08.19.06
Google Analytics FREE for Everyone
We have been waiting long for this – Google Analytics(GA) is finally open up and allowing free registration from EVERYONE. When GA was launched, We got pretty excited as such a powerful tool is available… FOR FREE!!! It’s a no-brainer, we instantly grab an account and tested it out. Guess what, we are sold (blown away, to be exact) and decided to build an installation interface which allow GA to be easily integrated into webShaper line of products.
Luckily for us, not long after we got the account, Google suddenly called a stop to the FREE registration due to OVERWHELMING RESPONSE (Yes, there are things even Google cannot cope) and GA has since become an “Invitation Only” registration, until they open up again at 15th August 2006. Now anyone with a website can instantly create one for free by simply by visiting http://google.com/analytics
It’s good news for our long awaited customers who would like to try out GA with either webShaper e-catalog or e-commerce. GA is a very powerful tools, it supports a client-side data collection technique for capturing e-commerce transactions. With some simple additions to your receipt page, GA can automatically detect and record transaction and product information.
And if you are using Google Adwords for PPC (Pay Per Click) advertisement, Google Analytics also calculates ROI metrics from automatically imported cost and keyword tracking data, giving you valuable insights and analysis which could be used to improve your PPC strategy, not to mention the time it saves. But please be reminded that GA is not a real-time tracker, meaning the statistics won’t be reflected on GA right away (unlike Statcounter, which tracks real-time), instead it normally will take around 24 hours to update the data. So you might want to use both Statcounter and GA to track your traffic.
On the opposite, Bad Bad News for a lot of not-so-competent web statistical providers which will wind up their services anytime soon. But in a ultra competitive and cut throat business like IT and Software, it’s a norm.
