Analytics Made Easier

Are you afraid of Google Analytics? A novice user can take advantage of GA, but the most powerful features have always been reserved for specialists who dedicate a good amount of time to customizing dashboards and keeping up on all of the data. Google, as is their wont, is now making life easier for the non-guru Analytics user with the Solution Gallery.

We always recommend following a strategy and making decisions based on data, and Google Analytics is a key tool for collection and analysis of data, but up until now, it took a lot of time to dissect the tremendous quantity of information and translate it into meaningful indicators of performance. There were just too many options and it was too easy to get lost in the data. Now, Google’s Solution Gallery offers pre-made dashboards designed to deliver the data you need based on your business and goals, letting you take advantage of more advanced features.

With more than 30 dashboard options, you can select the ones that will best represent your online marketing goals. Each dashboard can be added to your Analytics profile by just clicking the “Download” button. We’ve selected a few common interest dashboards to give you an idea of what Google is offering:

• Mobile Ecommerce
• Social Sharing
• Site Performance
• Daily Ecommerce
• Paid vs. Organic Search
• Efficiency of Visitor Acquisition
• Branded Traffic
• Non-Branded Traffic

Many marketers have been impatiently waiting for Google to produce the Solution Gallery. Early on, it made sense for Analytics to be complicated—Google wanted people to be able to make meaningful use of their data—but as people set up their dashboards and everyone learned what data were most important, packaged solutions were an inevitable and welcome feature.

If nothing else, Google’s Solution Gallery offers new users a more palatable analytics experience and gives marketers a way to get their feet wet without having to dive in. Of course, we still recommend that you work with an online marketing firm. Google’s Solution Gallery dashboards can provide an excellent snapshot for new GA users, but an experienced strategist will be able to tell you if you’re missing something important—which data are significant can sometimes be counterintuitive.