Brian Clifton

Brian Clifton (PhD), is an independent author, consultant and trainer who specialises in performance optimisation using Google Analytics. Recognised internationally as a Google Analytics expert, his latest book, the second edition of Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics is used by students and professionals world-wide.

From 2005-8 Brian was Head of Web Analytics for Google EMEA, defining the adoption strategy and building a team of pan-European product specialists from scratch. A legacy of his work is the online learning centre for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ).

Brian is the Founder of Advanced-Web-Metrics.com and Director of Data Insights and Analytics for Search Integration – a company specialising in strategic search and social marketing. @brianclifton

Google Analytics Premium: the lowdown

Google still has its free analytics product, but now it has announced a paid-for version of Google Analytics, called Premium, which will be a $150,000 per year product.

In one brief announcement today from Google a very bold approach is being embarked upon. That is, going from a single free-to-all product, to one that is now split into two offerings: Google Analytics Standard (free) or Premium ($150,000 per year).

That's a big change for Google Analytics, so what's the difference?

Benchmarking site performance can be misleading

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important to drive improvement for your website. Although it is obviously interesting and insightful to compare how your website is performing against your peers and competitors, it can be a mistake to place too much emphasis on external industry benchmarks.

These external benchmarks can be misleading and often end up with you finding the benchmark that fits your story, giving a false impression of success.