The Last Post: Adventures with the Written Word

Web analytics services – such as  Google Analytics  –  allow companies to measure, collect and analyse data. Their purpose is to measure business goals and find areas for improvement. These services are useful for writers, editors and other professionals because they allow insights into performance and optimisation of content. This article provides a brief overview of the detailed analyses available. Analytics services. Designed by  macrovector on  Freepik Google Analytics 4 (GA4) GA4 is the new version of Google Analytics. It replaces Universal Analytics (UA), which was discontinued in 2023. The new version has been rewritten from the ground up, and is entirely event-driven. It allows automatic (and more precise) tracking, along with more flexible analyses.   You can install GA4 manually or via  Google Tag Manager (GTM) . How Does the Service Work? The Google tag (GTAG.js) is a small piece of JavaScript  code used on every page of your website. I...

Search engines work by ‘crawling the web’: consulting databases and identifying terms specified by users. In its entry for search engine optimisation  (SEO), the Oxford Dictionaries website defines the term as ' The process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine '. This article explores the ways in which SEO is used to boost a company’s online presence, and offers guidance on the associated terminology. SEO in practice. Designed by Freepik Think about how we use search engines in our everyday lives. If we’re looking for gifts, we investigate products, reviews and prices, and then often purchase items online. If we’re hungry, we search for restaurants and make bookings. If our children ask fundamental questions before bedtime, we no longer have to invent plausible-sounding responses. We can find instant answers on our phones, tablets and cars. The web is the go-to to...