How do you know if you have a great website? You can go ask all of your friends if they like your site, but that’s not exactly giving you the concrete data that you need to properly assess the good, the bad, and the ugly (plus, if you have good friends, they’ll lie to you and tell you your site is amazing even if it’s completely non-functioning!) In order to really get to the meat of your issues, you need to have solid data from which to analyze how customers are finding you, what they’re using you for, which pages they hang out on the most, and what their behaviors and buying patterns are. This isn’t something you can ask for from dear old dad.
To get the truth of your site, you have to look at the numbers, and to get the most information from your website, Optimum Systems Online recommend using Piwik.
Piwik is an analytics platform with no limit for data storage, so you have the ability to mix and match the data and reports that you use to optimize the profitability of your website without worrying about running out of space. It only takes about five minutes to install the program, then you’re off and running, learning more about everything that you need to know to build your consumer base. The platform has even created mobile apps for iOS and Android, so you can access your data anytime, no matter what you’re doing or what device you’re using.
With Piwik, you own your own data, and your privacy is completely protected. Piwik was just upgraded to version 2.0, so it’s bigger and better than ever! It would be lengthy task to try to explain all of the amazingness of this program, so here are a few highlights to help get you on your way:
Real Real-Time Data. Often times “real-time data” means old data that takes a while to update, and by the time it does, it’s outdated. Piwik offers you real real-time data, so you can see what’s driving people to your site and grab the rest of the details as it’s actually happening.
The Vital Signs. Piwik will give you tons of information about your audience. Where are they? How long are they staying on your pages? Which pages are they landing on when they find you? And very, very importantly, which keywords are helping your content make it to the top of those consumers’ searches?
Customizable Dashboard. Different industries and different personalities need to see different types of data. With Piwik, your dashboard is completely customizable, so as you learn which widgets and information you use the most and which you never use at all, you’ll have the flexibility to make your dashboard look the way you want it to in order to utilize your time optimally.
Ongoing Assistance. If you’re looking at these pictures and feeling overwhelmed, don’t fret! The Piwik community is always available to help you figure out what your figures mean, and many of the functions within the program itself are built to help you out as you go. There are community forums, a FAQs section, and demos that can help you understand how to do the best by your own business.
Ease of Integration. Piwik has made it easy to add in advanced tracking options and complex goals, by allowing integration of outside information.
Automatic Reporting. Piwik will automatically email you reports of your choosing, so you don’t need to open the program to see what happened to your website in the past week/month/preset time period.
Access to Raw Data. Web developers like OSO love this one! Piwik gives you access to the raw data files, not just their translation of what the data means. This allows you to track individual feeds and movements, in addition to sorting information any way you can think of.
E-Commerce Analytics. Through Piwik, you can see how the activity of your website visitors directly corresponds to your e-commerce sales. High traffic, but low sales? You can see where the visitor is interrupted before reaching the products. High sales of one particular item? Track how the purchasers found you, and duplicate the process to increase sales across the board.
Site Speed Reports. Do you lose visitors because your pages take too long to load? Is there a lag on your site at certain hours? These problems can greatly affect your web visitor results, and can easily be remedied… if you are aware of the problem.
Has your interest regarding the way analytic can help your business been piqued? Would you like to try Piwik hosted by OSO? Get in touch and we will set up a demo for you.
