Google Analytics - User Friendly
Posted on May 8, 2007
9 Comments
A new version of Google Analytics was announced today. The main feature being the new user interface that they’re rolling out to all users over the next few weeks. I’ve been checking every hour (!) but still don’t have it — and I can’t wait. [Guided Tour]
I’ve always been a fan of Google Analytics and I’ve been using it since I got into an early beta quite some time ago. The depth and breadth of information available is incredible. Sometimes getting to that information can be daunting… I really look forward to trying the new interface. The sample image certainly looks a lot “friendlier” than what we currently have. More in line with the competition too.
We’ve redesigned the reporting interface for greater customization and collaboration. This should make it easier for businesses and website owners to find and share the data you need to make informed decisions. The new version presents data more clearly and in context, so you can look at a single report to gain insights rather than having to pull up several reports to understand what action to take.
I’ve also been using other metrics programs — primarily Feedburner Stats and Performancing Pmetrics and just recently some dabbling with Automattic Stats as well. They don’t offer as much flexibility, but they all tend to be a lot easier and approachable to dive into. But if you want to graph out referrer traffic for the last 45 days? Well, they aren’t going to cut it… Analytics will though. The in depth stuff is where it really shines.
This new face on Analytics is very welcome. Good timing too, as I’ve been trying to decide which stats packages I like — I have too many JavaScript thingies slowing down my page loads, I need to trim some back. Speak of which, I’m also keeping on eye on Wordlog as Carthik mentioned he’s planning some reviews soon.
Anyone reading this have the new interface yet? If so, what do you think of it?
Tags: feedburner, google, google-analytics, metrics, pmetrics, stats
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9 Responses to “Google Analytics - User Friendly”
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Sounds like good news! I’m not a big fan of the current interface, which, like you said, can make finding data daunting. If they cut down some of the jargon that would be great, and also offer individual level information, the way sitemeter does. It’s important to me to be able to track individuals’ behaviour at times.
At the end of the day, the big question is:
1) Will this make tracking results and earning a return on seo/m investment simpler?
Heyas “SEO Return”, thanks for stopping by.
I’ve found that pmetrics (or Clicky) do this very very well. You can literally get a session trail of pages by IP. Pretty slick if you’re into that sort of thing. Very curious to see if it’ll be as easy with the new analytics interface.
We were using Webalizer Version 2.01 for website stats. But I have learnt much about Google Analytics lets try this also. Good Info here.
I have the new interface, but I have only looked at it for few min. This weekend I will spend some more time on it to get the hang of it.
I never really had problems with the old but I will soon find out when I start to play with the new!
Ill let you know
Hey Brett - I’m still waiting for my shot at the new interface. *sigh*
If you blog about it, drop a link back here please.
Haha… I knew I’d eventually find an article similar to mine. I wrote the same article a couple days ago, and have been looking around for others opinions of the new interface.
I particularly love the email and PDF export capabilities.
*sigh* I still don’t have the new interface. :-\