Picking the Right Web Analytics Package: The 4 Most Important Features for Ecommerce Sites

All web analytics packages collect data about the site visitors, but not all web analytics packages are created equal. As search engine traffic has grown in importance, the value of web analytics has increased for Ecommerce sites and Analytics became a digital gold rush for companies looking to cash in. Each package has a different range of features available. Before starting to look for a Web Analytics package, consider the Site and the activities that will take place on it.

Reporting

A web analytics package is useless if the team responsible for the site can’t get the data they need. The reports available must be reviewed to determine if they contain the information that the employees need to improve the site. This is a necessity whether the site in question is an Ecommerce site, a plain business site, or even a personal site.

Conversion Tracking

For any business site, conversion tracking is absolutely critical. Conversion tracking allows for reporting on what leads users to make a purchase, request a quote, or otherwise engage with the business. This information helps the employees responsible for the site refine their call to action and increase the amount of business driven by the site.

Ecommerce Tracking

If the site is an Ecommerce site, not only is conversion tracking necessary, but Ecommerce tracking is also a necessity. Ecommerce tracking allows for more precise reporting into exactly what kind of conversion is produced by allowing companies to correlate user behavior with their purchases. With this information, increasing the effectiveness of cross-marketing and landing pages becomes easy.

Multivariate Testing

Marketing professionals may want to use A/B or multivariate tests on landing pages. These tests allow for the comparison of different landing pages and their conversion data. This allows the site to be optimized to produce the best conversion rate possible for keywords, increasing the value of investments in PPC advertising.

All of these requirements should be considered before a decision is made. Google Analytics is one of the best packages out there for tracking activity on an Ecommerce site, as it allows detailed conversion and Ecommerce tracking, funnel visualization, A/B and multivariate testing, and site overlays in addition to page view tracking. Detailed reports can then be produced. This is a far more complete view of user activity than is provided by most other services.