Chartbeat Versus Google Analytics, is there a comparison?

Chartbeat Versus Google Analytics, is there a comparison?

There is a highly competitive world in web analytics, a dizzying array of free software, subscription-based software and one-time purchase software for a website manager to sift through hoping to find some type of clarity on who is visiting their website. The best known of these tools is the monolith - Google Analytics (GA). This is really a fantastic tool, but there are other types of software out there that offer a greater level of specificity that GA is not able to offer. In comes Chartbeat.

Before, we get into the differences between the two, let’s first define the offerings of Google Analytics and Chartbeat.

Google Analytics

 How does it work?

Google offers lines of Javascript (a.k.a. tracking code) to the webmaster/marketer to place into the website that sends data back to Google about visitors and visits. The huge data center at Google then takes the information and sends it back out to the webmaster/marketer in the forms of graphs, numbers and charts - hopefully in an easily understandable format. (Farney & McHale, 2013a)

The information sent back are displayed through a variety of reports, here is an overview of those reports:

Report Types 

Real Time	Audience	Acquisition	Behavior	Conversion
Definition: Data on the people who are using the Website at that moment.	Definition: A report that gives you an overview on your visitors to the site	Definition: The origins of the traffic to the site, how is it getting there?	Definition: How people navigate your site or how they interact on the site.	Definition: User defined successes, reports are empty until a goal is created.
Types of Reports:	Types of Reports:	Types of Reports:	Types of Reports:	Types of Reports:
Overview	Overview	Overview	Overview	Goals
Locations	Cohort Analysis	All Traffic	Behavior	Ecommerce
Traffic Sources	Demographic	Ad Words	Site Content	Multi-Channel Funnels
Content	Interest	Search Engine Optimization	Site Speed	Attribution
Events	Geo	Social	Site Search
Conversations	Behavior	Campaigns	Events
	Technology		Ad Sense
	Mobile		Experiments
	Custom		In-Page Analytics
	Benchmarking
	User Flow

(Farney & McHale, 2013b)

(Reed School of Media, 2015)

(Weiss, 2013)

As it is shown, Google Analytics is a robust tool that has created a number of filters, customization tools and goal settings to create reports that produces solutions for the eager marketer. The abilities of these reports are far reaching and should be investigated further if looking for specific information. However there are a few drawbacks to this tool that makes the reporting inaccurate and does not grab the whole picture.

·        The data that is generated is owned by Google, not great for those who are concerned with privacy

·        Data is only 25 months old, after that it is deleted from the reports

·        If you are an international company dealing with variable currencies, check to make sure GA supports those currencies

·        If you have multiple profiles you cannot cross compare

·        Only 25 goals per profile

(Patel, 2013)

Chartbeat

Who is Chartbeat?

Chartbeat is an analytics software that is a perfect marriage for content marketers. For those who own blogs or other editorial webpages this is a great tool for understanding how viewers are interacting with the content. It offers synchronous web traffic data combined with audience behavior data to show a holistic report on what elements are the most engaging on the website. It also shows what links are most popular in real-time so that you can quickly create content that is trending right now.

Report Types

        There are four report types within Chartbeat: Overview, Content, Social, Traffic Sources and Geo. However, rather than going through each of these reports as shown with Google Analytics, instead I intended to show the reports that differentiate Chartbeat with GA and give an overview of their functionality. 

Audience	Video
Definition: Overview of visitors	Definition: This report gives analysis on videos on the website.
Types of Reports:	Types of Reports:
Recirculation: How many if your returning or unique visitors read more than one article during one session	Play Rates: How many times a video is being played
Engaged time: This report shows what visitors are doing on a page, are they reading, commenting or being idle? How far did the person scroll down, were they moving their cursor around?	Lengths of Views: Are the users watching all the way through? Where do they stop?
Visitor frequency: How many times does a visitor come back.	Comparison: How does one video stand up to the other videos on the website

(Angeles, 2014)

(Dockterman, 2014)

How else does Chartbeat differ from GA?

First, Chartbeat is not as robust as GA nor does it have the wealth of customer feedback data that GA has, and the company knows this, so instead it has opted for a more niche market. This software is for those who want real-time specificity, are utilizing a multitude of media tactics and need quick and holistic data for those "game-time decisions".

One of the biggest differences between GA and Chartbeat is that they focus much more on engaged time: measureable time that the user is reading or engaging with the content. Chartbeat is able to do this by pinging the website every second versus utilizing timestamps, which GA does.  Chartbeat can measure which window is the active window (not just timestamping a window even though it is a hidden window in a long series of tabs), which pixels are in plain view (above the fold or below the fold) and how the reader has been interacting with the website by what they have clicked, how many times they have scrolled or how far they have scrolled within the past five seconds. This data can give an accurate real-time view of how users are engaging with the content, which will hopefully lead to maximizing attention. (Tornoe, 2014).

Secondly, Chartbeat has personalized dashboards for the various individuals managing the website. This is great for a website that has multiple bloggers working on a site who want to see the reports on their particular blog. If this blog has video and other customized reports it really helps this blogger to be able to change their layout around so it suits their needs.

This is a really fantastic analytics tool as well and can really give in-depth analysis for the right type of website. However, with any software there are drawbacks:

·         Not a free software, costs around $10/month

• Niche market without the same diversity of offerings (e.x. if the website does not have social media links or videos - not the analytics tool for you)

(Angeles, 2014)

Conclusion

For the average marketer, Google Analytics provides more than enough data and analysis to help the marketer make intelligent and market savvy decisions on how to improve their website. However, if you work in an industry that needs real-time data and is content driven, GA will not be enough for you. For bloggers, journalists, and social media gurus, Chartbeat is the tool. It can give the content engagement analysis in real-time, which will help create trending content.

References:

Angeles, S. (2014). 3 Google Analytics Alternatives (and Why You Should Use Them). Business News Daily. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6090-google-analytics-alternatives.html

Dockterman, E. (2014). People Aren't Actually Reading the Stories They Tweet. Time.Com, 1.

Farney, T., & McHale, N. (2013a). Implementing Google Analytics on Different Platforms. Library Technology Reports, 49(4), 9-15.

Farney, T., & McHale, N. (2013b). Goal Setting. Library Technology Reports, 49(4), 32-38.

Patel, M. (2013). Google Analytics limits and (possible) disadvantages. MatraXis. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://www.matraxis.co.uk/blog/google-analytics-limits-and-possible-disadvantages/#sthash.6zjTuFgl.dpuf

Reed School of Media. (2015). Lesson 5: Google Analytics. Retrieved Feb 16, 2015 from www.ecampus.wvu.edu

Tornoe, R. (2014). Aiming for 'Engaged Time'. Editor & Publisher, 147(8), 26-27.

Weiss, T. R. (2013). Google Launches Real-Time API Beta for Deeper Marketing Data. Eweek, 1.

User Flow.. A lot of lines, data and can be extremely helpful!

User Flow.. A lot of lines, data and can be extremely helpful!

As we take another step further into the best that is Google Analytics, I would like to pause and take a look at the evolution and history of Google Analytics to understand past trends that may no longer be relevant and understand the more relevant current trends. 

October 2005 - June 2006: Google Analytics V1 rolls out and with overwhelming response needs to shuts down, but quickly reopens by invitation-only.  

June 2006: First new addition: AdWords reporting  

August 2006:  GA V1 is open to all, no more invitations. Continued changes to the user interface 

April 2007: GA V2 is released. User interface more in line with the Google brand and created a UI that was easier for marketers to utilize versus being only for IT professionals. 

October 2008: GA V3 is released. New reports included  advanced segmentation, custom reporting, and an external API. Became more of a universal tool that opens up more possibilities. 

March 2009: Numerous educational opportunities arose with Conversion University courses and the Google Analytics Individual Qualification Test. Now users can become GA qualified experts. 

April 2009: New features: AdSense integration, marketers can measure content performance and revenue. 

April 2009: Google Analytics Data Export API becomes available to all users, which opens the door for organizations and developers to integrate analytics into other platforms. 

October 2009: GA V4 is released. This new release helped with detecting anomalies in site data and featured intelligent analytics. 

December 2009: Increased accuracy and speed of tracking data. 

April 2011: GA V5 is released. More customizable dashboards, JavaScript interface, and general interface upgrades. 

September 2011:  GA premium is released and new report: real-time 

October 2011: New report: flow visualizations.  

June 2012: New report: Mobile Apps  

October 2012: Universal Analytics is released and allows GA to track a single user across various devices.  

September 2013:  Google search terms encryption to non-signed in Chrome users. 

(Brouse, 2013) 

This outline wasn't meant to bore you, instead it was meant to give a jumping off point of how GA has evolved and why these newer features are becoming much more important. This is my segue into user flow and I will discuss the importance of this report and how to utilize it effectively. 

What is the Google Report, User Flow? 

This report shows the trajectory and path of the user while on a website.  It shows how the user begin their path on your website and the most common paths they take. GA clusters the groups of pages into segments, which appear as colored blocks. (Braaten, 2013). An example would be a user enters the landing page, clicks on a link to an article and decides to leave a comment for the author of the article and clicks out. 

1. Landing Page 
2. Clicks on article  
3. Submits a comment  
4. Exits website 

This is the user flow of one user - easy enough, right? 

SOPs for User Flow 

Before you begin using this report and extrapolating information from this data there are a few things you should do first: 

1. Segment the data. There are a variety of segmentations: country of origin, users who take an action (convert), who didn't take an action (didn't convert), specified locations and more specific locations. 

2. Click on "Highlight Traffic Through Here" - this will give a clearer look of the data 

3. If you want to get an even clearer vision of the data just from the US click on "View Only This Segment". This does not erase any information instead just filters it. 

4. Utilize the sliders for increased readability and greater detail - it can help! 

Analysis on User Flow Data: 

This data shows the percentages of individuals on the various landing pages and the trajectory of the individuals. There is usually a high drop off point after the first page due to information not found, incorrect website or information was quickly found and the user did not need to further investigate. You will also notice the drop off rate decreases as the users go further into the website and the numbers quickly decline. (Roberts, 2014) What can this data do for the marketer? 

1. Conversion Rate Optimization: As stated above, the User Flow data can show which pages are most popular, where the action takes place (conversions) and what pages have no actions (conversions). Where there is no action taking place could be because of a form error, or the users could be clicking back and for the between sub-sections within the website because they can not find what they are looking for. By identifying potential website hierarchy issues, the webmasters can fix this resulting in higher conversion rates. (Braaten, 2014) 

2. User Friendly Website: Utilizing the same analysis as above, a marketer can take data from drop off rates, users bouncing around to different links and general trajectory can show spots where the website is falling short on information for the user. Since, you can segment users from different traffic sources and devices you can see if your site is mobile friendly or has a poor return rate from social media. (Kerschlbaum, 2013) 

References: 

Braaten, J (2013). How to Turn the Google Analytics Visitors Flow Report Into Your Secret CRO Weapon. Search Engine Watch. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2295813/how-to-turn-the-google-analytics-visitors-flow-report-into-your-secret-cro-weapon 

Brouse, B. (2014). The Evolution of Google Analytics: A Timeline. Measureful. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://blog.measureful.com/2014/02/the-evolution-of-google-analytics-a-timeline/ 

Kerschlbaum, J (2013). How to Use Google Analytics Visitors Flow Reports to Improve Conversion Rates. Search Engine Watch. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2273391/how-to-use-google-analytics-visitors-flow-reports-to-improve-conversion-rates 

Roberts, M. (2014). Making Use of Google Analytics' User Flow and Behavior Flow. Retrieved on February 16, 2015 from: http://mudbugmedia.com/blog/2014/09/23/google-analytics-visitor-behavior-flow/ 

Business to Business Marketers Using Social Media

Business to Business Marketers Using Social Media

SLR is a global environmental consulting company who works in the following business sectors: oil & gas, infrastructure, industry, mining, renewable & low carbon, planning & development and waste management. This company is a business to business company that relies on mostly referrals, trade shows, RFI/RFP and general web presence as their marketing tactics to secure new business. SLR does not have a well developed social media plan for two reasons: the company does not see the value in social media to garner new business and there is a reluctance in having platforms where SLR employees, clients and competitors could potentially share confidential information. 

With that being said, SLR would benefit from a stronger social media plan. There is value in social media, however with the current exponential growth of the company it is understandable why the company does not want to invest in another in a strategy. The old adage "if it is not broken, why fix it?" is not how a company should be running its marketing plan. A stagnate marketing plan is a dying marketing plan. Also, the fear of confidential information being exposed is exactly what will happen if SLR does not take charge to control the conversation and monitor these platforms.

This is not to say, SLR should jump into Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. Instead, SLR should searching where these conversations are happening. Where do contractors, consultants, government agencies, etc. talk about oil and gas drilling? Or what platforms do mining and minerals professionals use on a professional or a social level? There a few online discussion forums, but after viewing the "Environmental Consultant Discussion Forum" these do not look like a hotbed for trading industry leads, instead it looks like a Q&A session for non-industry individuals. (Environmental Consultants, 2015).

Instead, SLR should be focusing on LinkedIn and Twitter in order to manage the conversation about themselves and their industry, learn about the evolving field, and have touch points with potential clients.

Why LinkedIn?
First, when establishing your online credibility for your business it is extremely important to have a strong LinkedIn profile. More and more potential colleagues and clients are going to look at the LinkedIn profile if/when they begin their background search on your company. It is important for business to business marketers to have a strong showing on a platform that just caters to business connections.

There are other social business platforms that SLR could use, but LinkedIn is the most important social business platform because it has the largest number of business profiles and therefore allows for the greatest promise for future client partnership. Also, the structure of LinkedIn allows for easy search options for individuals within the industry you are looking to do business with.  (Garst, 2013)

How to Use LinkedIn:
There are a variety of ways a company can utilize LinkedIn proactively in order to gain the highest ROI. A few options are:

1. Having a dedicated marketer who will post regularly to the business's account. It is important for these posts to be targeted toward potential clients, information on the successes of the company, and general updates about the company but still using targeted keywords. Also, there are a number of ways for a company to be seen as an industry leader. One of these ways is for a company to post about industry-related best practices in order to be seen as an industry leader.

2. There are numerous groups and niche subgroups that a company can join on LinkedIn. It would benefit a marketer to join all the groups and get involved in the dialogue and discussion.

3. Use LinkedIn as a platform to invite potential clients and current clients to events/open houses, etc.

4. Lastly, a company could also pay for advertisements. (Duermyer, n.d.)

Why Twitter?
Twitter is a great way to quickly and easily read information that you want to see, allows you to easily join conversations that you want to join. There is a high level of customization and specification with Twitter. Business to business marketers can learn about breaking news, industry-related developments, and information about potential and current clients succinctly. 

This type of microblogging allows a business to connect with another business in a variety of ways. Retweeting: by retweeting other companies and other companies will re-tweet your company; it creates links that can help with website SEO and create buzz on Twitter by gathering more interest and potentially more followers. Hashtags: a way Twitter was able to categorize and unify information for easier access. This allows business to search for specific keywords and follow new companies that fall within their industry.

How to use Twitter:
A business to business marketer should use Twitter only when they have identified strategy and expected outcomes. Here are few rules a business to business marketer should live by:

1. A poorly managed Twitter account is worse than no account. If you are going to use this fast paced platforms leaving it idle for weeks or months on end is going to show poor performance, especially if there is a strong dialogue around the company.
2. Always reply when a follower tweets something to the company. Need to show there is a person behind the user name and interact with those who follow you.
3. Utilize the search function to learn of tweets you may have missed or to find new companies to follow. (Foster, n.d.)


Duermyer, R. (n.d.)How to Use LinkedIn To Promote Your Home Business. About Money. Retrieved on February 1, 2015 from: http://homebusiness.about.com/od/socialmediamarketing/a/How-To-Use-Linkedin-for-Marketing.htm

Environmental Consultants (2015).  Environmental Consultants Discussion Forum. Retrieved on February 1, 2015 from: http://www.environmental-consultants.com/environmental-forum

Foster, H. (n.d.) Twitter for business: How to make it work for your business. Computer Weekly. Retrieved on February 1, 2015 from: http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Twitter-for-business-How-to-make-it-work-for-your-business

Garst, K. (2013). How to Effectively Use LinkedIn for Business. Boom Social Retrieved on February 1, 2015 from: http://kimgarst.com/how-to-effectively-use-linkedin-for-business

McCoy, J (2015). Is Twitter Killing YouTube? 5 Top Reasons You Should Prioritize Twitter. Business to Business Community.  Retrieved on February 2, 2015 from: t http://www.business2community.com/twitter/twitter-killing-youtube-5-top-reasons-prioritize-twitter-01142186#PQL5e50JDYIIpsBx.99