Before you can decide on whether you need an Analytics Audit, you should probably know exactly what it is.  Basically, a Web Analytics Audit is a reviewing process for the information reported to you. When you invest in various campaigns to generate leads to your website it is good to know if and how your campaign is performing. That is the purpose of analytics, these reports are very important to you as a business owner and your marketing team, to see what is working and what is not. You have to make sure that the information your receive from the analytics software is correct and current, or there is no point.

When is an Audit Necessary?

There is no hard and fast rule as to when you should do an audit. A regular audit is advised, annual audits are a good idea, but, if at anytime your marketing team presents you with a report that does not seem quite right, call for an audit. If the traffic numbers do not add up and the campaign is not yielding the results you should be getting, then get an audit done. To help you determine if you need an unscheduled audit, we have put together some questions to ask on a report.

• Is there any reason not to trust the report I received?
• Are our analytics being used to full capacity?
• Is there a discrepancy in the reporting and the website data?
• If you have changed hosting companies or marketing teams, this could affect your analytics.
• Do I have reports to show me year-by-year comparisons?
• Are the analytic tools set up the right set of tools for my business?

Simple Tools to use for your Web Analytics Audit

To prepare for an audit, you can find some simple to use analytic tools or ad-ons. These work to make sure that you have the correct tracking systems on your GATC or Google Analytics Tracking Code. The more popular ones include GA Debugger, WASP, Google Tag Assistant, GTM debugger and Firebug. There are numerous tools such as these available, you need to find the right one for you and your business.