“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
This old quote is most often attributed to John Wanamaker, who died in 1922. If you feel like old John, I’ve got good news for you. These days we have technology to help determine which of your advertising dollars are working…and which aren’t.
What is web analytics?
According to Wikipedia, “Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.”
In other words, web analytics answers questions like:
- How many people are visiting my website?
- Which of my webpages is getting viewed most?
- Do first time visitors come back to my site? and
- What external websites are sending visitors to mine?
The cost of NOT using web analytics
I recently consulted with a client who spent $15,000 last year on an Internet-based advertising campaign. He asked me whether or not he should renew his subscription for another year. All I could say was, “I don’t know.”
I couldn’t give him a straight answer because he didn’t have analytics set up on his website. If he’d had them we could have looked at how much traffic the advertising campaign brought in and if it had led to anyone filling out a request for more information. But as it stands, we can only guess if the client’s $15K was money well spent or not.
Don’t let this happen to you
By installing an analytics program on your website you can monitor the effectiveness of your Internet marketing efforts and target your advertising dollars where they earn you the greatest ROI. One commonly used program is Google Analytics, and I’d be happy to help you learn how to use it.
Also, by getting The Website Wordsmith involved at the very beginning of your Internet marketing project you’ll have a partner to provide you with ideas and guidance–making sure you get the most out of your Internet marketing dollars. Don’t wait until after you’ve spent fifteen grand, contact me today for a free consultation.
The post Not using web analytics? (Don’t even know what it is?) Then you’re wasting your Internet marketing dollars appeared first on The Website Wordsmith.
