The title of this particular post is a bit misleading because any “good” Google Analytics guide is industry-agnostic. Essentially, the same rules generally apply in regards to nearly every sphere of the online world. So, any “good” google analytics guide is a “good” guide for ministry.
It is what it is. Read on to get some of the good stuff.
Many of you need little to no convincing that studying the activities of the visitors when they visit your website is crucial to gaining a better understanding of how to effectively engage them.
But there are still some that may need a bit of a “nudge.” For those that fall in this particular category, let me share with you an example metaphor:
Let’s say you start a business. Any business. You want it to be the very very very best. So you take the map of the world, close your eyes, spin a couple times in a circle, and then, while your eyes are still closed, you manage to randomly point to a place on the map. You decide that’s where you’re going to start the business.
See, that’s foolish (there are a number of other words I could use here… you insert your own). You would never do that.
But so many ministries and organizations do just that when they jump in the deep waters of online. They have no way to track effectiveness of their business. Heck, they have no idea where they even “sit” on the digital landscape.
Now all examples and metaphors eventually fail and so the one I gave does, but the point is that Google Analytics can be one such resource to help you understand what’s going on with your website. But you need to do just as much “up front” research as well before you dive head in.
So, with that being said (and now that you’re are firmly convinced) here’s the gold mine primer for Google Analytics.
I’d pass this on, print it out, sit down with your “web team” and make sure they know what they are doing.
Don’t be blind, see the light, and do it smart.
I tried this the other day only to find out that it requires a javascript entry into the page,
anddddd you you guessed it worpress.com hosted blogs don't support javascript, grrrrrrrrrr.
Funny thing is – wordpress.com used have a section where you could see which part of the world your readers came from, either they have buried it somewhere in the menu or removed it completely.
That is interesting to me, does it have to do with Google Analytics?
DOH!
more ammunition to move off…
so helpful! the Online Community that I set up through Ning last year is set up on this. I did that so I could track the data but was so overwhelmed by how much it does, I know I've only just wrestled with the tip of the iceberg. I'm looking forward to reading the resource article you pointed to and getting the most out of G.A.
word up! rock it.
Anyone checked out http://www.alexa.com?
Found it through:
"@MichaelHyatt: What's the best way to get traffic comparisons for two sites? Is Alexa.com accurate? Anything better?"
Alas you gotta be in the top 100000 sites (what that means I do not know but church crunch is there, yayy)
Phill
alexa is ok. compete is good. there are many others too. quantacast.