You're probably thinking, "Nothing is for free" but this is not always true. I was first introduced to Google Analytics about four months ago searching for someway that I can track my five different websites. I stumbled onto this wonderful program called " Google Analytics".

With this program you can see where your hits are coming from and if you are receiving return visitors to your site. It is important as a webmaster to know the 3 W's as I call them; when, what, and where. Let's go through each one to see how important it is to us.

When: You need to know the time you are receiving your visitors, this allows you to adjust your advertising campaigns accordingly. Let's say you are getting one hundred hits between 12 am and 1 pm during the week and less hits at other times. You can use this information to target your ads between 12 am and 1 pm.

What: The information that you obtain here can be very valuable when building your website or adding content to your website.

a.) the type of browser they are using
b.) the screen resolution of their computer
c.) the connection speed of there internet provider
d.) platform conversions ( XP, 98, and other operating systems)

Where: It is important to know where your hits are coming from using a world overlay map which shows each hit on the map. This also allows you to adjust your campaigns accordingly.

There are many other features tracking of your marketing campaigns; including conversion rates and referrals. One that I think is very important is search engine marketing; including all CPC analysis, Adwords analysis, and keyword conversions.

I currently monitor five websites and will ad more in the future. I highly recommend this service, and yes it is FREE!