Gathering Website Data and Privacy Concerns

There are many ways in which web analytics are gathered. Many web hosts offer statistics on how a website is performing. As a website owner Google Analytics is a great option that is free to use but it does require some initial set up. This allows a website owner to track data on specific pages and set goals that are obtainable. Tracking things like list growth, open rate, click through rate, conversion rate, bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, as well as return on investment are all key factors/ ways in which a website can collect data. In Addition to Google analytics there are a ton more web analytics tools out there that can be utilized. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/collecting-and-interpreting-website-analytics-for-home-business-4161008 Spring Metrics, Woopra,Clicky, Mint, Chartbeat, Kiss Metrics and more. How to go about collecting data is one thing but what you do with that data is equally important. The data collected can be very beneficial if you analyze it and make decisions based from it. The data collected can help in determining goals for your website. They could be things like increasing more web traffic, having more people sign up for email lists, gaining more of a social media following. They should be goals that have a purpose and an assigned number to. Knowing this helpful to determine what needs to be the primary focus like if your sales from social media are more useful than your email it creates an understanding for what changes need to be made. Monitoring this data needs to be top priority as well to make sure you’re staying on track and meeting those goals.

The data that is being tracked is often an invasion of someone's privacy. Many websites are being tracked by several trackers and additionally 10% of those websites are taking that data and selling it off to companies. There is also the issuing in trusting companies like medical providers and banking information unfortunately they aren’t always safe. All the popular social media sites make it easier for trackers and thieves to gain your valuable private information. This gives an inside look of where you are, your shopping habits, and overall an inside look into your personal life. Around the world Google reportedly tracks over 60 percent of all internet page load. https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/invasion-of-privacy-tracking-online-behavior-across-web/ There are many negative aspects of having your personal information out and sometimes it's hard to avoid it. There are some ways in which you can protect your safety to avoid your privacy being invaded. One way is using a private browsing option additionally you could use a browser extension with anti-tracking technology. These options may help in protecting your privacy, but it also could help in the speed/performance of your browser. Overall Tracking data can be very beneficial for a company or for the personal use of someone. The opposite can be said considering the information out there being tracked can also be used negatively against people.