Etsy getting stats, finally!

From Auctiobytes via Etsy Bitch:

Etsy said it was conducting a beta test with Google Analytics to enable sellers to track metrics such as pageviews, site visits, popular content and page referrals.

It's about time.

Working at a web dev shop, even the worst pre-makeover websites we get through the door have analytics installed - usually Google Analytics because it is a cheap, free option. It's surprising that Etsy never pursued analytics before this. Plus it's a little odd that they're spearheading the effort in this way, rather than simply flipping a switch that would let sellers install Google Analytics on their pages on their own time.

Stats are going to change the Etsy selling game. I love combing through site stats to learn what sort of keywords, referring sites, and niche search engines are driving traffic. It's simply impossible to predict what's really driving traffic and sales without seeing analytics data.

I'm especially interested to see how many sales are driven through Etsy's search. The site's search is notoriously broken, and analytics are likely to throw this issue into sharp relief.