Website services
Getting the most from Google Analytics
This new service introduced in Spring 2011, complements the Website take-up service by helping councils maximise the benefits from the free statistics that Google makes available for website owners about usage of their sites.
Google Analytics is a powerful website analytics tool that tracks and measures what visitors do on your website. Launched in 2005 it is now used by 50% of the world's top 1 million websites. Many councils, government websites and FTSE100 companies use Google Analytics.
Our service quality assures installation and configuration of Google Analytics so that the results obtained are accurate and meaningful. Results are then benchmarked against those from other participating councils to identify opportunities for improvement.
Provided in partnership with web analytics specialists Conversionworks (www.conversionworks.co.uk) one of very few UK companies to have been awarded this status by Google, the service also enables web teams to develop their expertise in understanding and interpreting web data, helping them make good decisions about improving the user experience of their website.
While the Website take-up service provides feedback from individual council website users about their experience, the Google Analytics data provides statistics based on what all users of the website actually did during their visit.
Although anyone can set up Google Analytics for their site, free of charge, the value of the results obtained depend entirely on the quality of the installation. This is particularly relevant for benchmarking, an important component of the service, where like must be compared with like.
Through benchmarking their Google data, participants will be able to identify where their site could be performing more effectively particularly around transactions. The service can also facilitate use of advanced techniques like the simultaneous testing of different page layouts to identify the most effective approach.
What it costs and how to join
A one year subscription to Getting the most from Google Analytics costs £1,350 (£1,100 for Website take-up service subscriber) for GA Fundamentals, the basic service, and £1,700 (£1,450 for Website take-up service subscriber) for the enhanced service (GA Fundamentals+).
For GA Fundamentals, the price includes:
- Installation guide tailored to the needs of a council website
- Expert audit of installation
- Monthly reporting of results
- One place at Socitm's twice-yearly website performance improvement workshops
- Annual subscription for enhanced service
- For GA Fundamentals+, the price includes the basic service plus:
Advanced installation guide (eg measuring site goals);
- More advanced reports of completed website goals
- Extra trouble shooting support
If you are interested in subscribing fill in our Getting the most from Google Analytics Quotation form.
Google Analytics leaflet ( 101.33 KB PDF)
