Google Analytics vs Adobe Analytics: Which is Best for You?
Website analytics provide insights you can use to better understand user behavior on your website. Analytics platforms do that by measuring activity like how many users visit, how long they stay, how many pages they visit, which pages they visit, and how they arrive at your site. Armed with this knowledge, you can optimize your site to increase key conversions that help you meet your business goals.
There are many web analytics platforms available today, but the most common are Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics. There are distinct aspects of each one that you should consider when deciding which platform is right for your organization. We’re sharing those aspects so that you can understand the differences between them as you weigh your options.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA) is the most popular web analytics tool on the market today. It’s a free and easy-to-use tool included with your Google account that allows marketers of any skill level to collect and analyze data from their websites.
If you’ve used GA before, you’re probably familiar with Universal Analytics, GA’s long-running session-based analytics model that collects different data types (Pageview hits, Event hits, Ecommerce hits, etc.) and ties them together through the session. In 2020, Google also released a new version of GA, called Google Analytics 4, which uses an event-driven data model instead. This version collects all data in the same Event data type to allow more flexibility and ease with connecting data points together.
>> How to Successfully Transition to Google Analytics 4
Adobe Analytics
Adobe Analytics is a component of the Adobe Experience Cloud. This enterprise-level suite comprises products that enable you to apply detailed segmentation and real-time analytics for your site. It also includes the ability to track users across a variety of devices so you can analyze user journeys at a deeper level.
Comparing Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics
To help you understand the benefits of each analytics platform, we’ve decided to compare them side by side.
| Google Analytics | Adobe Analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. Enterprise organizations can pay for GA 360 to unlock additional features. | Paid. Cost prohibitive for smaller organizations. |
| User Interface | User-friendly and relatively easy to learn. | Robust, but it has a steep learning curve. |
| Data Sampling / Restrictions | Data is sampled in accounts that use Universal Analytics. You’re also limited to 10 million hits per month. GA4 and GA 360 have unsampled data. |
Data is unsampled and you aren’t limited to a specific number of hits per month. |
| Customization | There are limited opportunities to customize your analytics set up. | The analytics are extremely customizable and there are options to add enhanced conversion tracking. |
| Support | There is extensive documentation from Google and other sources. | Support documentation is not as robust. |
Which One Is Right for Your Organization?
Both Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics are excellent web analytics tools. Which tool your organization should use depends on your business goals, budget, and staffing.
Google Analytics is best for those who aren’t looking to break the bank on a web analytics platform. Its out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and easy-to-use interface allows marketers with any level of experience to analyze data. GA is best for organizations that may not have the resources to analyze user activity on a deep level but are looking to understand more about their visitors.
If your organization is willing to invest in advanced technical analytics, Adobe Analytics could be a better option. The platform is extremely powerful and customizable, meaning you can track whatever you want exactly the way you want it tracked. However, given the customization capabilities and upfront configuration required, your organization will need an expert resource if you choose Adobe Analytics. This platform is for experienced marketers looking for detailed data on their website’s user experience.
Need help deciding between Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics for your site? Or want some help implementing one of them? Contact us. You can also learn more about our Analytics Integration & Dashboards services to find out more about our analytics experience.