Benchmarking allows users to compare key metrics such as visits, page-views, pages per visits, and bounce rate with an average value that’s been generated from data provided by other Google Analytics users. The Benchmarking feature will display your data on a line-graph; the graph will also feature a line indicating the average result for that metric for other websites within your industry.

Because you can select which category your website falls into from a hefty list of options, the Benchmarking average you see should be reasonably contextually valid. Google further focuses the Benchmark by splitting websites into three categories (small, medium, and large) depending on the amount of visitors they receives; you should be presented with an average that reflects the size of your web presence.

Why Use It?

Remember that because the Benchmarking line represents an average, it’ll be affected by erroneous results within the analytics data that it’s drawn from. So a few sites with unusually high or low bounce rates, for example, could skew the average seen by other Benchmarking users.

While Benchmarking isn’t an authoritative source for competitor analysis, it is a useful tool for rating your site’s metrics against something other than previous performance. Use it to identify opportunities for improvement, spark strategy, and inspire site development.

Accessing Google Analytics Benchmarking:

All analytics data used in Benchmarking is anonymous, and you have to agree to share your data in order to access the Benchmarking service.

To activate Benchmarking, you need to agree to share your analytics data “.Anonymously with Google and others” in your Data Sharing Settings. You can access this either via your over-arching account settings, or, if you’re setting up a new account, at the Accept User Agreement page; the option you need to agree to is below the Google Analytics Terms Of Service. Then you can overlay the Benchmarking line on your data visualisations by clicking on the ‘Benchmarking’ tab in the visitors section of Google Analytics. Benchmarking can be used no matter which version of the tracking code is installed to your Google Analytics account.

The dashboard is the first screen you see once you’ve logged in to Google Analytics. It’s an overview page, and it displays a number of reports. You can choose which reports you want to be displayed; this means that it’s possible to set up an Analytics Dashboard that presents you with key analytical business information as soon as you log on.

A well set out, well thought-through dashboard will give you a general idea of your website’s performance through bounce rates etc, important business metrics like conversion rates, and any anomalies. Then, if something catches your eye, you can drill down to get more detailed information.

You can incorporate any of your analytics reports into your dashboard by clicking on the ‘Add to Dashboard’ tab within your Google Analytics. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve been concentrating on SEO (always a good idea!) and want to track bounce rates for visitors generated by a certain keyphrase. Find the relevant report in analytics, add it to your dashboard, and it’ll be one of the first things you see next time you log on.

Some Tips:

• Don’t swamp yourself with too much information. You can have a maximum of twelve dashboard elements; use them wisely.
• Clear Identification of your business’s key metrics should dictate which reports you prioritise. Picking reports that represent your website’s goal completion rates is a good place to start.
• Remember that each of your websites or businesses may require different dashboards to show key data.
• Different analytics users need personalised dashboards so each person sees the information that’s relevant to their role.

You can add and remove new reports with ease. And, when it’s necessary, you should. Over time your business will develop, and your use of analytics will become more sophisticated. Remember that the dashboard is customisable for a reason: don’t miss an opportunity to keep tabs on relevant information, and don’t be afraid of streamlining your dashboard.

That IBM could see the worth of buying Coremetrics is no surprise. Web analytics – especially when it’s combined with the kind of aggressive optimisation espoused by Coremetrics – offers genuine and tangible ROI. More than just technical feedback, it also provides insight into visitor behaviour that can bolster knowledge of target demographics and open up new routes to selling. The IBM press release announcing the acquisition of Coremetrics contains this telling little stat:

“IBM’s 2010 CEO Study showed that 88 percent of CEOs will focus on getting closer to their customers in next five years, 82 percent of CEOs want to better understand customer needs and 85 percent of CEOs require more visibility into their businesses.”

That’s just some of the kind of data that Web Analytics can provide. Joe Davis, CEO of Coremetrics, further backs this up: “Marketers increasingly need the ability to see across their organizations and the agility to make split-second decisions based on real-time data.” This is as true for IBM/Coremetric’s giant clients as it is for North West based SEMS and Start-ups. The future of online marketing is intertwined with the future of Analytical measurement and analysis.

Due to the internet being digital and computerised, internet traffic flow is logged automatically, online marketing is therefore one of the most tangible advertising methods. It only becomes tangible however when you utilise website analytics for both analysis and reporting. Website analytics can provides very high levels of accuracy on the successes or failures of your online marketing campaigns. Using visitor segmentation you can split your visitors into many areas, usually unique to your specific marketing campaigns, the five main traffic sources being:

• Direct – Visitors entering your URL in the address bar.

• Referral – Visitors who came from an external website, not search engines.

• Natural Search – Visitors from natural search engine listings.

• Paid Search – Visitors from sponsored search engine listings.

• Paid Referral – Visitors from sites that you pay for a click through, i.e. as price comparison sites.

Once you have the basic segmentation you are then able to segment further to investigate in greater detail and with the appropriate tracking parameters, monitor and obtain accurate feedback on each of your individual online marketing campaigns. This is essential for you to ensure that you are not only maximising opportunity, but are also receiving good return on your investment.

Once armed with the relevant segmentation and KPI information you are able to make informed and managed decisions about budget allocation and future spend in direct correlation to your actual Return on Investment.

Although there are undoubtedly discrepancies in the information the various software reports to you, Jim Sterne makes the very valid point “If your yardstick measures 39 inches instead of 36 inches, it’s still great to have a measurement tool”, basically your software even if not 100% accurate provides a benchmark for your statistics as your software will always lack accuracy by the same percentage; so day by day you will know if you have comparatively gained or lost traffic.

The report is very interesting and in depth, well worth a read if you are interested in website analytics. The full report with the final results is due out in July of 2007, which will undoubtedly provide a lot of insight into the website analytics software on review.

If your webs site takes longer than four seconds to load your not alone, research also showed that over half of the top 500 US shopping sites take longer than four seconds.

If you have spent money on directing the user to your website either using search engine optimisation (SEO) or pay per click(PPC) and the page that the user lands on takes longer than four seconds then you will potentially lose that user and can be wasting your marketing budget. Undertaking web analytics (WA) can track customers as they visit your website and identify any sections of the website that can be improved.