebTrends is definitely more potent with a lot more features. But well .. you're paying for it. Google Analytics is free. The only shortfall is that it retains data for the last 25 months, so if you want to compare with the last 4-5 years, that will be difficult. You could pull out data to your local system and workaround this or use Urchin which has a more diluted reporting capability.
All that aside. This is a fantastic book. A deserving 5 starrer.
The flow of this book has been well planned. Clifton starts with what reports can be procured from Google Analytics, giving everyone a quick insight into what kind of information gathering is possible. A really good way to tell you how potent this tool can be. The next section deals with the implementation and how pages can be tracked. Discusses in detail some of the implementation issues like:
Using the same analytics account to monitor diff websites
How to create a local copy of the analytics info
Also includes Advanced Implementation how-to's for E-Commerce websites, online campaign tacking, event tracking. There's also a chapter on hacks. These sections are the most relevant and covers the first 211 pages.
The last section of the books starts with KPI's and discusses the topic in detail with examples related to e-commerce sites, Marketer's KPI's webmaster's KPI's and more. The last chapter also discusses Google Website Optimizer and is a good introduction for newbies.
This book is extremely comprehensive and does a very good job of introducing Google Analytics to both new users as well as experienced one. Javasript code shows up at various places and is definitely helpful as a reference for making quick changes to your website tags.
If you have a website that uses Google Analytics, just go ahead and buy the book. If you're using other analytic tools, this book is a good introduction to what Google Analytics has to offer.
A few standout features of Google Analytics:
Two click integration with Google Adwords. (Two reports : Adwords Campaign, Keyword Positions)
Can be used to track paid search, organic search, links from pdf's, videos, email campaigns etc
Site overlay report (something like a heat map. WebTrends calls this the click density report)
Map overlay report (shows which geographies people are coming in from)
Cross referencing (eg how many visitors from california, which keywords folks from california use)
Site search reporting (From which pages do visitors initiate a search. And which page do they go to. This needs some setting up.)
Event tracking of video files and load times, interactions in the file etc ..
(About Google Urchin: Urchin is a down loadable tool. Its a hybrid tool since it tags as well as processes log files. It can provide bandwidth reports, error page/status code reports, visitor history reports.
Benefits:
Can run behind firewall. Useful for intranets.
Data stored in house, so can be used beyond 25 months.
Google Analytics can analyze a max 5 million pageviews a month. Urchin doesn't have this restriction.
The Disadvantages pertain to the hardware and manpower needed to set up a server, maintain and backup.)
Other References
Companion site for the book: http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/
Scripts are at: http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/ga-scripts/
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34674820494
Support: http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/
Advanced topics and methodologies: http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/
Blog: http://analytics.blogspot.com/
If you want to see pics of what some actual Google Analytics Reports look like, you can check them on my website Pune360.com:
http://pune360.com/Editorial/2009/01/04/googleanalyticsbookreview/ |
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| "Best Book available on Google Analytics" | 2009-01-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3M6HR5UBG049A |
There is so information out there to read and review. Brian is a credentialed expert. I respect his modesty and level of engagement. This recently published web analytics book is fantastic....explanations are clear, concise, organized, authoritative and thorough. The visuals are also very helpful. I find it useful to have definitive information effectively and efficently compiled in a single source for many reasons.
This is the best book I have encountered on this vast topic.
Advanced Web Metrics completely satisfied my needs, effectively answered many questions and provided invaluable insights. I read voraciously. Many technical authors tend to write way too much or too little about the topic. Actionable insights are very important in the internet marketing industry. |
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