Easy web analytics for small businesses
Know how to run your business in a data drive manner based on web analytics findings without the hassle of doing web analytics yourself.
From the Founder “doing everything” to outsourcing tasks
The way many businesses starts is by the Founder doing everything that it takes to run the business. Including setting up a website and trying to get customers from it to the business.
As the business grows, then you start considering outsourcing more and more task that you can not manage yourself. You have to focus on the core part of your business and let others do what you will never be good at. Like accounting, bookkeeping, distribution of your products and perhaps production too.
Why do you need Web Analytics?
It makes sense to include web analytics in that category of tasks. But before we get to that point we must emphasize why you need the analytics in the first place.
The fact is very simple. You can not run your business in a professional manner without you know who your site is generating business to you.
There are three reasons why you need web analytics:
1. Improve your sites content. So you don´t loose business
You need to know how to improve your site’s content. If you don´t then you look business because you will not convert as many users to customers as you could have done.
2. Optimize your traffic. To get the best ROI on your investment
You also need to know how your traffic is performing. You need to know which traffic channels that are generating the most customer to you. So you know where to focus and can get the most out of your traffic investments.
3. Know what to change
You also need to know where to focus. Improving a website is a never-ending task. And your time is limited, so you need to know that the issues that you are fixing are the ones that are most important to your business.
Don´t do web analytics yourself
So getting back to web analytics and why it probably is not a good idea that you engage in doing it your self. There is three reasons why you should not:
1. Web analytics tools are designed for experts. Not for you
Web Analytifcs tools are not designed for persons like you. Google Analytics is the words de-facto web analytics tool. But it is built and designed for experts. Not for users who have no experience working with such tools.
2. You need to know what the findings means for your business
This brings us to the second point. Not only must you know how to work with tools. You must also be able to know what the findings actually mean for your business. How to interpret the findings and transform that knowledge into actions that can make your site perform better. No one can do this without experience.
3. Web analytics take time to do
The last reason why you should not do web analytics is that it will end up taking too much of your time. If you want to improve your site in an ongoing and professional manner, then you need to have the findings on a regular basis. This takes time. Even for a skilled professional. And as a business owner, you have to wait in what can you make per hour doing your core business. In that perspective, the time you spend on web analytics and not on your business can make it clear that your focus is worth more in other areas.
So, there are many good reasons why you need analytics and just as many for not trying to make them yourself.
Your two alternatives
So what can you do, if the conclusion is not doing analytics yourself? The normal response will be to outsource the task to someone.
Use an agency
Most often this is either a consultant/agency or a freelancer. They have the knowledge you need and can deliver the findings that make you able to run your site more professional. However, there are some drawbacks that you should be aware of.
If the consultancy that you are using is having an interest in selling you services that can be based on web analytics findings, Like SEO, web design or producing content, then you have a potential conflict of interest. Because you as a customer will always have to consider if the advice they are giving you are biased and works as sales leads to the agency and not as real unbiased advice to you.
Have analytics done for you autmatically
Canecto has solved this problem by automating the web analytics process. This means that you can get the same findings as an agency would have made for you. But in a transparent and unbiased way. As a software as a Service solution. You simply get a web anlytics report as a PDF every month or week. Whatever works you for you the best. This is great if you don´t feel like including an agency in your daily operations of running your online business.
No matter what direction you choose, you don´t have to do analytics yourself
The great thing is that it does not have to be had to run your business in a true data-driven matter. You just have to be open for letting either a service or a consultant do it for you. They two had different pros and cons, so it is very much up to your personal preferences which way to go for you.
