Since 2009, we have had indicators that customer research online
UPDATED: June 16, 2012
Website magazine has some great posts on website design and in between those wonderful suggestions, the essence of why analytics is important becomes clear. Take the E-Commerce Industry Report Q2 2009 findings by iPerceptions as an example. The results indicated that "38 percent of shoppers were on-site to research about products or services, whereas only 17 percent were at the buying stage."
The iPerceptions report identified the two analytics-related reason why visitors didn’t purchase: "The consumer couldn’t find what they were looking (34 percent of online visitors). Price and navigation/usability barriers were tied for second in reasons visitors leave without buying (13 percent)."
So why are missing items and navigation analytics related to web analytics? Because a great analytics arrangement helps clarify how your traffic navigates your site, while other data can give clues as to which content is considered important to your potential visitors.
UPDATE: Since this report, business owners with a web presence have made their websites into a working asset for vital information. But some reports have still indicated that small businesses still lack a solid website, let alone a mobile site.
