{"id":12160,"date":"2010-02-18T03:01:58","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T01:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/?p=12160"},"modified":"2010-02-18T03:01:58","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T01:01:58","slug":"how-accurate-is-google-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2010\/02\/18\/how-accurate-is-google-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"How accurate is Google Analytics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

That’s the question that I was asked recently by one of the co-workers. \u00a0 It is simple and not so simple at the same time. \u00a0It really depends on what you are looking for, what is the acceptable accuracy, and what is that you are comparing Google Analytics<\/a> with.<\/p>\n

For example, if you compare the numbers from your Google Analytics reports to the summaries of the web server logs, you’ll probably find that Google Analytics reports lower numbers. \u00a0Almost like not everything is recorded. \u00a0Which is true because Google Analytics is using JavaScript to track your visitors. \u00a0Server logs record all hits to your web server, but the information in logs is very limited – it won’t be enough for anything but very basic tracking.<\/p>\n

How much will numbers differ? \u00a0Here is what Google Analytics blog<\/a> has to say:<\/p>\n

\n
Google Analytics uses JavaScript tags to collect data. This industry-standard method yields reliable trends and a high degree of precision, but it’s not perfect. Most of the time, if you are noticing data discrepancies greater than 10%, it’s due to an installation issue<\/strong>. Common problems include JavaScript errors, redirects, untagged pages and slow client-side load times.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Having used Google Analytics on a number of sites over a number of years, I’d say that that is just about right.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

That’s the question that I was asked recently by one of the co-workers. \u00a0 It is simple and not so simple at the same time. \u00a0It really depends on what you are looking for, what is the acceptable accuracy, and what is that you are comparing Google Analytics with. For example, if you compare the … Continue reading How accurate is Google Analytics?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,62,1334],"tags":[2231,1041],"keyring_services":[],"class_list":["post-12160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-technology","category-web-work","tag-google-analytics","tag-statistics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13386,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/14\/urchin-google-analytics-in-a-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":0},"title":"Urchin – Google Analytics in a box","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"September 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Google Analytics has proven itself over and over again as an extremely valuable tool for pretty much everyone interested in website statistics. \u00a0But as awesome as it is, Google Analytics has a number of limitations. \u00a0These don't come handy when you need to analyze non-public websites, such as intranets or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All"","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/urchin_7-500x351.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11840,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/30\/a-glimpse-into-google-analytics-power\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":1},"title":"A glimpse into Google Analytics power","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"September 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"For a few years now I always recommend Google Analytics to anyone who is looking for a statistical \/ analytical package for their web site.\u00a0 While there are a few alternatives, I think that almost none of them can match Google Analytics in both ease of use and analytical power.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All"","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/google_analytics_help.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28481,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2018\/04\/18\/what-is-gtag-js-with-google-analytics-and-do-i-need-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":2},"title":"What Is gtag.js with Google Analytics and Do I Need It?","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are using Google Analytics, or any other Google marketing tool on your website, make sure to read through the \"What is gtag.js with Google Analytics and do I need it?\" article.\u00a0 It explains the change in the Google Analytics tracking scripts which are slowly rolling out, and provides\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All"","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12046,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/09\/web-statistics-and-visitor-tracking-things-you-need-to-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":3},"title":"Web statistics and visitor tracking : things you need to know","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"December 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"First of all, just to make it clear, I don't recommend writing your own web statistics \/ analytics \/ tracking application. \u00a0Google Analytics can track and report pretty much everything you will ever need. Period. If you think it can't do it, chances are you just don't know how. \u00a0That's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All"","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9680,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2005\/11\/17\/signed-up-for-google-analytics\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":4},"title":"Signed up for Google Analytics","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"November 17, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Everyone and their brother is talking about the new Google service - Google Analytics. Basically, this is a smart way of getting website statistics. Instead of installing and configuring a local web log analyzer, you just sign up for the Analytics, insert some JavaScript code into your website and have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All"","block_context":{"text":"All","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15852,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/04\/google-analytics-real-time-overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":5},"title":"Google Analytics : Real Time Overview","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"November 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In the last few month, Google Analytics team haven't been getting much sleep I guess. They release features upon features upon features. 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