Google Analytics good for enterprises (and better with expert resources)

Posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 11:55 AM by Simon Smith  |  Comments (2)

A common question we get for our Google Analytics services is whether the platform, being free, is suitable for enterprise web analytics. (It’s such a common question, in fact, that I want to assemble a list of enterprise-class companies already using it.)

Yesterday, Google announced a Forrester study, “Appraising Your Investment in Enterprise Web Analytics” (PDF), that helps clarify the situation.

One important finding—particularly for a Google Analytics consulting company like us—is that Forrester recommends spending more money on analytics services than platforms:

Enterprise companies must ask themselves if they are paying too much for capabilities that they simply do not need. In some cases, gaining fewer seldom-used capabilities is a worthwhile tradeoff if funds can be reallocated to hire more resources necessary for analysis.

Also, according to the study, “sixty percent of decision-makers agree that investments in web analytics people are more valuable than investments in web analytics technology.”

Some other interesting findings:

  • 53% of enterprises surveyed use a free technology solution as their primary web analytics tool, and 71% use free tools in some way
  • 66% of enterprises using a paid tool would consider switching to a free one
  • 52% of practitioners fail to effectively use more than half the features of their tools—whether they’re free or paid
  • 71% of enterprises surveyed report that web analytics data plays a significant role in decision-making
  • Nearly two-thirds of enterprises would abandon their current web analytics provider under the right circumstances

I’m looking forward to digging more deeply into the report, which you can download free by following the link above.

And if your enterprise is considering a switch to—or start with—Google Analytics, or wants to make better use of its current Google Analytics implementation? Let’s talk.

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Comments (2)

Steven Berkovitz wrote on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 4:44 PM

Google Analytics is definitely a great (free) tool and more recently has really started to complete more heavily with the big players (omniture, webtrends) with features like custom segments, custom reports, etc.

However, the fact that you are limited to 4 goals per profile is still a huge limiting factor IMO – like what “Enterprise” website can limit themselves to 4 goals? That’s just silly. And don’t get me started on creating additional profiles just to fulfil this requirement.

If Google really took this seriously, they’d lift this silly limitation.

Simon Smith wrote on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 5:08 PM

Steven, I don’t disagree. I think that removing this limitation could really reduce the complexity of installing and configuring Google Analytics for websites with more than four goals. At the same time, we often find that organizations think that something’s a goal when it’s really just a step in the goal funnel. For example, is downloading a white paper a goal, or a step in the funnel towards a contact form submission? More often than not, measurement needs can be accommodated by building better funnels within the four-goal restriction. But you’re right in that this doesn’t always address the needs of some complex websites and online marketing initiatives. Thanks again for the feedback.

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