AGIS | Web Development & Marketing Blog

A common question we get is why Smarter Stats’ numbers and Google Analytics’ numbers don’t match? I have yet to see a definitive answer to this, but here is my best attempt to answer from what I know and from various sources. 

First off, Smarter Stats (SS) more so than Google Analytics (GA) expects IT people to view the stats for usage, load and traffic. Therefore SS wants to be as inclusive as possible. 

SS is log based, which includes data collected from all Web site visitors vs. GA which is tag based. Products like GA use JavaScript to track Web site visitors and potentially miss a significant percentage of search engine referrals in their metrics. Since not all Web surfers have JavaScript enabled in their Web or mobile browsers, these competing products tend to underreport Web site visitor statistics. Plus, if any pages are missing the GA code, their stats would not be included. So, SS will always report MORE information because GA and similar services don’t see Browsers/Mobile Devices and Spiders that do not support Java Script call backs. 

SS, as mentioned above does include Bots & Spiders. This can represent a huge jump over GA in some cases. You can go the Spider Totals and manually subtract them to help in comparing to GA. 

Also, Log Analyzers are not as good at tracking unique visitors, since they count them by IP address. With dynamic IP addresses, one person could look like 10 different (unique) visitors, or 10 people like the same visitor.

Plus, caching can affect totals. There is no really good way to know how much these issues affect data collection. 

Another issue, the length of idle time before being considered a new visit, can alter results. SS idle time is approximately 20 minutes before being considered a new visit. 

Overall, I think forces work to over-report in SS and under-report in GA. But for those who are more concerned about missing something, SS may ultimately be the more accurate especially with the separate Spider stats available. However, many of our customers prefer the user-friendly aspects of GA.

I often hear it’s difficult to capture email addresses from our clients or potential clients. Honestly this is one of the most important aspects of communicating with your clients so you need to consider different ways to obtain email address not only from your current clients but from potential clients.

By creating a list of customer emails you now can build long term trusted relationships and offer tips, articles, reviews, surveys, polls, new product releases etc.

Here are just a few of ways to start capturing emails!

1. Create a website sign up form.
 Place a sign up form on every page of your website.. a short description will greatly increase your subscription rate. For instance. using “Weekly Marketing Tips and Techniques emailed to you! Subscribe Today” or “ Sign up for Web Only Offers” Collecting just an email address vs. a long form will increase your subscription rate.
2. Provide a Customer Feedback form on your site. Be prepared to get both positive and negative comments. Remember even a negative comment can be turned into a positive experience for your customer.
3. Offer a Coupon or Discount for signing up for Web Only Specials.
4. Sign up for Articles or White Papers. Many of our clients have expertise that could be shared with others, we recommend asking clients and potential clients to sign up to download white papers or articles of interest in your specific industry. Becoming a resource for your clients will also have them coming back to your site for additional information and updated content is always a good thing for Search Engines.
5. Just Ask. If you are having a phone or face to face conversation with someone, just ask them for their email address or business card.

The sign up forms on your website should include an auto responder for signing up. The sooner a customer gets a response the more credible you become. You should also ask if they would like to receive future offers, articles etc to ensure that they would like ongoing communication from you. This will start your opt in list and you are on your way to establishing a successful online marketing email campaign.

To gain a broader knowledge of how email marketing can help grow your business follow the link below.
http://www.ag-is.com/Marketing/EmailMarketing/tabid/63/Default.aspx