Going with your gut is important, but all entrepreneurs should already know the importance of using data to drive results. You can then adapt your methods based on what works and what doesn’t.
There are dozens of analytics applications on the market today for optimizing your business website, but here are four that I use pretty frequently.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free website analytics software offered by Google. Of course, you can also pay for a more comprehensive plan if the free version isn’t all you’d dreamt it would be.
By installing a unique tracking code on every page of your website — a small snippet of Javascript — Google can collect information on your site’s activity. If you want more in-depth information, you can use UTM parameters instead.
Google’s analytic reports are based on dimensions and metrics, so you can see where your traffic is coming from and the quantitative measurements for those dimensions. Google is essentially a great problem-solving tool for at breaking down what you need to know about your websites.
Mixpanel
Mixpanel is similar to Google Analytics in many ways, but each has developed its own unique strengths. Mixpanel’s technology removes the need to write codes. They also offer a award-winning customer support regardless of your plan.
You can easily define and track events with their data models, and even send targeted messages with the ability to analyze data from those messages. Mixpanel also offers an intuitive machine learning suite.
Mouseflow
If you want to see how visitors behave when on your sites, Mouseflow is the answer. Mouseflow offers tools you can use to optimize your website visitors’ experience.
With the session replay feature, you can see an anonymized recording of clicks, mouse movement, scrolls, forms, etc.
By analyzing heatmaps, you can see what people are paying attention to when they visit your site. You can also use funnels to discover where visitors are leaking out, and forms to optimize conversions among different segments of visitors.
Another great feature is that visitors can complete interactive surveys when something is wrong, providing you with valuable feedback.
Semrush
Semrush is a one-stop shop for search engine optimization, comparable to Moz Pro. I would especially recommend Semrush for small to midsize business users because it’s an easy way to implement an effective SEO strategy for a reasonable price.
While Semrush does lack keyword management, it makes up for that with its comprehensive keyword research tool and domain analytics. Semrush also offers backlink tracking, search position monitoring and breakdowns, and crawling. I especially like that the proactive SEO recommendations can give your business a serious edge.
I think the popular saying is, “Why fix it if it ain’t broke?,” but just because your websites are “working” doesn’t mean they’re working as well as they could be. You’ll need to evaluate the needs of your business to make an informed decision on the best analytics applications for you, but I would definitely keep these four in mind.