There are many tools out there that can help you analyze your website traffic, and Adobe Analytics is one of the best.
It has some features that Google Analytics doesn’t offer, so it’s worth taking a look at if you’re interested in learning more about how to get insights on your site visitors.
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of Adobe Analytics and give you some tips for using the tool to its fullest potential.
Table of Contents
What is Adobe Analytics?
Adobe Analytics is a suite of web analytics tools that allows you to measure and analyze your website traffic in many different ways.
It offers features such as:
- Site reporting, including site search data and alerts on exceptions (e.g., sudden drops)
- Audience measurement, which includes an overview of visitors’ geographic information or their behaviors across devices
- Goal setting, where you can set up goals for certain actions on your site with the help of Adobe’s automated goal wizard
Why Should You Use Adobe Analytics?
One of the best things about Adobe Analytics is that it offers features Google Analytics doesn’t, like site search data and alerts on exceptions.
It’s also easier to set up goals in Adobe than it is with Google, so if you’re looking for a tool where setting up goals isn’t too intimidating, Adobe may be what you need.
You should also consider using Adobe because it has lots of detailed reporting options at your fingertips—if you want an overview of how people are interacting with various elements on your website (e.g., product pages or blog posts), this is the way to go.
Benefits of Using Adobe Analytics
Adobe Analytics is a great option because it offers features that other tools don’t.
Here are some of the benefits you’ll get when using Adobe:
- You can set up goals in minutes with help from the automated goal wizard, and then track them over time to see how they’re performing
- There’s an overview for visitors’ geographic information or their behaviors across devices, making this tool perfect if your target market lives all over the world
- You can receive different metrics, as compared to Google Analytics and other SEO tools.
How is Adobe Analytics Different from Google Analytics?
Adobe Analytics is a separate service from Google, so it’s important to keep in mind that the two are not interchangeable.
Google Analytics collects data by tracking your website visitors’ cookies and IP addresses while Adobe only tracks their IP addresses.
This means that if you’re doing any sort of A/B testing on your site (e.g., you have another version of a page hidden behind an “ask us anything” button), then Google will be able to track which one is performing better without interrupting or confusing anyone who visits both pages.
However, for this type of scenario, with its ability to see where traffic comes from around the world as well as how people are browsing across devices, there really isn’t anywhere else quite like Adobe Analytics.
When Should You Use Adobe Analytics?
If you’re looking for something that’s easy to set up goals, then Adobe is a good option.
Google Analytics also offers this feature, but the automated goal wizard included with Adobe makes it much simpler and far less intimidating than Google.
You should also consider using Adobe if your target market lives all over the world or if you want more detailed reporting options easily. You’ll find these in abundance when you use this tool.
When Should You Use Google Analytics Instead?
If you’re looking for a tool that is completely flexible, adaptable, and customizable to suit your needs in every possible way (e.g., if you need detailed reports on how visitors are viewing certain elements of your site), then Google Analytics would be the better choice.
Google also collects data from both cookies and IP addresses while Adobe only tracks IPs, which means it can handle A/B testing without any complications or confusion.
Comparing Adobe Analytics to Google Analytics
There are significant differences between both Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics. Below, we’ll break down these differences into three separate categories:
Google Analytics Landing Page vs. Adobe Entry Page:
Google Analytics starts with a landing page designed to give you an overview of the site.
Adobe’s entry page, on the other hand, is far more user-friendly and easier to use right off the bat—you can scroll down through different sections for reports or jump into data immediately without needing to worry about setting up goals first.
The Difference Between Tracking Cookies vs IP Addresses:
One way in which Adobe lacks features that Google has been that it only tracks visitors’ IP addresses rather than their cookies as well (which means if someone visits one version of your webpage but clicks over to another tab before viewing it again, then Google will still have that visitor listed).
Google Analytics Goal Completions vs. Adobe Success Events:
Google Analytics also allows you to track goal completions, which are different from Adobe’s success events. With Google’s goal completion metric, a visitor has to go from the beginning of your site all the way through until they reach that specific section or page before it registers as a completed event.
With Adobe though, it tracks anytime someone clicks on something within your website and then leaves without doing anything else (or if they click once but leave immediately). This makes sense because often people will click on an ad at first and never return—so for this type of situation especially, tracking only sub-goals is more useful.
Both Platforms’ Differences in Metrics:
Google Analytics offers significantly more metrics than Adobe does.
This is because Google’s tool has a much bigger base to work from and can therefore offer far more data than it tracks—for example, the number of clicks on an ad or whether someone viewed your site in portrait mode as opposed to landscape.
Adobe provides some unique metrics like dwell time (the total amount of time spent viewing content) which make for interesting reporting insights but also have their limitations when compared with other types of information you can access using Google Analytics.
How to Use Adobe Analytics: 7 Easy Strategies
Now that you know what Adobe Analytics is, its benefits, and how it’s different from Google Analytics, it’s time to learn how to use the tool. If you’re a beginner, here are seven simple strategies for using Adobe Analytics.
1. Create Complex Segments
Adobe Analytics simplifies the process of creating segments, so you can categorize and filter data without any additional work.
If you’re looking for visitors who live in specific cities or regions within a country, then all you have to do is create that segment first before continuing on with other reports.
This way, only those metrics will show up in your report when it’s time to analyze them—and since Adobe automatically loads new results as they arrive (rather than waiting until the end), this saves tons of time too.
To get started, navigate over to Behavior > Segments and click Add New Segment at the top right-hand side of the page. Enter your desired criteria into each field accordingly and fill in other basic information to finish.
2. Define Your Most Important Metrics
There are so many metrics to choose from when working with Adobe Analytics.
To make it easier, try defining your most important ones first and then, later on, decide how you want to split them up into different segments.
For example, if a major goal of yours is retaining customers who have subscribed for an email list or purchased something online in the past year, then those would be good key performance indicators (KPIs) that deserve higher priority than other variables like bounce rate or time spent viewing pages per visit.
In this case, segmenting visitor activity excluding subscribers might be useful; you can filter this by clicking Behaviour > Segments again and adding another new segment under “Traffic Source”.
3. Create Your Own Engagement Index
Adobe Analytics also has an Engagement Index, which you can use to track how engaged visitors are with your site.
The higher the index score is, the more likely they’ll be to return in the future or buy something from you later on.
To better understand this metric and determine what a good value for it might be, first divide 100 by your bounce rate.
The result will show what percentage of people who visit actually stay (i.e., if you have a 50% Bounce Rate then dividing 100 by 0.50 would give us 25%).
Next, compare that number against some benchmarks like Google’s 33% benchmark as well as Moz’s 55%. You should aim at being somewhere between these two values depending on your industry.
4. Opt for Predictive Analysis
Adobe Analytics also offers a Predictive Analysis tool that tells you what will happen based on past, present, and future data.
For example, if the number of visitors to your site falls below 100 in certain months but rises back up again when you reach January or February.
This cycle continues for three years straight, then Adobe’s predictive analysis would show that your traffic is decreasing every year (without taking into account any external factors like weather).
It then becomes clear that maybe it’s time to make some changes; otherwise, this downward trend might continue indefinitely.
Adding these new insights can help keep things fresh and prevent stagnation from setting in too soon.
5. Watch Training Videos to Expand Your Audience
Adobe Analytics offers a variety of training videos that you can watch to expand your audience.
For instance, the two most popular ones are “Getting Started with Adobe Analytics” and “Easy Marketing Tactics for Small Businesses”.
Both modules take about 15 minutes to complete—a small investment in time if it means attracting more qualified leads.
Furthermore, these video tutorials are also 100% free, so there’s no reason not to check them out today.
Watching these will give you an introduction to how metrics work in Adobe so that when data comes back, you’ll be able to understand what they mean without having anyone explain it at length each time.
6. Save Projects into Customizable Templates
Occasionally, you’ll need to save a project for future use.
Adobe lets you do this by saving it as a template and then opening that file whenever needed (i.e., if you’ve been working on building an email list or gaining more followers).
If Adobe gives any errors during the process of exporting data from your account, don’t worry—you can still export all the information manually at some point in the future.
Just click “Export” under Behavior > All Audiences and select only what’s important to you. This way there won’t be any mistakes when uploading everything back into Adobe later down the road.
7. Receive Professional Help from an SEO Agency
If you want to get even more out of Adobe Analytics, work with an SEO agency like SEO.co.
We can help take the guesswork and confusion out of your analytics by coming up with a strategy that works for your business model as well as budget.
This includes helping you set goals based on what data is available for you already and how best to use it in order to reach those objectives efficiently.
This way, everything will be measurable so that we know if our efforts are working or not over time.
Here are some ways you can find the right SEO agency:
- Check if they use Adobe Analytics to track their own website performance.
- Read reviews of the company on websites like Local SEO Pros, Trust Pilot, or Yelp.
- Ask them about how they’ll help you reach your goals and what services are included in their packages.
Once you find an agency that seems promising, it’s time to test out some strategies for yourself.
Do this by signing up with one service at first before going all out when committing long-term (e.g., try an agency for three months).
If everything goes well within those six months, then go ahead and sign another contract. If not, look elsewhere until you can find a good fit.
Want to Start Using Adobe Analytics?
At SEO.co, our team of experts has several years of experience using Adobe Analytics to a great deal of success. Contact us today to speak to a member of our team.
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