Analytics brought my site down!

One of the most crucial tools in your online toolbox is your website analytics tool (you do have one right?)

I’m currently using Google Analytics and a newer application called GetClicky. I’m using 2 because Google Analytics is quite possibly the most functional and useful of the free web analytic tools with advanced features and functionality. However I love Getclicky for its real-time reporting and simple dashboard. The paid for version opens up more functionality but for the time being I’m quite content.

Personally I use Getclicky everyday to check site visits and GA less frequently for a more in-depth analysis. It is this very thing that had me running circles recently…

I’d changed a few things on the site, to improve usability and help better our SEO. A day later and visits had plummeted to barely 20 or 30 unique visitors a day from a far healthier number! What had I done? Was I being penalised for black hat SEO that I wasn’t aware of? Was this a seasonal shift (being the bank holiday weekend).

I decided to wait a 2nd day before worrying – yet the same again! Getclicky was reporting only 25 UVs.

It was only until my other half suggested looking at Google Analytics that I found the problem.

I’d inadvertently deleted the code required for the Getclicky tool, except for on the homepage! Google analytics was showing the correct volume of visits!

It is these experiences which help you as a marketer to sometimes remember that the most obvious of answers can reveal the best solution.

But most of all, don’t always trust the numbers!!