Since working in the world of web analytics, I have come across a common misconception about what web analytics is. When you talk about improving performance and conversion of websites, in many instances the first comment is “So you do SEO”. Many simply think optimising a website is SEO purely because of the word ‘optimisation’.
According to Wikipedia, the definition of web analytics is:
“Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. However, Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research, and to assess and improve the effectiveness of a website.”
Web analytics can and should be used in support of your SEO activity but it is important to know that there is a lot more to the tools such as Google Analytics and Adobe Marketing Cloud than just SEO.
Key Differences between SEO & Web Analytics
- Web Analytics should be used to understand and act upon increasing conversion rates of your website. SEO mainly affects visitors before they get to your website.
- Web Analytics will not directly increase traffic from Search Engines, instead SEO efforts are the primary method for doing so.
Web analytics should be used to not only look at how the various marketing activities are driving traffic to your site(s) but also how these individual traffic sources (email, PPC, display, SEO, affiliates etc) affect your website conversion rate. It is important to not just look at last click conversion as different marketing drivers can come in to play at different points in the visitor journey.
So in summary, web analytics is about a lot more than just SEO. Want to find out how web analytics can increase your website conversion, then Contact Me today.
