My next big idea for Assignment III involved a local real estate agent's website. The site is hosted by Zillow, and he uses Google Analytics to track activity. The owner says it's useful to see how visitor activity increases when he posts a new listing versus when he updates a new one, and it also helps him decide where to spend his time and energy in terms of location. I had a productive introductory chat with the owner: I learned a little about how the real estate business works and he was excited about the opportunity to receive a little free assistance with website, which is admittedly not his strength. Unfortunately, my initial research revealed that due to an error that occurred during Zillow's payment structure transition, the owner's website was currently displaying nothing more than an ad for Zillow. The owner quickly resolved the problem with Zillow, but because he and I agreed that the data would be inaccurate in terms of site traffic, we agreed that now was not the right time to attempt an analysis.
I ended up using the Eller MIS Online website for the purpose of my assignment, and actually learned a lot about what to look for when analyzing data as well as what I might want to do with that information if I were in a position to implement changes. The Google Analytics modules provided by Google were very helpful, more so than the modules provided by MicroStrategy for last week's assignment. However, knowing what we all know about Google the company, it comes as no surprise that Google produces high quality, engaging training for its product.
To begin my analysis, I made a short list of questions I hoped to find the answers to, and figured my opinions about who uses the MIS Online site would either be confirmed or overturned. As an in-state, female student in the program, what I learned about geographics and demographics did not surprise me. I can look back on most of my classes and say with confidence that a majority of my peers reside in Arizona and that male students easily outnumber female students. This information wasn't shocking, or even particularly interesting, until I considered whether Eller is satisfied with these ratios. Suddenly, this data because very useful, because decision-makers at Eller can use the status quo as a catalyst for change if a goal about diversifying the student body exists.
Earlier this week, Dr. Ram asked via Twitter about the difference between Google Analytics Premium and the standard offering. Freemium offerings often attract a base of customers, but it depends on the company whether paid-for services are worth the investment. LinkedIn is a great example -- popular opinion has yet to settle on whether this social media's site premium service is worth the expense. Knowing this, I was naturally curious about what set Google Analytics Premium apart, and had done a bit of research at the beginning of the week. I assumed that the Fortune 500 companies using Google Analytics were paying for service simply because their site traffic would be significantly larger than that found on a small business owner's website. I found a great side-by-side comparison chart on Tomer Tishgarten's blog, All That I Know About Marketing Technology, that is both easy to read and in the world of technology, incredibly current. He also included a great image, which truly highlights the fact that Google Analytics Premium and Standard are cut from the same cloth, but definitely not the same animal.
The chart showcases key differences relative to account management services, data limits, and data processing time. An awareness of these key differences makes it quite obvious why my company would pay for service, while the local real estate agent I spoke with would not. In other words, both may be fruit, but a business's decision about whether to select the apple or the orange is heavily dependent on how they intend to use Google Analytics as well as how much traffic the site generates.
Now that I know enough to be dangerous, I reached out to the real estate agent again and asked him to get in touch near the end of the year, once he has enough reliable site traffic logged. I would still like to help him improve his site based on existing traffic, and I learned a lot this week about what questions to ask to make the most of whatever we learn about visitors at homeselleraz.com. I am also hopeful that as I continue to steer my career at Barnes & Noble around my newly acquired skills in this program, I will create an opportunity for myself to work with the team responsible for analyzing data from bn.com using Google Analytics.
References
Farina, C. (2012, July 9). 51% of Fortune 500 companies use Google Analytics. Retrieved from http://www.e-nor.com/blog/web-analytics/51-of-fortune-500-companies-use-google-analytics
Gill, G. (2013, April 3). Top ten companies that use Google Analytics. Retrieved from http://www.gillsolutions.com/top-ten-companies-that-use-google-analytics/
Tishgarten, T. (2013, October 31). Comparing Google Analytics standard vs premium. Retrieved from http://www.allthatiknow.com/2013/10/comparing-google-analytics-standard-vs-premium/#.U6dZ4Y1dXi5
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