What are Analytics?
According to Wikipedia: The simplest definition of Analytics is “the science of analysis”. A simple and practical definition, however, would be how an entity (i.e., business) arrives at an optimal or realistic decision based on existing data. Business managers may choose to make decisions based on past experiences or rules of thumb, or there might be other qualitative aspects to decision making; but unless there are data involved in the process, it would not be considered analytics.

With the Internet you have the ability to view and analyze data in real time which can be an incredibly powerful tool measure the success or failure of your marketing efforts . With Google Analytics you can get this data for free. If you are just getting started in the Internet relm then you may or may not be familiar with website analytics. There are hundreds of websites that will give you information about how to set up and use these tools, but I wanted to start with the very basics. This way those of you that don’t currently have analytics on your site or have it but aren’t utilizing it can start to understand the value and need for web analytics.
Here are a couple scenarios for using web analytics for a business so that you can get the general idea.

Let’s say that you sell a service and you have decided to place an add in a local magazine that seems to apeal to your target audience. You or your marketing company craft a message that should get those people that are interested in your service to go to your website to learn more and take a desired action. The first thing that you will be able to measure is the traffic that has been generated from your ad. Even if you don’t receive any additional traffic you have valuable information to help make a business decision. You can review the demographics that the magazine captures or you can analyze the message that you delivered. Once you determine what adjustment that you want to make and redistribute your advertisement you can measure the results again. Most likely you will see a positive impact to your traffic on the first round of advertising, but you can always fine tune for better results every time you run an ad, always building on what you have learned.
Using the same scenario and taking it one step further you can now measure the results of what your prospects did once they arrived at your website. Did they convert in the way that you wanted them to? Did they leave as soon as they arrived? There are some amazing things that you can find out about your prospect from analytics tools that can increase your success. The main thing to keep in mind when you are reviewing the data from Google Analytics is always look for information that assists you in making a business decision. Without action website analytics are just glorified numbers, with action they are a powerful tool that can help your business be successful both on and off the web.