I’m addicted to Google Analytics and it’s hurting my business performance

I thought it was just me, an obsessed addiction of mine checking my Google Analytics account. And Google had to enhance it by adding real-time data. Go figure. But, it’s not just me, others have become addicted to Google Analytics too. It’s a thing.

There’s even a question on Reddit that asks “Anyone else addicted to Google Analytics Real-Time overview?” With comments that say they have a projection screen that exclusively displays the real-time overview. Okay, I’m not that obsessed, but I could see myself headed in that direction.

So, I thought I’d write down how Google analytics is hurting my business performance. This will be a reminder to myself and hopefully to others as to why Google Analytics is not THAT important. And what you can be doing more productively with your time.

1. It’s robbing me of time.

The time I could be brainstorming on what blog posts to write next. Or actually working on a blog post. This would be much more productive than checking Google Analytics every so often. It’s not like checking Google Analytics is making me more productive. So today, I decided to close my Google Analytics app and write down any blog post ideas that come to mind, and this was one of them. I was also able to come up with a couple more on top of getting this one started. So it’s already working and helping me be more productive by tuning out the Google Analytics data.

2. It’s not giving me all the facts.

The only part of the app that is giving me all of the facts is the real-time data. So, I could see how this part of the application could be more addicting than other parts of Google Analytics. But, if you think about it -for the most part- you’re not getting all the facts. You’re only getting tidbits here and there that will eventually equate to something, but later on.

3. It’s making me concentrate on less important business aspects.

I mean is it really all that important to know the analytics of your blog on an hourly basis? No, it’s not. There are more important business aspects that you could be concentrating on like mentioned above. Becoming more productive with your business. Even creating a to-do list would be more productive than staring at your analytics all day long. So, what other things could you be concentrating on? Go ahead and start your list and see what you come up with. My list off the top of my head: blog post ideas, write an article, be present in social media, educate yourself.

4. It’s not telling me anything that I don’t already know.

There are other signals that can tell me that there’s been an increase in my sites performance. For one, Google AdSense -ah yes Google AdSense- that’s a whole nother blog post. It can be just as or even more so addicting that Google Analytics looking at $ dollar signs all day. Another way of seeing an improvement with your site’s performance is social signals. Think about it the more followers, likes, shares, and comments you’re getting on social media the more likely you’ll see a spike in your blog’s traffic report. And lastly, blog commenting. Blog comments will let you know you have site visitors.

I mean in reality if I see an increase in any of the above that should be a signal to me that there has been an increase in Google Analytics. Don’t you think?

5. It’s not like I can’t run reports periodically.

What is it about having to check Google Analytics every so often? The data will still be there whether a week from now or a month from now. You’re not even getting a complete days worth when checking it frequently every day. There is a report function -that I’ve never used- on Google Analytics. That will even email me a report based on the frequency I suggest: daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly. I think we will stick with weekly for now and see what happens. Although I kind of would like to set it to daily, I’m trying to be good here.

6. If I stare at it long enough things won’t magically happen.

Yes, THiS, things are bound to magically happen right? WRONG. So tell yourself to stop concentrating on what you cannot change and start concentrating on what you can. You are not going to change anything by sitting and staring at the analytics all day long. The only way you’ll change that data is by being more productive and concentrating on your business performance. Bottom line.

So when’s the last time you checked your Google Analytics today?