How to choose a web analytic tool?

Why you should use web analytics is no more a question that begs for a compelling answer. One look around you and you will suddenly realize the competition your website faces on the internet.

The amount of clutter on this virtual realm is beyond belief, which is why standing out from a hundred others is such a top priority for a successful business.
However, the field of web analytics is vast. There are many tools that a business owner can choose from, in order to determine how well the website is doing online.

Each of these tools delivers different answers and helps in different ways to analyze a particular aspect of web design, content, promotion and strategy.

Therefore, which ones of these you pick depends on your need to analyze your website. The following are some basic criteria to compare various analytical tools available for use.

The need
The analytical tool you pick mostly depends on the need for analysis. Why do you want to make web analytics a part of your monitoring process? What purpose do you want analytical tools to achieve? Once you identify the need, picking a tool becomes easy.

The features
What features does a particular tool have? While each tool is under the same umbrella term of analytics, the features and functions of each differ drastically. Again, this criterion links strongly to the need you have. If, for instance, you want to redesign your website, your focus will be on a tool with features enabling you to assess the user-friendly nature of the website.

The cost
Not all analytical tools are available for free. While some can be downloaded online at nil costs, other have to be purchased after the trial period is over. Overall, web analytics is not a cost-free exercise. Apart from choosing the right tool, there are costs related to infrastructure changes, implementation and generating, and deciphering results from the data.

Ability to integrate
How well does a tool integrate with other performance metrics? A web analytical tool needs input from various measurements, and its output further becomes an input for other indicators. Therefore, it is highly important that the tools you choose integrate well with your overall performance strategy.

Supplier reliability
This is also an essential factor because many analytical tools are designed by suppliers who cannot be trusted. You should only purchase a tool that has been put together by a reliable supplier.

Language and documentation support
Every tool has a particular language and style in which data is generated and results are analysed. The tool you choose should have language and text support so that results can be understood by the analytical expert you have assigned for the task. Without this support, no amount of data will make any sense.

see you in my next post.