MoFuse

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It is far and away the most asked question from MoFuse customers:

Can we place our web site analytics tag on our mobile website hosted by MoFuse?

Mobile web analytics are on everyone's mind. Once your mobile site is up and running, of course you want to know what your mobile web audience is doing and how you can improve their experience. 

However analytics for a desktop web site are fundamentally different than mobile web analytics in a few important ways:  

•    The execution of the measurement on the mobile site  - is different
•    The types  of data that you can capture – are different
•    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that you will want to consider – are different

The Execution

There are 1000’s of different devices accessing your mobile site and most of them cannot handle cookie or tag technology which are standards for desktop site analytics to work.  Desktop website analytics refers to the measurement of visitors and their activities during the course of their visit to your site.  The most popular website analytics are performed today using page tags or log file analysis to track users.  Page tagging collects information via a code snippet or “tag” placed on your website which records and sends data to a third party for reporting and analysis. 

The problem:  tags for desktop sites are generally JavaScript which simply won’t do the job for the  mobile web.  JavaScript cannot be handled by most handsets or mobile browser technology.  Therefore, merely using the same tags that you use to measure desktop site just won’t work.  Worse, if you try to use them you will get results that will give you false or incomplete information!

Other standard methods for desktop site analytics such as HTTP Cookies, HTTP referrer and IP address information are also not supported by the majority of mobile browsers.  Even if they are, the data returned would be misleading due to the location of the Carrier’s IP gateway.

Collecting analytical data from your mobile site simply isn’t as straightforward as it is on your desktop site.  Using some traditional tools, like Google Analytics will appear to work at one level, however it will also give you misleading information because it is only representing a small subset of your mobile visitors.

A Different Approach for Mobile Analytics

When you make a mobile version of your website you will want to consider image tags or beacons, link redirection and HTTP header analysis instead of JavaScript tags for analytics of your mobile site.  MoFuse Premium provides all the data you need to get a proper picture of your mobile web traffic.

The Types of Data are Different for Mobile

In addition to data elements you collect from a desktop site, you can also collect data such as device type, carrier, geographic location, language and unique visitor identification.  MoFuse collects these for you and if you are a Premium user you will get these in your analytics information.   Next we'll talk about Key Performance Indicators that you will want to consider for your mobile site.  How can you measure the success of the  mobile site vs. your desktop site?  It all has to do with the goals you have for each site.