What Are the Benefits of Google’s New Universal Analytics?

Websites have used Google Analytics for years, and we’ve endorsed it, since for the most part, Google Analytics is the most fully-featured analytics suite out there. Especially for the price. You can’t beat free, after all.

However, Google Analytics has also had some drawbacks. It can be too fully-featured for the average business owner. It’s one thing to have all the data at your fingertips, but another thing altogether to be able to parse the information.

And, of course, Google Analytics only showed part of the story: website traffic.

Businesses these days have robust and interconnected marketing strategies that span multiple services and devices. They also integrate online and offline customer sales and outreach.

With Google’s Universal Analytics, you can now do so much more.

What’s New With Universal Analytics?

The main improvement with Universal Analytics is implied in the name. Now, you can send information from any service that tracks data to UA, to be integrated, contextualized, and interpreted.

For instance you can send information from:

CRMs
Social Media
Offline data such as sales made over the phone, in-store foot traffic, or cash register receipts

This adds more robustness to Google Analytics, which was previously limited to only a few services with API integrations.

Universal Analytics can be used in any number of creative ways, since it can utilize data from any device that can capture and transmit. You could, for instance, track company vehicle miles with sales. You could even see if longer or shorter breaks correlate with productivity!

Improved User Tracking Means More Accurate Analysis

The key to Universal Analytics comes down to individual User IDs. Because of the variety of devices a single person can use, it used to be impossible to track whether the same highly-engaged person interacted with your website, your company Facebook page, or clicked on your ads across multiple devices, or if it was several unique visitors.

This User ID is even more powerful than it seems at first glance. It can be used to track not only website and mobile app visits, but also store, call center, or catalog usage.

Drawbacks Of Universal Analytics

UA isn’t perfect, though. Although it’s more fully featured than ever, it doesn’t solve the problem of having someone with the skills necessary to organize and interpret the data. And with the opportunity for more cross-platform integration than ever, every business will require a unique configuration of data and services.

At Conversion Pipeline, we have the skills and experience to help you set up your Universal Analytics portal. Call today for your free consultation!