Do You Need a Web Analytics Pro?

You definitely need web analytics if you have a website, even if you’re not ready to do anything with them. Install Google Analytics and let it quietly collect data in the background so you’ll have some data when you’re ready to make decisions. But what’s next? Do you need an analytics pro to get from collecting data to making actionable strategy decisions?

We do analytics professionally here at Haden Interactive, so we have some insight into when a business ought to do their own analytics, and when they should bring in an expert.

Sometimes you need help

• If numbers make you feel as though your head is going to explode, you shouldn’t try to do your own analytics. I met last week with one of our clients who keeps track of his own analytics. He opened up the data on his laptop and we gazed at it together, enjoying the way you can notice something intriguing on one screen and then approach it from multiple other angles to get the full story. If this sounds insane to you, there’s no reason for you to be trying to manage your own analytics. There are other things that you’re good at, and you should spend your time on them.
• If you don’t see how web analytics connect with action, you could use some help. I’ve worked with companies where a report goes out every month and someone glances at it, and nothing happens. This is a waste of time and bandwidth. Sometimes, it’s true, the analytics just show that you’re doing the right stuff and should continue, but the data should always provide you with next steps. If you don’t get any new ideas or information from your analytics, you’re doing it wrong.
• If you are able to understand your analytics and you know how to use it to create strategy, but it doesn’t get done, then you should get some help. You can’t do everything yourself, and you don’t need to. Getting a quarterly analytics report from an analytics expert lets you be confident that the quantification will get done, even if you’re too busy to think about it right now. When you are ready to make decisions, those reports will give you actionable insights — fast.

Things are changing

If you use Google Analytics, and we recommend that you do, you need to know that Google Analytics is changing completely at the end of June 2023.

Google Is Sunsetting Universal Analytics

GA4 is quite different from Universal Analytics. You will need to migrate your Universal Analytics to GA4 and learn to find the data you’re used to. You will also discover some new reports and capabilities.

Once you’ve given it a try, look back at the questions earlier in the post to determine whether you need some help getting the most out of your analytics. If you’re ready to get that help, either in the form of training or of expert analytics support, call Haden Interactive at 479.966.9761 and we’ll get you on our calendar.