Google Analytics is a web analysis tool which allows you to research how your visitors ended up on your site, what they clicked on while they were there. The reason web site owners want to know this is so that they can offer their visitors a better experience, increase your return on investment, increase conversion rates, you can use this information to make more money from the internet. Google analytics is completely free and allows you to create over 80 different reports; this is a free system that allows you to track your visitors. You will be able to use Google analytics to track the success of your advertising campaign; this is even possible if you don’t use Google Adwords advertising. You can use this information to find out which adverts work the best for your campaign. Assessing the performance of your AdWords adverts is really easy because Analytics is incorporated into Analytics. Google Analytics was originally created by Urchin Software, in April 2005 Urchin Software Corp was purchased by Google. In 2006 the software was renamed as Google Analytics. It is also possible to purchase Urchin which is a standalone package which can be installed on your own servers. The biggest difference with these pieces of software is that it’s completely free. Many of the other analytic packages are quite expensive. Google Analytics also includes some advanced features. The dashboard can be customized to make it easy to select certain information as quickly as possible. It also incorporates well with Google internal site search to find out. Like many other applications designed and created by Google the interface isn’t the best, however it does what it needs to very well. The service is free and so you can’t expect the very best software package. Google Analytics incorporates very well with Google Adwords which means it’s easy to track the success of your various advertising campaigns. Learning to use the software is very easy thanks to a number of in-depth tutorials which show you everything you need to know. There is also a large and vibrant community of people who will help you out if you ever get stuck. The interface might not be as streamlined as some of the alternatives; however once you get to know it you shouldn’t have a problem. Registering for Google Analytics is very easy, especially if you already have a Google Account. If not then signing up for one is also very easy. If you don’t have a Google account already then you will have to sign up for one first, however if you do then it’s simply a matter of entering information about your website, your contact information, accept the terms and conditions and then start using your account. The system will then automatically generate some code for you to place into your website. Once you have done all this your account should be fully functioning and you will have access to all of the reports that Google generates. Analytics is completely free to use, however if you are not a Google Adwords Advertiser then you will be limited to a maximum of 5 million page views per month. When signing up you do not have to enter any of your payment information. Google Analytics is perfect for any webmaster looking for a reliable way to track visitors to and from their sites. The best thing about Google’s offering is that it’s completely free, although not as advanced as some of the other solutions it is free!

• Completely Free Accounts – limited to maximum of 5m views per month without adwords account
• Ability to track success of certain PPC adverts
• Integration with Adwords
• Email reports sent out when scheduled
• Fast and easy to implement into your website

http://www.google.com/analytics/