Google Analytics is helping web publishers and applications developers delve even deeper into the world of mobile communications and sales. As a result, they have integrated more mobile tools in Google Analytics – even to the point of accessing Google Analytics on a mobile phone so you can view your mobile results while, well, being mobile.
The new Mobile App Analytics provides exhaustive measurement of an entire customer journey with a given mobile application. This allows mobile developers and marketers to create more successful apps and better user experiences by measuring results at all stages, from acquisition metrics such as new/active user; engagement such as visitor flow, loyalty, and even app crashes. Finally, outcome results such as goal conversions and in-app purchases are also reported. Google reports this feature will be fully available by the end of summer 2012.
Google has come into the habit of clustering information in one place, and they are pushing more information into a single dashboard in Google Analytics. The Intelligence Alerts Widget now makes it easier to spot unexpected changes on a web site as the automatic and custom alerts are now found on the dashboard. The newly placed feature shows a timeline graph of the number of automatic/custom alerts, and with just a click on the widget, will generate reports of details if there is a spike in the number of alerts.
Remember WYSWYG from the early days of PCs before it was common to see on a computer screen what actually ended up on a printed page? For the younger people, that’s “what you see is what you get.” Now, that concept has migrated to Google Analytics with a browser size analysis, telling you what your visitors actually see.
Harking back to basics of newspaper publishing and the placement of important stories, some of the same rules apply, as what is actually “above the fold” on a web page is a significant factor in conversion rates. Google created a visualization that lets you quickly determine which portions of your page are visible to which percentage of visitors.
This will be a major tool in determining the age old question of form over content. The form may look pretty, but it’s usually the content which sells, as the continuing quest for the proper balance of the two is sought for just the right formula to drive results.
Google believes in its Android system, and backs that up with the Google Analytics App for Android so you can access the same accounts and profiles you see when you open Analytics from a desktop browser. The improvement comes by being able to see the reports in an optimized format for your smartphone.