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One of the initial challenges of web analytics is figuring out which web analytics vendor, and version of their solution, to choose. Beyond that, the detailed data on search engine marketing is great, but site statistical products or services don't compare to tools that specifically manage and track paid listings. No Management of Paid ListingsWeb analytics outperforms several other ROI solutions by tracking detailed traffic and revenue data from search engine marketing. Yet it falls short when it comes to the management of paid listings. Let's look at GO TOAST's summary benefits for their basic product, BidManager:
There's no interface within web analytics to set up or modify Pay-For-Placement (PFP) listings, as there is with bid management tool providers such as GO TOAST. There's also no way to add or delete paid inclusion listings. To be fair, neither e-commerce nor affiliate programs do this either. Therefore, this challenge applies to all three. It won't surprise me when web analytics providers begin offering paid inclusion services as an optional service, which they'll likely outsource to an inclusion partner. As we're seeing other ROI tracking vendors create partnerships with search engines or search engine service providers, the same will happen within web analytics. These services might be in place but just aren't yet publicly promoted in marketing materials. A marriage between a bid management tool company and web analytics company appears to be harmonious. The first continuously optimizes paid listing campaigns , while the latter can be utilized to double-check the performance of paid listings, free organic rankings, and all other online marketing efforts. Not Quite Perfect Reporting for Paid ListingsLet's face it, the tools designed to improve paid listing campaigns supply the best reports. Bid management tools (discussed in the next chapter) get much deeper with search engine advertising data than most web analytics solutions. Additionally, bid management programs generally have more options to run a variety of reports. Often, your web analytics report is preconfigured to certain parameters. Your Webmaster can redefine these parameters, but in most cases, only one format of report will be generated each time it's run. Again, if your sole focus is optimizing your paid listings, then bid management tools are the optimal management and reporting solution. |
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