VisualCalc Dashboard: Google Analytics Comparison Whitepaper Rev 3.0 October 2007 5047 Robert J Mathews Pkwy, Suite 200 El Dorado Hills, California 95762 916.939.2020 www.visualcalc.com
Introduction Google AdWords and other PPC (pay per click) advertising campaigns can be a tremendous vehicle for generating visitors to your website and, ultimately, customers for your products or services. However, the effectiveness of your PPC campaign depends in large part on how the campaign is structured and managed over time. There are a significant number of variables that need to be properly aligned to maximize the return on your campaign, such as keyword selection, ad copy, bid amounts, network support (e.g., search vs. content network), geographic placement, etc. While there are many best practices that can be initially applied when setting up your campaign, finding the ideal values for each of these variables is often a matter or trial and error over time. In the most successful campaigns, these variables are constantly refined to squeeze the best results possible out of the campaign. Making the best decisions regarding these variables, however, requires a tremendous amount of data analysis. Which ad variations stimulate the most clicks? Which keywords and ad groups generate the most cost-effective conversions? Which ad positions offer the best return on investment? Sorting through historical data to find the answers to these questions can be a daunting task. Dashboards and analysis software can help you analyze this complex data, find the answers you are looking for, and make the best decisions with respect to your campaign variables. Google has recently introduced a basic analytics and dashboard module as part of AdWords that provides answers to some of these questions. In addition, VisualCalc has introduced a version of its dashboard software the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard that offers advanced analysis capabilities in an intuitive, easy to use package. In this paper, we explore these two offerings from a feature and benefit standpoint. Page 2
Product Overview VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard The VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard is an easy, affordable web-based software solution that can significantly improve the performance of Google AdWords and other PPC (pay per click) campaigns. It transforms your complex AdWords/PPC data into interactive, easy-to-interpret graphs and charts that help you quickly identify and act on issues and opportunities, maximizing the effectiveness and ROI of your AdWords/PPC programs. The VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard focuses on tracking and analyzing AdWords and other PPC programs across multiple, user-configurable dimensions, providing immediate, visual answers to key AdWords questions, such as: Which campaigns, ad groups and keywords are delivering the best return on investment (ROI)? How are key measurements such as impressions, clicks and conversions trending over time? And, what are the inter-relationships between these measurements? Which keywords are generating the most clicks, conversions and sales? How do effectiveness measures such as click through rate and conversion rate compare across ad groups and keywords, and how are they trending over time? What are the causal factors behind changes in clicks, conversions and sales? Google Analytics Dashboard Google also offers dashboard capabilities as part of their new analytics module. The real focus of their tool is website visitor characterization (i.e. web analytics). This analytics module, and corresponding dashboard, is focused primarily on communicating discrete website visitor and AdWords-related measurements over time. The data being measured can be roughly grouped into two buckets: 1) site usage stats (e.g., visits, pages/visit, avg. time, % new visits, bounce rate); and 2) goal conversion stats (e.g., overall conversion rate, conversion rate by goal type, conversion value per visit). These measurements can be displayed as an overall total for all website visitors or Google AdWords campaigns, or it can be broken down and displayed for an individual sub-segment, such as an ad group, keyword, operating system type, referring site, etc. Thus, the Google Analytics module is best suited to answering questions such as: What browsers and operating systems are my visitors using? How many visits were generated by a given campaign, ad group, or keyword? What geographic region did most of my visitors come from? What referring site generated the most visits and conversions? What page did most of my visitors enter on, where did they exit, how many pages did they view, and how long did they stay? Page 3
Key Differences While each of these solutions provide value to their users, the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard provides a more powerful and customizable solution for AdWords and PPC program tracking and analysis. More specifically, the VisualCalc solution provides better comparative features, enabling users to identify inter-relationships between different variables, including the ability to compute mathematical relationships on the fly; greater configurability, enabling individual users to customize their indicator graphs and dashboard to meet their specific needs; and deeper analysis capabilities (i.e., the ability to slice and dice and drilldown into the underlying data), enabling users to investigate causal factors behind specific measurements or trends. The Google Analytics dashboard displays uni-dimensional data a single measurement (Yaxis) can be graphed across a single, fixed dimension - time (X-axis). For example, the number of visits from users of the Windows O/S can be displayed over the last three months. Or, the average visit time for visitors searching for the keyword auto can be displayed over the last two weeks. The VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard, on the other hand, can display indicator graphs representing multi-dimensional data multiple measurements (Y-axis) can be displayed across any user-defined dimension (X-axis). For example, impressions and clicks (Y-axis) can be compared across ad groups (the X-axis). With a few point and clicks, the X-dimension can be easily changed to campaign, keyword, time frame, average position, etc. Likewise, the Y dimension can be easily changed to conversions, click through rate, sales revenue, etc. This indicator is a dual axis graph. It compares impressions (red bar) vs. clicks (green line) for 4 ad groups. The dual axis capability of VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard enables two different measurements with significantly different scales to be displayed on Page 4
Key Differences (con t) In addition, the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard allows measurements to be broken out across sub-segments in a single graph. For example, a stacked bar chart could show clicks by month, broken out by ad group. Or, conversions by ad group, broken out by keyword. As above, any of these dimensions can be easily modified with a few clicks of the mouse. This indicator is a stacked bar graph. It shows the number of conversions per week broken out by ad group. Each colored segment of a bar represents one of the 4 ad groups in this campaign. Indicators like this one provide a quick visual read of performance at two levels of detail (in this case, campaign and ad group). The VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard also provides graph formats that are geared specifically to the multi-dimensional display of data. VisualCalc heatmaps, for example can display how one measurement compares to another, and also display the interrelationship of a third variable. As shown below, a heatmap might display conversions vs. clicks by keyword (determines the color of each box), while the total cost for each keyword dictates the size of each box. This indicator is a heatmap. Each box represents one keyword. The size of each box is determined by the total cost of each keyword. The color of each box is determined by the ratio of conversions versus clicks (conversion rate). The higher the ratio, the better. The green boxes have the highest conversion rate, while the red boxes have the lowest. The range at the bottom of the graph is user-defined based on their specific PPC objectives. Page 5
Key Differences (con t) As another example, the VisualCalc pie chart below show sales broken out by ad group (top pie chart) with a further breakout by keyword within each ad group (bottom pie chart). This indicator is a pie chart. The top pie chart shows the distribution of total sales (value) for each ad group each slice of the pie chart represents one ad group. The bottom pie chart shows the distribution of sales for each keyword within the selected ad group (in this example, Desktops ). Clicking on different ad group slices in the top pie chart will display a different bottom pie chart showing keyword data for that selected ad group. Finally, the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard enables multi-dimensional graphs that include real-time computations. This enables users to develop an almost unlimited number of computed relationships based on standard AdWords measurements. Examples include ROI (return on investment), which is computed as value divided by cost, or cost per conversion, which is computed as cost divided by conversions. As an example, the computed fields graph below shows cost per conversion by week. Available computations include sum (X+Y), difference (X-Y), average ((X+Y)/2), variance ((X-Y)/Y), and ratio (X/Y). This indicator is a computed fields graph. The green line shows the total cost of the campaign per week. The red line shows the number of conversions per week. The value for both of these measurements is indicated by the X-axis. The blue bar is automatically computed by the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard, and shows the designated relationship between these two measurements in this case, cost per conversion (cost divided by conversions). Page 6
Summary In summary, both Google Analytics and the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard can serve as valuable tools for AdWords advertisers, and are in many respects complimentary. The Google analytics module does an outstanding job characterizing website and AdWords visitors, while the VisualCalc AdWords Dashboard serves as a powerful tracking and analysis tool for users of AdWords and other PPC programs. About VisualCalc VisualCalc is the leading provider of easy, affordable, web-based analysis software that helps companies of all sizes grow and manage their business. Since its founding in 2000, VisualCalc has been focused on its vision of making the analysis of complex data accessible to the everyday user. VisualCalc s unique combination of technology and expertise helps consumers and businesses alike analyze complex data quickly and easily, resulting in better, faster decisions. VisualCalc s analysis software includes two categories of products: 1) VisualCalc Calculators, which companies provide to their customers to help them quickly and easily evaluate their products and services, and 2) VisualCalc Dashboards, which help organizations monitor and manage their business. VisualCalc is a privately held company headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California. Contact Information VisualCalc, Inc. 5047 Robert J Mathews Pkwy., Suite 200 El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 Phone: 916-939-2020 E-Mail: info@visualcalc.com Website: www.visualcalc.com 2007 VisualCalc, Inc. Page 7