Business Sense: What is...

Site: http://www.google.com/analytics/

I am going to start with a few of the basic questions, because this article will only be useful if everyone starts off with the same base of information. And, I want people to get the most out of this article. I am also going to later do a set of tutorials on how to set up Google Analytics for you Blogger account and your Etsy store. Now you have to own a Google Account to have access to this feature. So if you choose to go with using Google Analytics you will have to set up an account first.

So what is Google Analytics?
Google being the wonderful internet company they are offer a wide range of features. One of which is Google Analytics. It is a free service that allows people to track information about the websites, blogs, or accounts they maintain on the net. You are able to track the number of visitors, hits, and other extremely valuable data that most people will not have access to without the use of a web analytics service.

Why do I need Google Analytics on my blog?
Blogs are all about readers. And unless a person makes a comment on a blog you will not be aware of them. They are the faceless crowd. But, with Google Analytics you can not only count them in your list of consistent readers, you can learn more about them then you would have thought valuable. You can use the map overlay to see where you have a following. You can use the most visited links to see which articles you write are the most popular. This allows you to gear your future articles towards similar topics. This allows you to have a better understanding of your readers, which is the most valuable thing you can have.

Why do I need Google analytics on my Etsy site?
Now apply this to your Etsy store. Through the referral list of links you can see what online ads have brought you the most views. You can see which articles you have written on your blog that is driving attention to your store. You can also see what items you have created that are getting the most attention. You can also see what locations using the world map where you have a following. The main thing I use this for the hits per day count. I try to keep an eye on the days where I have the most views at what interaction I have had with my store that day.