You can answer the “How is your business doing?” question in several ways. Whether it’s based on a gut feeling, your financials or recent sales, you have several data points. However, when we switch the question to “How is your business doing online?” the potential data sources become virtually endless. I find that most business owners are overwhelmed by the myriad options, so instead of looking at numbers, they default to a gut feeling. I’m here to tell you this is a mistake.

You need to understand how your customers and potential customers are behaving on your website and anywhere else you market your business online. You need to be aware of all the places your company is mentioned, and you should have an easy way to view the reports and one place to go for everything. (Heck, it should come to you!)

Data collection is a chore best left to the system. A good reporting system will look at your website, social media, AdWords, and SEO and summarize everything into digestible, actionable numbers, allowing you to manage your business for the win.