Sitecore Analytics vs. Google Analytics

Sitecore Analytics, or Experience Analytics, to give it its proper name was made an integral part of the Sitecore Experience Platform quite some time ago.

Accessed from within the Sitecore Marketing Applications section in the Launchpad, Sitecore Analytics shows you all the visitor interactions within your website across audience, acquisition, behaviour, and conversion – just like Google Analytics - and Matomo Analytics.

Just like Google Analytics, you can assign and track events, goals, conversions and campaigns.

Sitecore Analytics is easy to navigate. It also gives you a similar view to Google Analytics.

Sitecore profiles, engagement value, and personalisation

Two key aspects that differentiate Sitecore Analytics from Google Analytics are:

• Sitecore uses its Engagement Value metric to measure engagement. This is based on the goal values assigned to actions when a visitor completes them

• Sitecore 'Pattern matches' website visitors based on profiles/personas assigned to relevant content 

This data in Sitecore's Experience Database (xDB) helps to drive personalisation, marketing automation, and more...

Single customer view

All customer profile information and every interaction are stored in the xDB. To further enrich your customer data, Sitecore includes Sitecore xConnect to connect and collect data from third-party data sources like CRMs, POS, ERP, and other systems into xDB for a holistic 360-degree view of the customer.

For example, customer data from your CRM system can be integrated into Sitecore xDB via xConnect to perform deeper personalisation. Sitecore data from campaigns and actions can also be added back into your CRM system so that both systems know exactly what the customer or prospect has been doing, what they responded to, what worked, and what didn’t.

Sitecore allows you to see all data for an individual customer, all in one place. From their first contact with you, to the moment they became a customer, and all their interactions with you in between and beyond.

You don’t get this with Google Analytics. Below is an example of how data is displayed in Sitecore.

 Data displayed from Sitecore Experience Database (Sitecore xDB)

Sitecore Analytics or Google Analytics?

Both Google Analytics and Sitecore Analytics let you know what’s going on with your website, what pages are popular, and where people are bouncing. This helps you take steps to enhance your customers’ digital experience and improve your marketing metrics.

What Google Analytics doesn't offer though is data against a particular individual website visitor. Sitecore does this in the Experience Profile. Its insights allow you to see an individual customer's journey, trigger points and more, so you can tailor a personalised experience further down the line.

So, which is better? Which one do you trust? Which one do you use to report internally on your progress and success?

For us the answer is simple. We advise our customers to utilise both analytics platforms as each can yield valuable insights into audience behaviour.

Working with Codehouse

Our experts are available to look over your Sitecore Analytics and Google Analytics set-up and recommend how they could be improved to give you better reporting data from your current website.

We have a comprehensive analytics checklist that.

• Validates how your analytics are set up

• Verifies whether your goals and events are being triggered

• Confirms whether third-party scripts, such as Facebook pixel, are working properly

• Aligns with your business and marketing strategy

• And more...

We use our findings to identify opportunities for enhancements, and provide recommendations for immediate improvements, while establishing a wider plan for implementation.  Get in touch to find out more.