expo-MAX vs. Google Analytics

expo-MAX Real Analytics vs. Google Analytics

When discussing expo-MAX Real Analytics with web developers, we’re often asked the question: “Why should I switch to expo-MAX Real Analytics? What’s wrong with Google Analytics?” And to the second question, the answer is: “Nothing.” Google Analytics is an exceptional tool and we’re not suggesting you abandon a system that’s performing the job’s it’s designed to do perfectly well. But there are some functions that Google Analytics doesn’t handle—and many of these aspects are important to off-site search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). For those things that Google Analytics does not do or does not do as well, expo-MAX Real Analytics delivers. In other words, we’re not asking you to stop using Google Analytics—we’re recommending that you add expo-MAX Real Analytics to your web development toolbox.

Just like a carpenter uses a different saw—be it a hacksaw, circular saw or jigsaw—for each particular job, it's best to use the right analytics tool for the task at hand. To that end, Google Analytics is great for its inclusion of conversion tracking tools and on-site optimization funnels. But expo-MAX Real Analytics outperforms Google Analytics in a few key areas:

Search Engine Rankings

As you know, SEO professionals are search engine ranking obsessed. Getting ranked on the first page or in the top 10 results is the holy grail of most SEO campaigns. Surprisingly, this is information that Google Analytics doesn’t include. expo-MAX Real Analytics, on the other hand, gives you a breakdown of your website’s search engine rankings for each search term for each referring search engine. You can see the page number where your listing appears or the position number. This gives you a great snapshot of how you’re performing against your competition.

Specialty Search Engines

Search engines are getting more complex. For example, Google has more than the basic web search—it also features Google Images, Google News, Google Blog Search, etc. Likewise, Yahoo and Bing both feature their own image searches, local searches and other specialty search engines. Google Analytics reports referrals from these search engines collectively—it doesn’t differentiate whether users found your websites from Google Local search or from Google’s main search page. Depending on your SEO strategy, this could be very useful information. That’s why expo-MAX Real Analytics reports on specialty search engines right out of the box — no scripting or workarounds needed.

Detailed Search Engine Hostname Reporting

Search engines have also expanded geographically and now have customized results and functionality targeted to the countries from which searches originate. expo-MAX Real Analytics lets you see which particular search engine hostname sent you traffic and how you rank in the search engine results pages. This is useful information, especially if you reach audiences from numerous different geographic locations, as it is difficult to view a search engine results page as a viewer from another nation might without significant browser workarounds.

Real Time Data

expo-MAX Real Analytics gives you real time, hour-by-hour reporting. Meanwhile, Google Analytics has about a 24 hour delay between collection of visitor data and the availability of a traffic report.

Session Log

Google Analytics is designed to give you aggregate information of overall user trending. expo-MAX Real Analytics does this too, but goes one step further by collecting a detailed session log. That is, you can track the precise activity of each individual user. You can see how they found your site, where they clicked, how long they stayed and how they exited. This is useful information for identifying anomalous trends or optimizing off-site campaigns.

Instant Indexing on expo-MAX’s Search Engine

All websites tracked by expo-MAX are indexed and included in our own proprietary search engine, which you can find at search.expo-max.com. This expands your footprint on the web, giving you increased backlinks, more exposure and additional traffic.

Also, since your website is already indexed by the expo-MAX search engine, you can include a custom site search on your own website using our technology. The expo-MAX custom site search has no traffic limit and is powered by an XML feed in real time.

Conclusion

In summary, expo-MAX Real Analytics and Google Analytics should be viewed as complimentary, rather than competitive. True, many of the core features of expo-MAX Real Analytics and Google Analytics do overlap, but this is for the convenience of our users. The true value of expo-MAX Real Analytics is that it approaches web traffic analysis with a focus on the needs of SEO and SEM specialists. If you are running significant off-site SEO campaigns or plan to in the future, we highly recommend adding expo-MAX Real Analytics to your repertoire.