Real Time Web Reporting, Really?
This post took a slight detour from it's original concept after spending some time actually looking at the content available in Google Analytic's relatively new beta of Real Time reports. I'll start with the original idea and then move on to the new thoughts tomorrow.
Real time reporting is a waste of time.
It creates a useless distraction and an incomplete picture. We all know now that last click reporting is flawed. This is because of the concept of latent conversions, meaning not everyone who buys or converts on your site does it on their first visit. Latent conversions are particularly important as people tend to be less impulsive online. Because it is so easy to do just a little more research, people tend to be more pragmatic when shopping online.
Reporting that is based on attribution can show how big of an impact latent conversions make to your site.
In the new version of Google Analytics, the Top Conversion Paths report (under Standard Reporting, Conversions, Multi-Channel Funnels) shows the impact - the percent of conversions that take more than one visit, as well as the dollar value.
So real time reporting has no context. It is just a snapshot of what is happening on your site right now. It creates a potentially misleading picture of what is happening that can lead to some incorrect decisions because it doesn't have any concept of who is returning now to purchase and who will come back later and purchase.
Real time reporting is a waste of time.
It creates a useless distraction and an incomplete picture. We all know now that last click reporting is flawed. This is because of the concept of latent conversions, meaning not everyone who buys or converts on your site does it on their first visit. Latent conversions are particularly important as people tend to be less impulsive online. Because it is so easy to do just a little more research, people tend to be more pragmatic when shopping online.
Reporting that is based on attribution can show how big of an impact latent conversions make to your site.
In the new version of Google Analytics, the Top Conversion Paths report (under Standard Reporting, Conversions, Multi-Channel Funnels) shows the impact - the percent of conversions that take more than one visit, as well as the dollar value.
We can see the impact is significant. And this is not an example of an expensive product. The average order is less than $70. Yet it still takes over 40% of all visitors who purchase more than one visit to commit to the purchase.
Posted by Joy at 7/19/2012 4:45 PM 
Categories: Attribution, Analytics
Tags: Google Analytics Real Time Reporting Latent Conversions
Categories: Attribution, Analytics
Tags: Google Analytics Real Time Reporting Latent Conversions
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