Your web analytics consultant

Among the multitude of information available, here are the 3 key measures to take into account when analyzing the performance of a website:

• Traffic: the first step in analyzing the performance of a website is to track the number of visitors to the site and where they come from. This can help you understand the reach of your website and identify the sources of your traffic, such as organic search, social media and referral traffic.
• Engagement: these are indicators such as time spent on the site, actions taken on the page, consultation of several pages, etc. A low engagement rate may indicate that your website is not providing the information or experience that visitors are looking for and needs to be improved.
• The conversion rate: knowing the percentage of visitors who perform a desired action on your website, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form is essential. Measuring your conversion rate can help you understand how effective your campaigns and website are in achieving your business goals.
• Mobile friendliness: with the increasing use of mobile devices to access the internet, it is important to ensure that your website is mobile friendly. This means it must be easy to navigate and use on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets.

By tracking these and other metrics, you can gain insight into your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement. This can help you optimize your website and provide a better experience for your visitors.

To create a Google Analytics account, follow these steps:

• Go to the Google Analytics website
  https://www.google.com/analytics/
• Click on the “Sign In” button in the upper right corner of the page.
• If you already have a Google Account, click the “Sign In” button and enter your login information. If you don’t have a Google Account, click the “Create” link below the login fields and follow the instructions to create a new account.
• Once you are logged in, click on the “Register” button in the upper right corner of the page.
• On the next page, enter the name and URL of your website in the appropriate fields.
• Choose whether you want to track a single website or a mobile application, and enter the necessary information.
• Select the industry category and time zone that best suits your business.
• Select the data sharing options you wish to use.
• Review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and click the “I Agree” button if you agree.
• Click on the “Create” button to create your Google Analytics account.
• You will receive a tracking code that you must add to your website.
• Follow the instructions provided to add the code to your website, then click the “Create” button to complete the process.

Once your Google Analytics account is set up, you can start tracking and analyzing your website performance data. This can help you understand how visitors use your site and identify opportunities for improvement.

Google Analytics Universal and GA4 (short for Google Analytics 4) are two versions of the Google Analytics platform, which tracks and analyzes data about the performance of a website. The main differences are:

• Data collection: GA4 uses a more comprehensive data collection method that allows it to track data from multiple sources, such as websites, mobile apps and connected devices.
• User-centric data: GA4 is designed to track data at the user level, which means it can provide information about individual user behavior across multiple devices and sessions. On the other hand, Google Analytics
• Universal is designed to track data on a per-session basis, which allows us to understand the behavior of groups of users during a single session on a website.
• Machine learning: GA4 uses machine learning algorithms to automatically identify and classify user behavior, such as page views, events and conversions. This allows it to provide more accurate and detailed information about user behavior. In contrast, Google Analytics Universal relies on manual tagging and configuration to track user behavior.
• Reporting: GA4 offers a more modern and intuitive user interface, with an emphasis on real-time data and customizable dashboards. It also includes new reports, such as the Customer Journey Report and the Conversion Report, which provide detailed information about user behavior and conversion paths. In contrast, Google Analytics Universal offers a more traditional interface and a limited set of pre-defined reports.

Overall, GA4 is a more advanced and comprehensive platform than Google Analytics Universal, with an emphasis on user-centric data and machine learning. It is well suited for companies that want to gain deeper insight into their customers and optimize their digital experiences.

Yes (and no). Google Analytics is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is a European Union (EU) law establishing strict requirements for the collection and processing of personal data. The GDPR applies to any company that processes the personal data of individuals located in the EU, regardless of where the company is located.

• Google Analytics has implemented a number of features and tools to help users comply with GDPR, including:
• IP anonymization: Google Analytics automatically anonymizes the IP addresses of website visitors, thereby protecting their privacy. This means that the last byte of an IP address is set to zero, so that it cannot be used to identify an individual.
• User Consent: Google Analytics allows users to obtain consent from website visitors before collecting and processing their personal data. This can be done through a consent banner or similar mechanism that informs visitors of the use of cookies and other tracking technologies, and gives them the opportunity to accept or decline.
• User Rights: The GDPR gives individuals the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict and object to the processing of their personal data. Google Analytics provides users with tools to manage and exercise these rights, such as the Data Access Request (DAR) feature.

Nevertheless, some European countries have stated that Google is not compatible, even with data anonymization, as the processing servers are located in the United States.

Digital Analytics solutions track your website’s traffic sources, which can help you understand how visitors find the site and identify the most effective channels to reach your audience.

• Direct traffic: users who arrive on the website, without being referred by another source. They can be visitors who type the URL of the site directly in their browser, who clicked from an app, an email etc. More and more sources are not, or do not want to be identified, and this “unknown” traffic is also classified as direct traffic.
• Referral traffic: users who arrive at the website from other websites, for example when a visitor clicks on a link to the site from another site.
• Search traffic: users who arrive at the website from search engines, such as Google or Bing.
• Social traffic: users who arrive at the website from social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Paid traffic: users who arrive on the website from paid advertisements, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

By tracking and analyzing these and other traffic sources, users can gain insight into their website’s performance and identify opportunities for improvement. This can help them optimize their marketing efforts and drive more traffic and conversions to their site.