For businesses on the internet it is not enough to simply measure traffic to their website. A website needs to accomplish goals in order to be successful… the goals of the visitors as well as the goals of the business. A website should help funnel a user towards accomplishing their goal, whether that’s purchasing a product, getting help for a problem, registering for an event or downloading a whitepaper… all actions that can be configured and measured within Google Analytics with a bit of customization.

Within a visitor’s user experience, a live operator can provide an incredibly valuable role: they can impart assistance to pressing issues that aren’t easily solved, directions to valuable resources, and even product recommendations.

They can facilitate those goal conversions.


A survey conducted by Forrester Research reveals:

“Around 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a Web site can offer.”

“In 2008, Wells Fargo made a second attempt to leverage online chat to drive sales, and happily, this time the results have been crystal clear. High customer satisfaction scores and a double-digit increase in converted shoppers have shown the value once and for all of this technology.”

A Website Magazine article discussed this benefit, saying:

“Consumers are quite familiar with live chat software (just under two-thirds of U.S. shoppers have used live chat — a 15 percent rise from 2009). What’s more, those that use the Web-based functionality — be it on a retail or service site — are more likely to buy and less likely to abandon their sessions.”

An emarketer.com survey found that 63% were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat:

“62% reported being more likely to purchase from the site again. A further 38% of respondents said they had made their purchase due to the chat session itself. All these attitudes were even more prevalent among respondents who bought online at least weekly.”

A case study by CrazyEgg found:

“15% higher additional order value from users who use the live chat function vs those who don’t, and 60% of chats lead to a sale.”

When we investigated live chat software, for our website and for the websites of our clients, being able to integrate with Google Analytics was a big deal for us. We wanted our clients to be able to have a wide-range of functionality available to them, but we also wanted to be able to evaluate effectiveness and impact.

Olark’s chat software provided the right mix of features that we felt were necessary for website owners. But beyond the software of helping people in a live chat, Olark’s software includes built-in Google Analytics integration functionality. This integration enables website owners to answer questions surrounding the value and successfulness that a live operator plays in accomplishing their own business goals, as well as how to identify opportunities for improvement and greater goal conversions.

Using the data provided by Olark and Google Analytics we can evaluate the role of Live Chat within our website and the user journey towards success… and in partnership with Olark we have created a detailed whitepaper to walk you through the process of obtaining this data, as well as how you can use this data to discover actionable intelligence.

As you may have read elsewhere on our site, we believe in crafting smart strategies for your website and digital marketing campaigns. Learn more about how we can help you get more return out of your website or contact us to schedule an appointment.

To get the complete whitepaper on Olark + Analytics you can download it here: