google analytics essay

Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool Research Paper

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Noted Benefits

Cost or prizing plans, works cited.

This research paper is a review of Google Analytics. It is a widely recognized, freemium, self-service Web analytics or business intelligence (BI) and data visualization application offered by Google since 2005 after it acquired Urchin (Baker). The tool tracks and reports Web site traffics and offers useful insights, particularly for marketing and advertising agencies. It has been responsible for driving better business intelligence practices, integrating a wide range of top analytical functionalities for both Internet and mobile users. Based on quality- and functionality-driven applications, Google Analytics applies different visualization methods and data summarization on sophisticated dashboards to allow users to extract data and information that are easy to understand for decision-making.

Google Analytics is based on a tracking code technology (page tags) to support more JavaScript documents, to collect data automatically, to send cookies, and to analyze every user’s behavior on a site. Google Analytics runs on all major devices, including Windows, Linux, Android, Mac, and others. Additionally, it is developed to support various Web pages, such as Perl, JavaScript, ASP.NET, PHP, as well as to support businesses of different sizes, including freelancers and small, medium, and large businesses. It is free for small businesses and individuals, whereas other entities can acquire it on a flexible payment arrangement to exploit more than its 30 features, making Google Analytics the most affordable, readily available tool for all, irrespective of the size, industry, or financial position of users.

Insights and reports obtained from Google Analytics are considered instrumental for the commercial growth of any modern business. The tool assists commercial entities to analyze vast volumes of data from disparate sources for market optimization. Different end-users get diverse benefits of this tool. It is, however, imperative to focus on how the platform assists businesses to understand their Web site visitors, evaluate reasons behind the traffic, and more importantly, exactly discern why visitors did or did not convert. From cookies and browser cache files, the tool uses values like keywords, timestamps, titles, and referrers for analysis (DeGrazia).

Google Analytics supports data-driven decision-making and helps companies to save costs. It has different Advanced Reporting features – sales, lead generation, visitors’ behavior, and specific pages visited or files downloaded. It shows the origin of visitors (referrers), visitor location, and time they spend on the site on a users’ computer (DeGrazia). For e-commerce sites, Google Analytics displays sales performance, transactions, revenue, and any other performance indicators of interest. With the real-time analytics feature, Web site owners can see current activities on their sites.

Once it has efficiently classified data on the dashboard, users can rely on Google Analytics to optimize their marketing activities, making it extremely useful for analysts and markets because of integration with AdWords. While savvy business owners can conduct in-depth content analyses to determine poor performances, other casual users may rely on dashboard-type information for insights. Specific insights help organizations to save costs on analysis and reports, which ultimately affect their bottom line and enhance cost-saving strategies.

For individuals and small businesses, Google Analytics is a free platform. The pricing is based on a quote basis under different sophisticated applications, such as “Analytics 360, Tag Manager 360, Optimize 360 (beta), Attribution 360, Audience Center 360 (beta), and Data Studio 360 (beta)” (FinancesOnline). These applications can be purchased collectively or individually.

Performance

According to FinancesOnline, Google Analytics has recorded a user satisfaction rate of 96 percent and a score of 8.7. These metrics indicate that Google Analytics is an important Business Intelligence tool based on reviews from disparate sources and users globally. Customers are actually satisfied with this tool. Such ratings also help other potential users to choose the most cost-effective and dependable tool.

Competition

Various popular Google Analytics alternatives are also available in the market. These tools include Microsoft Power BI, IBM Watson Analytics, and Tableau Desktop, as well as other lesser-known alternatives, such as a competitor, Style Intelligence, Lokad, and others. Their performances and prices vary considerably from one vendor to another.

Limitations

Although Google Analytics is a superior tool for Web site and mobile app data analysis, it nonetheless has some limitations. Google does not provide a higher level of customer support or training relative to other paid alternatives. Thus, users who deploy this tool are expected to handle their own end-user training needs, perhaps because it is considered a freemium product. With limited training, many end users may fail to grasp any useful information from the excessively automated customer support system. Users who only utilize advertising and marketing features may not explore the full functionality of the tool. Further, critics have also raised issues related to the loss of privacy due to tracking and some invalid searches.

Google Analytics is considered a powerful freemium tool for Web site and mobile app analysis, making it one of the most successful BI tools with superior return on investment. It analyzes site audience, referrals, visitor behaviors, and conversion or no conversion. Today, it is one of the most widely adopted Web site analytical tools and favored by marketers and e-commerce firms for optimization. With adequate end-user training, support, and privacy-advancing features, Google Analytics is poised to be the BI most preferred analytics tool.

Baker, Pam. “Google Analytics.” PC Magazine . 2017, Web.

DeGrazia, Mari. “Carving for Cookies: Supersize Your Internet History Timeline Using Google Analytic Artifacts.” Forensic Mag . 2014, Web.

FinancesOnline. Google Analytics Review . FinancesOnline, 2017, Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, December 26). Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool. https://ivypanda.com/essays/google-analytics-as-a-business-intelligence-tool/

"Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool." IvyPanda , 26 Dec. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/google-analytics-as-a-business-intelligence-tool/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool'. 26 December.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool." December 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/google-analytics-as-a-business-intelligence-tool/.

1. IvyPanda . "Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool." December 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/google-analytics-as-a-business-intelligence-tool/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Google Analytics as a Business Intelligence Tool." December 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/google-analytics-as-a-business-intelligence-tool/.

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Software, Tutorials and Guides

An Introduction To Google Analytics – Step by Step Guide

This is a newbie-friendly guide to Google Analytics (GA).  Though I say it right now – I guarantee you will become a pro by the time you’re done reading this.

Without wasting any time;

let’s get started!

What is Google Analytics Exactly?

It’s a powerful software developed by Google that lets you and other webmasters track traffic and traffic patterns on their sites.

This is to improve their websites and consequently offer a better experience for the web plus earn more money for their efforts.

And it’s free.

GA is a must-have tool, and I don’t care who you are; if you want more traffic – you need to have it.

And this Google Analytics guide will show plenty of reasons why.

Note: Before we start with the guide properly…

Since this a beginner’s guide, there’s a tonne to cover.

But GA also offers a lot of advanced features . Features I won’t be showing you today.

Because if you never used Google Analytics before, you will feel daunting, and you might just decide to skip it.

So you will see me jump over entire sections.

How to Connect Your Site With Google Analytics: Tutorial

Let me guess.

You installed GA for your website, you opened eagerly, ready to plow through data only to faced with a massive realization:

“Hey, I have no clue what I’m doing here; and what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s smarter to learn first, lest I make some grievous mistake”!

You probably didn’t use “lest,” but I’m pretty sure the rest of my prediction is spot on.

You have a whole slew of things to learn, and the first one on the list is learning to connect your WordPress website and your GA account.

The best and easiest way is to use a dedicated plugin.

Because it’s easy much easier than doing it manually.

But also because, and this is a more critical reason, Google Analytics will quickly become one of the most used tools in your arsenal. This means you need to have quick access to it at all times to avoid wasting your time.

The good news is that with a dedicated plugin, you can import GA’s precious data right into your WordPress dashboard.

And it’ll always be there telling what’s happening with your website.

I wanted to cover it here, but upon digging  just a bit, I found that Aayush has already written an excellent guide and comparison of 3 dedicated plugins for GA and WP integrations

Check it out below:

• 3 Best WordPress Plugins for Seamless Integration of Your Site With Google Analytics-

Finally, before we begin, do know that GA needs several days, or preferably a week, to start showing you useful data. So the first time you log in, things will look slightly different from what you’ll see below.

But once GA populates your dashboard with data, then you’ll notice the similarities.

Google Analytics Home – a Treasure Trove of Useful Data

When you log in to your GA home page, you will get a full breakdown of what is going on with your site.

There’s a lot to cover, so I divided it into 2 quick parts.

Here’s what you can see:

• Users – how many people visited your site in the last 7 days
• Sessions – how many sessions did these users have
• Bounce rate – how many of them left after perusing one page only.
• Session Duration – what is the average time on site
• Live now – how many people are there right now
• Location – where do your visitors come from
• Times of the day when you get most visitors – when is your audience most active.
• Traffic channels/source medium/ referrals – I cover this in detail below.

• What pages do your users visit – most visited pages
• how are your active users trending overtime – Are you growing or plateauing
• What are your top devices – Devices folks use to visit your site
• How well do you retain users – Is your content engaging

Realtime Traffic

Just like the name suggests, GA gives you an overview of visitors to your site.

• You can see how many of them are
• What countries they’re from
• What pages on your site are most trafficked

Note: and each report from the overview section can be examined in detail further. Just click on where you wish to go next.

However, real-time reporting is semi-useless, to be perfectly honest.

It is an excellent feature, but it only really works if you have an established site with at least a few hundred visitors per day. Then you can glean some valuable information from it.

If you have a new site, you will most likely find that there’s not much to look at here.

So let’s move on quickly to a place where there is much to look at…

Audience Report

This is the most valuable part of GA.

Because here, you will find aggregated all information Analytics have accrued on your site over time. And that’s much more valuable to you because you will be able to recognize traffic patterns.

The areas that are good and areas where you need to work on some more.

Here what it looks like when I click on the “Overview” tab:

Here’s the breakdown of one week’s worth of traffic for my site:

• Users – how many users found my site through any medium
• New users – how many of those were new users
• Sessions – total number of sessions
• Sessions per user – Do people click around my site.
• Pageviews – total number of pageviews
• Average session duration – how long do folks stay (some will stay longer, some shorter, so this is an average)
• Bounce rate – How many people leave after viewing just one page.

These are UX metrics, which are significant SEO signals too. In other words, these can boost or ruin your entire SEO campaign.

For example, Google likes to test new pages that otherwise should not rank (because they’re fresh), so they will temporarily boost a new page to rank for a few queries and get traffic. And then, they will watch to see how users that found that page through Google behave.

If they stayed and seemed to like your content, then that temporarily boosted page might just settle in that new spot Google basically rewarded to it.

However, if people leave your site in a hurry, you can expect that page to return to the bottomless pit of Google’s SERPs, and also, it’ll have trouble ranking from then forward.

Not impossible, though, because significantly changing the page resets that filter, and that Google has to test again.

One week is the default time frame, and it’s excellent for a quick overview.

But if you want to get more info, and especially to see your traffic trend over time (whether it’s going up, down, or is plateauing), you can simply change the date parameters.

Here, I changed the date to see my traffic numbers from January first till March twenty-first.

You can see I had 438 visitors to the site in January, but in February, which is a bit shorter month, I had 517 visitors.

Now in March, I already have 410 visitors, and there are still eleven days left.

Overall, these are small numbers, but it’s growth nonetheless, and I’m happy with it as my site is actually a portfolio site to me. I use it to showcase my writing work and not to try and get more traffic.

Demographics

Here you have two tabs to explore

Why is this important?

This info is important because you need to know who visits your site.

And by who, I do not mean their names, but their age, interests, and whether they’re men or women.

Imagine if mostly men visit your site, and you change your site’s theme and background image to be a rosy pink, with lots of flowery arrangements.

I think that kind of experience would repel most men as it’ll strike them as too feminine.

Another advantage of knowing the predominant gender of your audience is the quality of referral traffic.

I mean, if you sell makeup, and you publish a guest post somewhere to get links and referral traffic, and then you see that traffic flowing through that link is mostly men, then you know you should not guest post there again.

Because, unless these men are clowns looking to buy makeup, they won’t be purchasing anything from you any time soon

Instead, they will quickly leave, and then you’ve wasted your time, your money, and you potentially hurt your SEO because these folks are pogo-sticking and bouncing way too fast and are thus sending the wrong kind of signals to Google.

The age and gender data of your audience is invaluable info to have.

Here you also have two tabs to explore:

In the language section, you can see the language people browsers are set on.

Really if you have a site in English, then people will find you using English phrases.

But this info tells you what market you reach the most because the language people set their browsers to indicate what country they’re from.

For example, there is Chrome for American English, for British English, Canadian. Australian… and so on.

Note: in the image above, you can see that 85% of my total audience comes from the US and Great Britain. Which suits me just fine as those are the audience markets I want to target.

And here’s a nice visual representation of it all.

Here you can see the general patterns of your traffic’s behavior.

For example, in the “New vs. Returning” section, you can see how new visitors who never before visited your site behaves, i.e.,

• how long they stay,
• what their bounce rate is
• average session duration

And you can compare these metrics with those of the returning visitors.

Usually, the latter group’s number will be much better because they came back to your site, which means they liked what they saw the first time.

Usually, returning visitors offer the most potential for your brand because they are the ones most likely to buy and become your brand’s evangelists.

Finally, there’s the engagement table where you can see the breakdown of all sessions your visitors had, divide by length of sessions. For example, I can see that the 1460 session lasted less than 10 s. And I also know that my site’s overall bounce rate sits at around 80%.

That tells me that my site is slow and that these people do not engage. They simply get tired of waiting and leave.

I admit this is new info for me, and I will have to change hosting soon, as the basic Bluehost package is obviously pretty basic. Good enough to keep you online but not good enough for anything else.

The technology tab is something where you will rarely visit.

The reasons are that the data it provides is not so actionable.

For example, you can see what browsers people use, which can help you determine how your ads will perform. Because some browsers like Google Chrome, for example, are built to support ads (especially Adwords), while others like Mozilla actively try to block them.

So if your audience uses mostly Mozilla, then you might need to look into other monetization opportunities (for example, affiliate marketing is a superb choice as it can work with decent but not large traffic numbers)

What I mean is, a slow website on a fast 5G network in the US feels much different than a slow website on a 3G network in India, Serbia, or some other countries.

Again something to keep in mind though it’s not really actionable because you will always want a faster website , regardless of the browser people use and irrespective of the network they use to hook to the net.

This info is essential.

First, you can see how many people visit your site on desktop vs. mobile.

Mighty important because you want to model your content based on how people experience it. If they primarily use desktop, then you can have longer-form content that is highly readable and scannable.

If it’s primarily mobile, you can aim for shorter content that thoroughly answers a specific query.

Remember, people on mobile are on the go and are looking for quick answers.

While those desktop visitors are doing careful research and potentially shopping;

You can also see which devices people use.

This is less actionable data, but if you see that a certain device has an insane bounce rate and low session time, then it could be possible that your site doesn’t render well on that phone. 

Pro tip: You can use the PWA plugin to turn your website into an app for smartphone users.  You can also use AMP to make your site lighter and load superfast on smartphones.

So, if the numbers are terrible and many people use that specific type of phone, it might be worthwhile to examine what’s going on.

Here you can see in a visual form how intuitively how well your site is interlinked.

That is, once your visitor lands on any page on your site, do they go deeper from there? And can they go more in-depth?

Because if you see a page that no one ventures from further into your site, it means that either the page is not engaging or there are not enough visible internal links.

For example, I recently published a power word copywriting monster guide. It is a humongous page with many links on them, some of them internal.

However, I could obviously do a better job at adding internal links because out of 26 visitors to that page, none went to any other page of my site.

Of course, I will need more traffic to get better insights, but this is a clue, nonetheless.

Acquisition- How You Acquire Your Traffic

This is another major area of Google Analytics.

Here you can see your traffic breakdown across all channels.

Because the big difference between GA and GSC is that Google Analytics shows you all traffic channels and gives you a more accurate overview of your marketing efforts, where you’re weak, and where you’re killing it.

By clicking on the overview, you will see a pie chart of how your traffic sources are distributed.

Here’s what it means

• Organic search – Google Traffic from keywords
• Direct – When someone enters your site’s (or your post’s) address in the browser
• Referral – traffic flowing through backlinks
• Social – traffic through social media links
• Other – Google has no idea where these people came from

Next, we go “All Traffic/Channels,” and there you can see this info again, but shown in a different format. And what’s neat is that you can see how each traffic channel differs in user behavior and UX metrics.

For example:

I can see that my average organic search session duration is 2.33s, which is decent, and an excellent sign my content is engaging.

However, surprising to me is that traffic from social and referral stays, for both channels longer than 3m. This is weird, especially social traffic, which is known to be ice cold.

I don’t know if this is a pattern or just a fluke, and I will need more data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on.

Next, I will dig deeper into the “Referral” section because it’s worth knowing which sites send me the most traffic. ( note: and I will change the time frame to 30 days for better insight)

Ok, immediately I see that zest.is my best referrer by far, they have sent me exactly 100 visitors in the last 30 days. And these folks are engaged, too, as time on site is 3.12s, and bounce rate is 80%.

Note: in the bottom right corner, I can see all my referrers. I just need to increase the number of sources GA shows me. By default, it’s 10, and they’re showing in descending order, from the highest number of visitors sent to the lowest.

Search Console

Did you know that you can link together with your GA and Search Console for a full overview of how your site performs in Google and beyond?

Yes, you can, and I show you how below in the FAQ section of this post.

But here I want to quickly break down the data you can find here:

a) Landing Pages

Any page on your site can be considered a landing page.

That is because each page has a goal built into it, even if that goal is as simple as clicking on an internal link and thus “converting.”

Here you see how visitors respond on a per-page basis on your site:

b) Countries

This report shows you which country’s audience visits the most and whose audience engages the most with your site.

For example, I can see that India’s traffic has a 61% bounce rate, which is significantly better than the behavior of traffic from Canada. They leave my site without clicking anywhere else 90% of the time.

Here you can see traffic breakdown by devices and how each segment of your audience behaves regarding the device they use to browse your site.

Queries report shows you phrases your website ranks for. And they’re given in descending order,  meaning those with more impressions and click come first.

The info to look at is

• Search query
• ctr (click-through rate)
• average posting

As you can see, you can get valuable data from GSC (Google search console) directly to your GA dashboard.

But should you do it?

That’s for you to decide. I personally like to log into my GSC at least once per week.

It’s the same info, but it’s much more pleasant to the eye as here in GA, the info is all crammed into a small space, and you have to almost squint to see certain things.

But maybe that’s just me as I wear glasses.

It’s possible that people without them can see everything just fine.

(FAQ) Question Beginners Often Ask About Google Analytics- Answered!

A) what is google analytics, and how does it work.

GA is free, too, developed by Google that helps you track traffic patterns and measure your site’s performance over time. It’s an invaluable tool for marketers, and anyone serious about making money online needs to get it ASAP.

GA works by inserting its code snippet into the HTML of your site; code snippet, which then works together with cookies people browsers, save all the time to mine valuable data about your site’s visitors.

This can get complicated fast, so I’ll stop writing here.

The main thing to know is that it works!

b) Is it Legal to Track People with Google Analytics?

Yes, it is legal.

However, you need to have a privacy policy on your site, and folks also need to accept being tracked.

Don’t worry. Most of them do without knowing what they’re accepting, and to make things easy on yourself, you need a cookie plugin.

I recommend GDPR cookie consent as it makes your site automatically compliant with the EU law regulations.

c) Is Google Analytics Free? REALLY? So There Are no Hidden Fees?

GA is free for all and indefinitely.

Except if you’re very big, more than 10 million hits a month. Google Analytics counts any request made to the server as a hit.

Once you’re past 10 million visits, you’ll have to switch to Google Analytics Premium.

d) My Google Analytics Tracks Me Too. How Can I Disable That?

You need to filter your IP address.

Then you’ll be invisible. Or you can simply use any of the plugins like MonsterInsights that filter your visits automatically.

A serious business owner’s goal is to have so much traffic that even if their GA tracks them too, does it really matter?

e) Google Analytics is so Robust. I don’t Know Where to Start First. Where?

Focus on the UX metrics for your site.

Are people engaged with your content, and are they staying put and exploring your site?

Or are they leaving in a hurry like mice desert a sinking ship?

That’s the info you need to get ASAP because it will determine the outcome of all your SEO efforts.

Remember, Google will boost you if they see folks love your site.

f) Can I Connect My Google Analytics With Google Search Console?

Yes, you can. And it’s straightforward.

So go and on the left bottom corner click the “Admin” button:

Next, go “Property Settings.”

And then scroll down till you see Search Console/Adjust Search Console.

Click it and simply add a new property.

I can’t show you here because I already added it a long time ago, you just need to copy/paste your GSC verification code, hit save, and you’re done. Again if you’re using a plugin, it will automatically prompt you to do that as well.

g) How Much Traffic Do I Need to Make The Most Use Out of Goggle Analytics?

GA works as soon as you add the code to your HTML header. However, it will take some time for you to get useful data you can actually use to improve your online business.

You need to set up GA right away but then forget about it until you average 100 visitors per day.

Then come back to it and see what useful info you can glean from it.

I bet you there’ll be a tonne of it.

Use Google Analytics because it’s free and robust.

It gives you actionable data to work with. If you’re the kind of person that wants superb results for their site and online business, then you ought to study your analytics periodically.

All that’s left is for you to get to work, get stuff done, and get better results. If you’re confused between using Jetpack analytics or GA, here’s an article to help you:

• Jetpack Vs. Google Analytics

If you have any questions about Google Analytics, you can drop me a comment below.

Reader Interactions

May 2, 2020 at 3:12 pm

Great guide. All the details are perfect for beginners that start using Google Analytics. Thanks for sharing Nikola.

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Researcher & Sustainability Enthusiast

Google Analytics: Reflection from a newbie

Process does matter: do not take outputs for granted.

In the Digital Age (or Information Age), data is the key success factors and facilitate the creation of competitive advantage to both organisations and individuals. My friend once told me that Google has never deleted anything (or any data). That might be one of the reasons why Google is the giant in this Digital Age as it has been viewing data as its invaluable assets.

Ghost traffic in Google Analytics

I have embedded Google Analytics tool (explore the features)  in my website five days after the launch on 21 Nov 2016. Few days ago, there were some users visiting my website from Russia. As a newbie to this, at first I was so excited that my tiny website has such a global visibility. However, after a few hours of excitement, my suspicion started to develop strongly. I have shared my website in my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts. I rarely have Russian friends or connections. Why so many users from Russia were on my newly-launched website? I started to dig down my Google analytic and found another point of suspicion that Reddit.com has been referring traffic to my website. That’s weird! I do not have the account with the site, nor visit the site recently. Then my research (Google-search really) about this suspicious traffic has started.

My point here is not to show and direct you how I filtered the spams out of my analytics data. However, I would like to highlight that when you use data analytic tools (such as Google Analystics), it is better if you know mechanism, assumptions or functions behind those outputs/final numbers. These outputs from analytic tools, in turn, will be the input for your decision making process. If you know and are aware of the functions, filtering, and segmentation in Google Analytics tool, you can make more accurate and relevant decisions.

Lesson learn from using Google Analytics

My experience on this makes me think about the questions I was asked by some of accounting and finance students (and the questions I used to ask as a student!) that…

“Why we need to understand how to debits and credits? Because if you put in transactions in accounting software, it will do the job; we will just wait for the report”

“Why we need to know CAPM equation in details? Because when we have the number we just let the computer program process it. We simply just need to know that it is a relationship of risk and return of a particular asset; and use the outcomes to make investment decision”

With those two cases, the outputs (reports and the decisions based on the numbers) are not absolute. Taking the case of the first case, there might be more than one way to do the debits and credits for particular/similar transactions that organisations can use such choices to manipulate financial reports. If we take the reported number as they are without questioning the suspicion accounts, the decisions based on that numbers might not be the best decision.

Thus, using Google Analytics (or data analytic tools) to aid your decision is essential for this digital era with overwhelming amount of data/data sources. However, we need to be aware that such tools are prone to spams and distracting data sources that could hinder analytic data sets that are useful and relevant to your decision. So do not take such tools and their products (e.g. numbers, and reports) for granted. But try to understand the mechanism and functions behind them to make the most out of them; and not be manipulated by false information!! Do not be so obsessed only with the outputs, PROCESS DOES MATTER!

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How Google Analytics works

Google Analytics is a platform that collects data from your websites and apps to create reports that provide insights into your business.

Measuring a website

To measure a website, you first have to create a Google Analytics account. Then you need to add a small piece of JavaScript measurement code to each page on your site. Every time a user visits a webpage, the tracking code will collect pseudonymous information about how that user interacted with the page.

For the Google Store, the measurement code could show how many users visited a page that sells drinkware versus a page that sells houseware. Or it could tell us how many users bought an item like an Android doll by tracking whether they made it to the purchase-confirmation page.

The measurement code will also collect information from the browser like the language setting, the type of browser (such as Chrome or Safari), and the device and operating system on which the browser is running. It can even collect the “traffic source,” which is what brought users to the site in the first place. This might be a search engine, an advertisement they clicked on, or an email marketing campaign.

Processing and reporting

When the measurement code collects data, it packages that information up and sends it to Google Analytics to be processed into reports. When Analytics processes data, it aggregates and organizes the data based on particular criteria like whether a user’s device is mobile or desktop, or which browser they’re using.

But there are also configuration settings that allow you to customize how that data is processed. For example, you might want to apply a filter to make sure your data doesn’t include any internal company traffic or developer traffic.

Once Analytics processes the data, it’s stored in a database where it can’t be changed.

So remember, when you set up your configuration, don’t exclude any data you think you might want to analyze later. Once the data has been processed and stored in the database, it will appear in Google Analytics as reports.

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Unlock customer-centric measurement across your sites and apps, so you know what’s working and what’s not. See how people engage with your business and the role different channels play with advanced reporting and analysis. You can even connect systems used to measure CRM, points of sale, and other first-party data sources for a more complete view.

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Analyze data quickly and collaborate with your team with an easy-to-use interface and shareable reports. Process and share data in a snap, while using our configuration APIs to keep things flexible and fully programmatic. Analytics also offers built-in technical support and a global infrastructure that delivers secure, accurate data across your sites and apps while staying fully under your control.

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Introducing the new Google Analytics

Oct 14, 2020

[[read-time]] min read

Millions of businesses, large and small, rely on Google Analytics to understand customer preferences and create better experiences for them. With more commerce moving online and businesses under increased pressure to make every marketing dollar count, insights from digital analytics tools are even more critical.

But with major shifts in consumer behavior and privacy-driven changes to longtime industry standards, current approaches to analytics aren’t keeping pace. In a survey from Forrester Consulting, marketers said that improving their use of analytics is a top priority, and that existing solutions make it difficult to get a complete view of the customer and derive insights from their data.

To help you get better ROI from your marketing for the long term, we're creating a new, more intelligent Google Analytics that builds on the foundation of the App + Web property we introduced in beta last year. It has machine learning at its core to automatically surface helpful insights and gives you a complete understanding of your customers across devices and platforms. It’s privacy-centric by design, so you can rely on Analytics even as industry changes like restrictions on cookies and identifiers create gaps in your data. The new Google Analytics will give you the essential insights you need to be ready for what’s next.

Smarter insights to improve your marketing decisions and get better ROI

By applying Google’s advanced machine learning models, the new Analytics can automatically alert you to significant trends in your data - like products seeing rising demand because of new customer needs. It even helps you anticipate future actions your customers may take. For example, it calculates churn probability so you can more efficiently invest in retaining customers at a time when marketing budgets are under pressure. We’re continuing to add new predictive metrics, like the potential revenue you could earn from a particular group of customers. This allows you to create audiences to reach higher value customers and run analyses to better understand why some customers are likely to spend more than others, so you can take action to improve your results.

Churn probability in the Analysis module

With new integrations across Google’s marketing products, it’s easy to use what you learn to improve the ROI of your marketing. A deeper integration with Google Ads, for example, lets you create audiences that can reach your customers with more relevant, helpful experiences, wherever they choose to engage with your business.

The new approach also makes it possible to address longtime advertiser requests. Because the new Analytics can measure app and web interactions together, it can include conversions from YouTube engaged views that occur in-app and on the web in reports. Seeing conversions from YouTube video views alongside conversions from Google and non-Google paid channels, and organic channels like Google Search, social, and email, helps you understand the combined impact of all your marketing efforts.

YouTube Engaged-view conversions in Analytics reports

Businesses taking part in the beta are already seeing benefits. Vistaprint , responding to rapid changes in their business at the start of the pandemic, was able to quickly measure and understand the customer response to their new line of protective masks. And Jeff Kacmarek, Vice President of Domino’s Pizza of Canada, found that “linking the new Google Analytics to Google Ads enables us to optimize around the actions that matter most to our customers, regardless of how they interact with our brand.”

A more complete understanding of how customers interact with your business

The new Analytics gives you customer-centric measurement, instead of measurement fragmented by device or by platform. It uses multiple identity spaces, including marketer-provided User IDs and unique Google signals from users opted into ads personalization, to give you a more complete view of how your customers interact with your business. For example, you can see if customers first discover your business from an ad on the web, then later install your app and make purchases there.

You’ll also get a better understanding of your customers across their entire lifecycle, from acquisition to conversion and retention. This is critical when people’s needs are rapidly changing and you have to make real-time decisions in order to win - and keep - new customers. Based on your feedback, we simplified and re-organized reporting so you can intuitively find marketing insights based on the part of the customer journey you’re interested in. For example, you can see what channels are driving new customers in the user acquisition report, then use the engagement and retention reports to understand the actions these customers take, and whether they stick around, after converting.

New reporting structure organized by the user lifecycle

Built for the long term

Now is the time to invest in your digital marketing basics, like smarter analytics, so you can be ready for what comes next. This will also help you respond to rising consumer expectations, regulatory developments, and changing technology standards for user privacy. With a new approach to data controls , you can better manage how you collect, retain and use your Analytics data. More granular controls for ads personalization let you choose when to use your data to optimize your ads and when to limit your data use to measurement. And of course, we continue to offer users control over sharing their activity with Google Analytics.

Because the technology landscape continues to evolve, the new Analytics is designed to adapt to a future with or without cookies or identifiers. It uses a flexible approach to measurement, and in the future, will include modeling to fill in the gaps where the data may be incomplete. This means that you can rely on Google Analytics to help you measure your marketing results and meet customer needs now as you navigate the recovery and as you face uncertainty in the future.

The future of Google Analytics

The new Google Analytics is now the default experience for new properties and is where we’re investing in future improvements. We know there are capabilities many marketers need before fully replacing their existing Analytics setup, so we encourage you to create a new Google Analytics 4 property (previously called an App + Web property) alongside your existing properties. This will allow you to start gathering data and benefit from the latest innovations as they become available while keeping your current implementation intact. If you’re an enterprise marketer, we’re currently in beta with an Analytics 360 version that will offer SLAs and advanced integrations with tools like BigQuery, and will have more to share soon.

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Challenges of Google Analytics 4: Insights, Concerns, and Benefits

The transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has introduced significant changes and challenges for users. Although GA4 offers potential benefits, such as advanced machine learning capabilities, users have expressed frustration and concerns during the adoption process.

This article delves into the insights, issues, and benefits surrounding GA4, shedding light on the challenges users have faced and providing examples and detailed instructions to illustrate these points.

The Shift to an Event-Based Data Model

Embracing the Event-Based Model

The event-based model introduced in GA4 presents an opportunity for businesses to gain deeper insights into user behavior and engagement. Instead of analyzing overall sessions, users now need to focus on tracking specific events and actions. For example, instead of solely relying on session durations to understand user engagement, businesses can track specific actions like clicks, form submissions, or video views.

To embrace the event-based model effectively, businesses need to redefine their key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracking methodologies. For instance, instead of solely focusing on session-based metrics like bounce rate or session duration, businesses should identify the specific events that indicate user engagement and success. This could include events like adding items to a cart, completing a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter.

Redefining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To make the most of GA4, businesses need to reevaluate their KPIs and align them with the event-based model. This involves identifying the specific events that align with their business goals and indicate meaningful user actions. For example, an e-commerce website may consider tracking events like adding items to the cart, initiating the checkout process, and completing a purchase as crucial indicators of user engagement and success.

To redefine KPIs in GA4:

• Identify the actions or events that align with your business goals and contribute to conversions or desired outcomes.
• Use the GA4 interface to create custom events or leverage pre-defined events provided by Google.
• Implement event tracking codes on your website or app to capture relevant user actions.
• Set up conversion goals based on these events to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and user engagement.

Analysing Event-Based Data

Analysing event-based data requires a different analytical approach compared to the traditional session-based model. Businesses need to examine the patterns and sequences of events to understand user behavior thoroughly. This granular analysis provides valuable insights for optimising user experiences and driving conversions.

To analyse event-based data effectively in GA4:

• Use the GA4 interface to create custom reports that focus on specific events or event sequences.
• Analyse the flow of events leading to conversions or desired outcomes. For example, you can create a funnel report to identify the drop-off points in the user journey.
• Utilise advanced segmentation capabilities in GA4 to compare user behavior based on different event combinations or user attributes.
• Leverage machine learning features in GA4, such as predictive analytics or anomaly detection, to uncover hidden patterns or trends in event-based data.

The event-based data model in GA4 offers businesses a more comprehensive understanding of user behavior and engagement. By focusing on specific events, businesses can make data-driven decisions that directly impact their goals and improve overall user experiences.

Lack of Backward Compatibility

Integrating Data Between UA and GA4

One of the major frustrations for users has been the lack of backward compatibility between GA4 and UA. Users who heavily relied on UA for historical data comparisons and trend analysis find it challenging to seamlessly transition to GA4. Comparing monthly website traffic between the two versions becomes difficult due to the disparity in data collection methods.

To integrate data between UA and GA4 effectively:

• Export historical data from UA using the available reporting features or APIs provided by Google.
• Transform the exported data into a format compatible with GA4. This may involve mapping UA metrics to equivalent GA4 events or dimensions.
• Import the transformed data into GA4 using the data import functionalities available in the GA4 interface or via the Measurement Protocol API.
• Verify the accuracy and consistency of the imported data by cross-referencing it with the original UA data.

Creating Data Transition Strategies

Businesses should develop data transition strategies that take into account the differences between UA and GA4. This involves identifying the key metrics and reports that need to be carried forward from UA and devising methods to recreate them in GA4. By planning ahead and understanding the gaps in data compatibility, businesses can mitigate the challenges associated with the transition.

To create effective data transition strategies:

• Identify the critical metrics and reports that are essential for your business analysis and decision-making.
• Determine how these metrics and reports are currently generated in UA.
• Understand the equivalent events or dimensions in GA4 that align with the identified metrics and reports.
• Create new GA4 reports and dashboards that replicate the desired metrics and visualisations.
• Use data integration techniques, such as combining data from UA and GA4 in a data warehouse or using a business intelligence tool, to bridge the gap between the two versions.

Leveraging Data from Both Versions

Instead of viewing UA and GA4 as separate entities, businesses can leverage the strengths of both versions. While GA4 provides advanced features and machine learning capabilities, UA offers a wealth of historical data. By using both versions in conjunction, businesses can gain a comprehensive view of their analytics and make informed decisions based on a broader data set.

To leverage data from both UA and GA4 effectively:

• Maintain parallel tracking of data in both UA and GA4 during the transition phase.
• Use data comparison and validation techniques to identify any discrepancies between the two versions.
• Combine UA historical data with new GA4 data using appropriate data integration methods, such as data merging or joining.
• Utilise data visualisation and analysis tools, such as Google Data Studio or custom dashboards, to aggregate and analyse data from both versions.
• Regularly assess the impact of the transition on data insights and decision-making, ensuring that the combined data provides a holistic view of user behavior.

The transition to GA4 presents an opportunity for businesses to leverage the advanced features of the new platform while still utilising the historical data from UA. By integrating and leveraging data from both versions, businesses can access a more comprehensive analytics ecosystem, leading to more informed decision-making.

Scarcity of Learning Resources and Documentation

User-Friendly Documentation and Guides

Users have struggled to find comprehensive learning resources and documentation for GA4, making the adoption process more challenging. To support GA4 users, Google should invest in creating more comprehensive and user-friendly learning resources. Detailed documentation, step-by-step guides, and interactive tutorials can provide users with the necessary knowledge to navigate GA4 effectively. These resources should cater to users of all skill levels and cover a wide range of topics, from basic setup to advanced analytics techniques.

To access user-friendly documentation and guides:

• Visit the official Google Analytics Help Center, which provides articles and guides covering various aspects of GA4 implementation and usage.
• Explore the Google Analytics Academy, an online learning platform that offers free courses on GA4, including topics like data collection, reporting, and advanced analytics.
• Join webinars or virtual events organised by Google or its authorised partners to gain insights from experts and interact with the GA4 community.
• Engage with the GA4 documentation and user guides to understand the platform’s features, implementation best practices, and troubleshooting tips.

Addressing Specific User Needs

Each business has unique requirements when it comes to analytics. Google should ensure that the learning resources and documentation for GA4 address specific user needs. This could involve creating industry-specific guides, case studies, or troubleshooting FAQs to help businesses overcome challenges that are specific to their niches.

To address specific user needs:

• Explore industry-specific forums or communities where GA4 users share their experiences and insights. Participate in discussions and ask questions related to your specific industry or use case.
• Look for case studies or success stories that highlight how businesses in similar industries have implemented and leveraged GA4 for their analytics needs.
• Engage with Google support channels, such as the Google Analytics Help Community or support forums, to seek guidance or request assistance on industry-specific challenges.
• Consider consulting with analytics professionals or agencies that specialise in your industry to gain expert advice and tailored solutions for GA4 implementation.

Community Support and Forums

Encouraging a vibrant community of GA4 users can alleviate the scarcity of learning resources. Google should facilitate forums and discussion boards where users can connect, share insights, and seek assistance from one another. This community-driven support system can supplement official documentation and provide real-world perspectives on GA4 implementation and best practices.

To engage in community support and forums:

• Join online communities, such as the Google Analytics Community, where GA4 users and experts actively participate in discussions and knowledge sharing.
• Follow blogs or websites dedicated to GA4, where industry professionals and enthusiasts publish articles, tutorials, and tips on utilising the platform effectively.
• Participate in virtual events or conferences focused on analytics and marketing, where GA4-related topics are covered through presentations, workshops, or networking opportunities.
• Contribute to the community by sharing your experiences, providing solutions to common challenges, or sharing insights gained from using GA4 in your specific context.

As Google invests in improving learning resources and community support for GA4, businesses can access a wider range of educational materials and tap into a network of experienced users. This fosters a collaborative learning environment and empowers businesses to overcome challenges more effectively.

Data Accuracy and Reliability

Ensuring Data Consistency

Reports of discrepancies and inconsistencies in data accuracy have undermined users’ trust in GA4. Google must prioritise addressing data accuracy and reliability issues promptly. Consistency in data collection and reporting is crucial for businesses to trust GA4 as a reliable analytics solution. Google should regularly monitor and improve the data collection process to minimise discrepancies and ensure that businesses can make accurate data-driven decisions.

To ensure data consistency:

• Implement robust data collection mechanisms, such as using the latest GA4 measurement code, setting up data filters, and configuring data import settings correctly.
• Regularly monitor data quality through the Data Quality section in the GA4 interface, which provides insights into data integrity, duplicate events, and data validation status.
• Conduct periodic audits to validate data accuracy and identify any discrepancies or anomalies. This can involve comparing GA4 data with data from other reliable sources or conducting sample checks on event tracking implementation.
• Leverage GA4’s data quality features, such as DebugView, to troubleshoot data collection issues and identify potential data accuracy concerns in real-time.

Providing Data Validation Tools

To instill confidence in the accuracy of GA4 data, Google should provide users with data validation tools. These tools can help businesses identify and rectify data discrepancies, ensuring that the data collected by GA4 aligns with their expectations and reflects the actual user behavior accurately. Data validation tools would empower businesses to make informed decisions based on trustworthy data.

To utilise data validation tools:

• Take advantage of GA4’s built-in data validation features, such as DebugView, to monitor event tracking and check for any discrepancies or errors in real-time.
• Leverage data validation tools or libraries available in the market that integrate with GA4 and provide additional data verification capabilities.
• Establish data validation processes and workflows within your organisation to regularly review and validate GA4 data against other reliable data sources.
• Collaborate with analytics experts or consultants who specialise in data validation to conduct thorough audits and assessments of your GA4 implementation.

Transparency and Communication

Open and transparent communication from Google regarding data accuracy and reliability is essential. Google should actively communicate with users about any known data issues, the steps being taken to address them, and the timeline for resolution. By keeping users informed, Google can foster trust in the platform and maintain a strong relationship with GA4 users.

To promote transparency and communication:

• Maintain a dedicated platform or portal where Google regularly communicates updates, known issues, and resolutions related to data accuracy and reliability in GA4.
• Provide clear documentation or articles that address common data accuracy concerns and offer guidelines on how to troubleshoot and resolve them.
• Establish channels for users to report data accuracy issues directly to Google, ensuring prompt acknowledgment and follow-up on reported issues.
• Proactively notify users about any upcoming changes or updates that may impact data accuracy, allowing them to prepare and adapt their analytics processes accordingly.

Google’s commitment to addressing data accuracy and reliability issues enhances the trust businesses can place in GA4 as a robust analytics solution. By ensuring consistent and trustworthy data, GA4 becomes a reliable tool for businesses to base their strategies on, allowing them to make informed decisions with confidence.

The adoption of Google Analytics 4 has presented users with a range of challenges and frustrations. However, it also offers significant benefits in terms of advanced analytics capabilities and machine learning. By embracing the event-based data model, businesses can gain deeper insights into user behavior and engagement. Integrating data from both UA and GA4 allows for a comprehensive analytics ecosystem.

While the scarcity of learning resources and documentation has been a challenge, Google’s investment in user-friendly resources and community support is improving the adoption process. Addressing data accuracy and reliability issues is crucial to instill trust in GA4 as a robust analytics solution.

By acknowledging these insights and taking proactive measures, both users and Google can work towards a more seamless and productive GA4 experience, unlocking the full potential of advanced analytics.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 5 steps to write a great analytical essay.

General Education

Do you need to write an analytical essay for school? What sets this kind of essay apart from other types, and what must you include when you write your own analytical essay? In this guide, we break down the process of writing an analytical essay by explaining the key factors your essay needs to have, providing you with an outline to help you structure your essay, and analyzing a complete analytical essay example so you can see what a finished essay looks like.

What Is an Analytical Essay?

Before you begin writing an analytical essay, you must know what this type of essay is and what it includes. Analytical essays analyze something, often (but not always) a piece of writing or a film.

An analytical essay is more than just a synopsis of the issue though; in this type of essay you need to go beyond surface-level analysis and look at what the key arguments/points of this issue are and why. If you’re writing an analytical essay about a piece of writing, you’ll look into how the text was written and why the author chose to write it that way. Instead of summarizing, an analytical essay typically takes a narrower focus and looks at areas such as major themes in the work, how the author constructed and supported their argument, how the essay used literary devices to enhance its messages, etc.

While you certainly want people to agree with what you’ve written, unlike with persuasive and argumentative essays, your main purpose when writing an analytical essay isn’t to try to convert readers to your side of the issue. Therefore, you won’t be using strong persuasive language like you would in those essay types. Rather, your goal is to have enough analysis and examples that the strength of your argument is clear to readers.

Besides typical essay components like an introduction and conclusion, a good analytical essay will include:

• A thesis that states your main argument
• Analysis that relates back to your thesis and supports it
• Examples to support your analysis and allow a more in-depth look at the issue

In the rest of this article, we’ll explain how to include each of these in your analytical essay.

How to Structure Your Analytical Essay

Analytical essays are structured similarly to many other essays you’ve written, with an introduction (including a thesis), several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Below is an outline you can follow when structuring your essay, and in the next section we go into more detail on how to write an analytical essay.

Introduction

Your introduction will begin with some sort of attention-grabbing sentence to get your audience interested, then you’ll give a few sentences setting up the topic so that readers have some context, and you’ll end with your thesis statement. Your introduction will include:

• Brief background information explaining the issue/text
• Your thesis

Body Paragraphs

Your analytical essay will typically have three or four body paragraphs, each covering a different point of analysis. Begin each body paragraph with a sentence that sets up the main point you’ll be discussing. Then you’ll give some analysis on that point, backing it up with evidence to support your claim. Continue analyzing and giving evidence for your analysis until you’re out of strong points for the topic. At the end of each body paragraph, you may choose to have a transition sentence that sets up what the next paragraph will be about, but this isn’t required. Body paragraphs will include:

• Introductory sentence explaining what you’ll cover in the paragraph (sort of like a mini-thesis)
• Analysis point
• Evidence (either passages from the text or data/facts) that supports the analysis
• (Repeat analysis and evidence until you run out of examples)

You won’t be making any new points in your conclusion; at this point you’re just reiterating key points you’ve already made and wrapping things up. Begin by rephrasing your thesis and summarizing the main points you made in the essay. Someone who reads just your conclusion should be able to come away with a basic idea of what your essay was about and how it was structured. After this, you may choose to make some final concluding thoughts, potentially by connecting your essay topic to larger issues to show why it’s important. A conclusion will include:

• Paraphrase of thesis
• Summary of key points of analysis
• Final concluding thought(s)

5 Steps for Writing an Analytical Essay

Follow these five tips to break down writing an analytical essay into manageable steps. By the end, you’ll have a fully-crafted analytical essay with both in-depth analysis and enough evidence to support your argument. All of these steps use the completed analytical essay in the next section as an example.

#1: Pick a Topic

You may have already had a topic assigned to you, and if that’s the case, you can skip this step. However, if you haven’t, or if the topic you’ve been assigned is broad enough that you still need to narrow it down, then you’ll need to decide on a topic for yourself. Choosing the right topic can mean the difference between an analytical essay that’s easy to research (and gets you a good grade) and one that takes hours just to find a few decent points to analyze

Before you decide on an analytical essay topic, do a bit of research to make sure you have enough examples to support your analysis. If you choose a topic that’s too narrow, you’ll struggle to find enough to write about.

For example, say your teacher assigns you to write an analytical essay about the theme in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath of exposing injustices against migrants. For it to be an analytical essay, you can’t just recount the injustices characters in the book faced; that’s only a summary and doesn’t include analysis. You need to choose a topic that allows you to analyze the theme. One of the best ways to explore a theme is to analyze how the author made his/her argument. One example here is that Steinbeck used literary devices in the intercalary chapters (short chapters that didn’t relate to the plot or contain the main characters of the book) to show what life was like for migrants as a whole during the Dust Bowl.

You could write about how Steinbeck used literary devices throughout the whole book, but, in the essay below, I chose to just focus on the intercalary chapters since they gave me enough examples. Having a narrower focus will nearly always result in a tighter and more convincing essay (and can make compiling examples less overwhelming).

#2: Write a Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement is the most important sentence of your essay; a reader should be able to read just your thesis and understand what the entire essay is about and what you’ll be analyzing. When you begin writing, remember that each sentence in your analytical essay should relate back to your thesis

In the analytical essay example below, the thesis is the final sentence of the first paragraph (the traditional spot for it). The thesis is: “In The Grapes of Wrath’s intercalary chapters, John Steinbeck employs a variety of literary devices and stylistic choices to better expose the injustices committed against migrants in the 1930s.” So what will this essay analyze? How Steinbeck used literary devices in the intercalary chapters to show how rough migrants could have it. Crystal clear.

#3: Do Research to Find Your Main Points

This is where you determine the bulk of your analysis--the information that makes your essay an analytical essay. My preferred method is to list every idea that I can think of, then research each of those and use the three or four strongest ones for your essay. Weaker points may be those that don’t relate back to the thesis, that you don’t have much analysis to discuss, or that you can’t find good examples for. A good rule of thumb is to have one body paragraph per main point

This essay has four main points, each of which analyzes a different literary device Steinbeck uses to better illustrate how difficult life was for migrants during the Dust Bowl. The four literary devices and their impact on the book are:

• Lack of individual names in intercalary chapters to illustrate the scope of the problem
• Parallels to the Bible to induce sympathy for the migrants
• Non-showy, often grammatically-incorrect language so the migrants are more realistic and relatable to readers
• Nature-related metaphors to affect the mood of the writing and reflect the plight of the migrants

#4: Find Excerpts or Evidence to Support Your Analysis

Now that you have your main points, you need to back them up. If you’re writing a paper about a text or film, use passages/clips from it as your main source of evidence. If you’re writing about something else, your evidence can come from a variety of sources, such as surveys, experiments, quotes from knowledgeable sources etc. Any evidence that would work for a regular research paper works here.

In this example, I quoted multiple passages from The Grapes of Wrath  in each paragraph to support my argument. You should be able to back up every claim you make with evidence in order to have a strong essay.

#5: Put It All Together

Now it's time to begin writing your essay, if you haven’t already. Create an introductory paragraph that ends with the thesis, make a body paragraph for each of your main points, including both analysis and evidence to back up your claims, and wrap it all up with a conclusion that recaps your thesis and main points and potentially explains the big picture importance of the topic.

Analytical Essay Example + Analysis

So that you can see for yourself what a completed analytical essay looks like, here’s an essay I wrote back in my high school days. It’s followed by analysis of how I structured my essay, what its strengths are, and how it could be improved.

One way Steinbeck illustrates the connections all migrant people possessed and the struggles they faced is by refraining from using specific titles and names in his intercalary chapters. While The Grapes of Wrath focuses on the Joad family, the intercalary chapters show that all migrants share the same struggles and triumphs as the Joads. No individual names are used in these chapters; instead the people are referred to as part of a group. Steinbeck writes, “Frantic men pounded on the doors of the doctors; and the doctors were busy.  And sad men left word at country stores for the coroner to send a car,” (555). By using generic terms, Steinbeck shows how the migrants are all linked because they have gone through the same experiences. The grievances committed against one family were committed against thousands of other families; the abuse extends far beyond what the Joads experienced. The Grapes of Wrath frequently refers to the importance of coming together; how, when people connect with others their power and influence multiplies immensely. Throughout the novel, the goal of the migrants, the key to their triumph, has been to unite. While their plans are repeatedly frustrated by the government and police, Steinbeck’s intercalary chapters provide a way for the migrants to relate to one another because they have encountered the same experiences. Hundreds of thousands of migrants fled to the promised land of California, but Steinbeck was aware that numbers alone were impersonal and lacked the passion he desired to spread. Steinbeck created the intercalary chapters to show the massive numbers of people suffering, and he created the Joad family to evoke compassion from readers.  Because readers come to sympathize with the Joads, they become more sensitive to the struggles of migrants in general. However, John Steinbeck frequently made clear that the Joads were not an isolated incident; they were not unique. Their struggles and triumphs were part of something greater. Refraining from specific names in his intercalary chapters allows Steinbeck to show the vastness of the atrocities committed against migrants.

Steinbeck also creates significant parallels to the Bible in his intercalary chapters in order to enhance his writing and characters. By using simple sentences and stylized writing, Steinbeck evokes Biblical passages. The migrants despair, “No work till spring. No work,” (556).  Short, direct sentences help to better convey the desperateness of the migrants’ situation. Throughout his novel, John Steinbeck makes connections to the Bible through his characters and storyline. Jim Casy’s allusions to Christ and the cycle of drought and flooding are clear biblical references.  By choosing to relate The Grapes of Wrath to the Bible, Steinbeck’s characters become greater than themselves. Starving migrants become more than destitute vagrants; they are now the chosen people escaping to the promised land. When a forgotten man dies alone and unnoticed, it becomes a tragedy. Steinbeck writes, “If [the migrants] were shot at, they did not run, but splashed sullenly away; and if they were hit, they sank tiredly in the mud,” (556). Injustices committed against the migrants become greater because they are seen as children of God through Steinbeck’s choice of language. Referencing the Bible strengthens Steinbeck’s novel and purpose: to create understanding for the dispossessed.  It is easy for people to feel disdain for shabby vagabonds, but connecting them to such a fundamental aspect of Christianity induces sympathy from readers who might have otherwise disregarded the migrants as so many other people did.

The simple, uneducated dialogue Steinbeck employs also helps to create a more honest and meaningful representation of the migrants, and it makes the migrants more relatable to readers. Steinbeck chooses to accurately represent the language of the migrants in order to more clearly illustrate their lives and make them seem more like real paper than just characters in a book. The migrants lament, “They ain’t gonna be no kinda work for three months,” (555). There are multiple grammatical errors in that single sentence, but it vividly conveys the despair the migrants felt better than a technically perfect sentence would. The Grapes of Wrath is intended to show the severe difficulties facing the migrants so Steinbeck employs a clear, pragmatic style of writing.  Steinbeck shows the harsh, truthful realities of the migrants’ lives and he would be hypocritical if he chose to give the migrants a more refined voice and not portray them with all their shortcomings. The depiction of the migrants as imperfect through their language also makes them easier to relate to. Steinbeck’s primary audience was the middle class, the less affluent of society. Repeatedly in The Grapes of Wrath , the wealthy make it obvious that they scorn the plight of the migrants. The wealthy, not bad luck or natural disasters, were the prominent cause of the suffering of migrant families such as the Joads. Thus, Steinbeck turns to the less prosperous for support in his novel. When referring to the superior living conditions barnyard animals have, the migrants remark, “Them’s horses-we’re men,” (556).  The perfect simplicity of this quote expresses the absurdness of the migrants’ situation better than any flowery expression could.

In The Grapes of Wrath , John Steinbeck uses metaphors, particularly about nature, in order to illustrate the mood and the overall plight of migrants. Throughout most of the book, the land is described as dusty, barren, and dead. Towards the end, however; floods come and the landscape begins to change. At the end of chapter twenty-nine, Steinbeck describes a hill after the floods saying, “Tiny points of grass came through the earth, and in a few days the hills were pale green with the beginning year,” (556). This description offers a stark contrast from the earlier passages which were filled with despair and destruction. Steinbeck’s tone from the beginning of the chapter changes drastically. Early in the chapter, Steinbeck had used heavy imagery in order to convey the destruction caused by the rain, “The streams and the little rivers edged up to the bank sides and worked at willows and tree roots, bent the willows deep in the current, cut out the roots of cottonwoods and brought down the trees,” (553). However, at the end of the chapter the rain has caused new life to grow in California. The new grass becomes a metaphor representing hope. When the migrants are at a loss over how they will survive the winter, the grass offers reassurance. The story of the migrants in the intercalary chapters parallels that of the Joads. At the end of the novel, the family is breaking apart and has been forced to flee their home. However, both the book and final intercalary chapter end on a hopeful note after so much suffering has occurred. The grass metaphor strengthens Steinbeck’s message because it offers a tangible example of hope. Through his language Steinbeck’s themes become apparent at the end of the novel. Steinbeck affirms that persistence, even when problems appear insurmountable, leads to success. These metaphors help to strengthen Steinbeck’s themes in The Grapes of Wrath because they provide a more memorable way to recall important messages.

John Steinbeck’s language choices help to intensify his writing in his intercalary chapters and allow him to more clearly show how difficult life for migrants could be. Refraining from using specific names and terms allows Steinbeck to show that many thousands of migrants suffered through the same wrongs. Imitating the style of the Bible strengthens Steinbeck’s characters and connects them to the Bible, perhaps the most famous book in history. When Steinbeck writes in the imperfect dialogue of the migrants, he creates a more accurate portrayal and makes the migrants easier to relate to for a less affluent audience. Metaphors, particularly relating to nature, strengthen the themes in The Grapes of Wrath by enhancing the mood Steinbeck wants readers to feel at different points in the book. Overall, the intercalary chapters that Steinbeck includes improve his novel by making it more memorable and reinforcing the themes Steinbeck embraces throughout the novel. Exemplary stylistic devices further persuade readers of John Steinbeck’s personal beliefs. Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to bring to light cruelties against migrants, and by using literary devices effectively, he continuously reminds readers of his purpose. Steinbeck’s impressive language choices in his intercalary chapters advance the entire novel and help to create a classic work of literature that people still are able to relate to today. 

This essay sticks pretty closely to the standard analytical essay outline. It starts with an introduction, where I chose to use a quote to start off the essay. (This became my favorite way to start essays in high school because, if I wasn’t sure what to say, I could outsource the work and find a quote that related to what I’d be writing about.) The quote in this essay doesn’t relate to the themes I’m discussing quite as much as it could, but it’s still a slightly different way to start an essay and can intrigue readers. I then give a bit of background on The Grapes of Wrath and its themes before ending the intro paragraph with my thesis: that Steinbeck used literary devices in intercalary chapters to show how rough migrants had it.

Each of my four body paragraphs is formatted in roughly the same way: an intro sentence that explains what I’ll be discussing, analysis of that main point, and at least two quotes from the book as evidence.

My conclusion restates my thesis, summarizes each of four points I discussed in my body paragraphs, and ends the essay by briefly discussing how Steinbeck’s writing helped introduce a world of readers to the injustices migrants experienced during the dust bowl.

What does this analytical essay example do well? For starters, it contains everything that a strong analytical essay should, and it makes that easy to find. The thesis clearly lays out what the essay will be about, the first sentence of each of the body paragraph introduces the topic it’ll cover, and the conclusion neatly recaps all the main points. Within each of the body paragraphs, there’s analysis along with multiple excerpts from the book in order to add legitimacy to my points.

Additionally, the essay does a good job of taking an in-depth look at the issue introduced in the thesis. Four ways Steinbeck used literary devices are discussed, and for each of the examples are given and analysis is provided so readers can understand why Steinbeck included those devices and how they helped shaped how readers viewed migrants and their plight.

Where could this essay be improved? I believe the weakest body paragraph is the third one, the one that discusses how Steinbeck used plain, grammatically incorrect language to both accurately depict the migrants and make them more relatable to readers. The paragraph tries to touch on both of those reasons and ends up being somewhat unfocused as a result. It would have been better for it to focus on just one of those reasons (likely how it made the migrants more relatable) in order to be clearer and more effective. It’s a good example of how adding more ideas to an essay often doesn’t make it better if they don’t work with the rest of what you’re writing. This essay also could explain the excerpts that are included more and how they relate to the points being made. Sometimes they’re just dropped in the essay with the expectation that the readers will make the connection between the example and the analysis. This is perhaps especially true in the second body paragraph, the one that discusses similarities to Biblical passages. Additional analysis of the quotes would have strengthened it.

Summary: How to Write an Analytical Essay

What is an analytical essay? A critical analytical essay analyzes a topic, often a text or film. The analysis paper uses evidence to support the argument, such as excerpts from the piece of writing. All analytical papers include a thesis, analysis of the topic, and evidence to support that analysis.

When developing an analytical essay outline and writing your essay, follow these five steps:

Reading analytical essay examples can also give you a better sense of how to structure your essay and what to include in it.

What's Next?

Learning about different writing styles in school? There are four main writing styles, and it's important to understand each of them. Learn about them in our guide to writing styles , complete with examples.

Writing a research paper for school but not sure what to write about? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.

Literary devices can both be used to enhance your writing and communication. Check out this list of 31 literary devices to learn more !

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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How To Write an Analytical Essay

If you enjoy exploring topics deeply and thinking creatively, analytical essays could be perfect for you. They involve thorough analysis and clever writing techniques to gain fresh perspectives and deepen your understanding of the subject. In this article, our expert research paper writer will explain what an analytical essay is, how to structure it effectively and provide practical examples. This guide covers all the essentials for your writing success!

What Is an Analytical Essay

An analytical essay involves analyzing something, such as a book, movie, or idea. It relies on evidence from the text to logically support arguments, avoiding emotional appeals or personal stories. Unlike persuasive essays, which argue for a specific viewpoint, a good analytical essay explores all aspects of the topic, considering different perspectives, dissecting arguments, and evaluating evidence carefully. Ultimately, you'll need to present your own stance based on your analysis, synthesize findings, and decide whether you agree with the conclusions or have your own interpretation.

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How to Structure an Analytical Essay

Crafting an excellent paper starts with clear organization and structuring of arguments. An analytical essay structure follows a simple outline: introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction: Begin by grabbing the reader's attention and stating the topic clearly. Provide background information, state the purpose of the paper, and hint at the arguments you'll make. The opening sentence should be engaging, such as a surprising fact or a thought-provoking question. Then, present your thesis, summarizing your stance in the essay.

Body Paragraphs: Each paragraph starts with a clear topic sentence guiding the reader and presents evidence supporting the thesis. Focus on one issue per paragraph and briefly restate the main point at the end to transition smoothly to the next one. This ensures clarity and coherence in your argument.

Conclusion: Restate the thesis, summarize key points from the body paragraphs, and offer insights on the significance of the analysis. Provide your thoughts on the topic's importance and how your analysis contributes to it, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

Meanwhile, you might also be interested in how to write a reflection paper , so check out the article for more information!

How to Write an Analytical Essay in 6 Simple Steps

Once you've got a handle on the structure, you can make writing easier by following some steps. Preparing ahead of time can make the process smoother and improve your essay's flow. Here are some helpful tips from our experts. And if you need it, you can always request our experts to write my essay for me , and we'll handle it promptly.

Step 1: Decide on Your Stance

Before diving into writing, it's crucial to establish your stance on the topic. Let's say you're going to write an analytical essay example about the benefits and drawbacks of remote work. Before you start writing, you need to decide what your opinion or viewpoint is on this topic.

• Do you think remote work offers flexibility and improved work-life balance for employees?
• Or maybe you believe it can lead to feelings of isolation and decreased productivity?

Once you've determined your stance on remote work, it's essential to consider the evidence and arguments supporting your position. Are there statistics or studies that back up your viewpoint? For example, if you believe remote work improves productivity, you might cite research showing increased output among remote workers. On the other hand, if you think it leads to isolation, you could reference surveys or testimonials highlighting the challenges of remote collaboration. Your opinion will shape how you write your essay, so take some time to think about what you believe about remote work before you start writing.

Step 2: Write Your Thesis Statement

Once you've figured out what you think about the topic, it's time to write your thesis statement. This statement is like the main idea or argument of your essay.

If you believe that remote work offers significant benefits, your thesis statement might be: 'Remote work presents an opportunity for increased flexibility and work-life balance, benefiting employees and employers alike in today's interconnected world.'

Alternatively, if you believe that remote work has notable drawbacks, your thesis statement might be: 'While remote work offers flexibility, it can also lead to feelings of isolation and challenges in collaboration, necessitating a balanced approach to its implementation.'

Your thesis statement guides the rest of your analytical essay, so make sure it clearly expresses your viewpoint on the benefits and drawbacks of remote work.

Step 3: Write Topic Sentences

After you have your thesis statement about the benefits and drawbacks of remote work, you need to come up with topic sentences for each paragraph while writing an analytical essay. These sentences introduce the main point of each paragraph and help to structure your essay.

Let's say your first paragraph is about the benefits of remote work. Your topic sentence might be: 'Remote work offers employees increased flexibility and autonomy, enabling them to better manage their work-life balance.'

For the next paragraph discussing the drawbacks of remote work, your topic sentence could be: 'However, remote work can also lead to feelings of isolation and difficulties in communication and collaboration with colleagues.'

And for the paragraph about potential solutions to the challenges of remote work, your topic sentence might be: 'To mitigate the drawbacks of remote work, companies can implement strategies such as regular check-ins, virtual team-building activities, and flexible work arrangements.'

Each topic sentence should relate back to your thesis statement about the benefits and drawbacks of remote work and provide a clear focus for the paragraph that follows.

Step 4: Create an Outline

Now that you have your thesis statement and topic sentences, it's time to create an analytical essay outline to ensure your essay flows logically. Here's an outline prepared by our analytical essay writer based on the example of discussing the benefits and drawbacks of remote work:

Step 5: Write Your First Draft

Now that you have your outline, it's time to start writing your first draft. Begin by expanding upon each point in your outline, making sure to connect your ideas smoothly and logically. Don't worry too much about perfection at this stage; the goal is to get your ideas down on paper. You can always revise and polish your draft later.

As you write, keep referring back to your thesis statement to ensure that your arguments align with your main argument. Additionally, make sure each paragraph flows naturally into the next, maintaining coherence throughout your essay.

Once you've completed your first draft, take a break and then come back to review and revise it. Look for areas where you can strengthen your arguments, clarify your points, and improve the overall structure and flow of your essay.

Remember, writing is a process, and it's okay to go through multiple drafts before you're satisfied with the final result. Take your time and be patient with yourself as you work towards creating a well-crafted essay on the benefits and drawbacks of remote work.

Step 6: Revise and Proofread

Once you've completed your first draft, it's essential to revise and proofread your essay to ensure clarity, coherence, and correctness. Here's how to approach this step:

• Check if your ideas make sense and if they support your main point.
• Make sure your writing style stays the same and your format follows the rules.
• Double-check your facts and make sure you've covered everything important.
• Cut out any extra words and make your sentences clear and short.
• Look for mistakes in spelling and grammar.
• Ask someone to read your essay and give you feedback.

What is the Purpose of an Analytical Essay?

Analytical essays aim to analyze texts or topics, presenting a clear argument. They deepen understanding by evaluating evidence and uncovering underlying meanings. These essays promote critical thinking, challenging readers to consider different viewpoints.

They're also great for improving critical thinking skills. By breaking down complex ideas and presenting them clearly, they encourage readers to think for themselves and reach their own conclusions.

This type of essay also adds to academic discussions by offering fresh insights. By analyzing existing research and literature, they bring new perspectives or shine a light on overlooked parts of a topic. This keeps academic conversations lively and encourages more exploration in the field.

Analytical Essay Examples

Check out our essay samples to see theory in action. Crafted by our dissertation services , they show how analytical thinking applies to real situations, helping you understand concepts better.

With our tips on how to write an analytical essay, you're ready to boost your writing skills and craft essays that captivate your audience. With practice, you'll become a pro at analytical writing, ready to tackle any topic with confidence. And, if you need help to buy essay online , just drop us a line saying ' do my homework for me ' and we'll jump right in!

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How to Write an Analytical Essay?

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The Ultimate Guide to Analytical Essay Writing: How to Craft an A-Grade Paper?

25 January, 2021

17 minutes read

Author:  Kate Smith

An analytical essay is often considered the most challenging piece of writing. However, those who have dealt with it at least once are a step closer to calling themselves masters of essay writing. This type of paper requires plenty of analytical skills to carry out an in-depth analysis of the assigned topic. Yet, the main goal of an analytical essay is not only to demonstrate your ability to learn the basics of the theme.

You also need to think critically, analyze facts, express your standpoint, and clearly show a deep understanding of key concepts. In short, your main task as an author is to prove the validity of your views by coming up with strong arguments that do not beg any questions.

The given guide provides a full analytical essay definition, as well as specifies its features and structural aspects. The following information will help you properly start your paper, choose a relevant topic, and come up with compelling conclusions. 

What is an Analytical Essay?

An analytical essay is a piece of writing aimed to provide a thorough analysis of a definite phenomenon using persuasive arguments and supporting assertions. Analysis in the analytical essay writing process stands for a method of research that allows one to study specific features of an object. Analytical papers also have to do with analysis of a specific problem; that is consideration of the problem itself and identification of its key patterns. The subject matter of analysis can be a well-known or little-studied scientific phenomenon, artistic work, historical event, social problem, etc.

The content of an analytical essay will totally depend on the object that has been chosen for analysis. Thus, when shedding light on any kind of scientific work, an analytical essay can be devoted to the analysis of research credibility, its relevance, or the adequacy of conclusions. When considering a work of art, an essay writer can focus on the analysis of the author’s artistic techniques or issues raised in the book. For this reason, it is essential to accurately determine the topic and subject matter of your future analytical essay.

Steps to Take Before Writing

The preparational stage of analytical essay writing cannot be omitted. It lays the basis for the A-grade paper and should be carefully completed. If you don’t know how to start an analytical essay, read a few handy tips that will ensure a solid foundation for your paper.  

Define a subject matter

You first need to clearly understand the issue you will base your essay on. Since analytical essays imply an in-depth analysis of a specific problem, you need to define its core. Try to split the analysis into several components and provide arguments taken either from a book, a research, a scientific work, or a movie (depending on the subject matter of your analysis), and support your views comprehensively.

Decide on the content of your analytical essay

If you are a student who was given an analytical essay topic, read the task several times before you are 100% sure that you clearly understand the requirements as to the analytical essay format. In case you were lucky to choose the topic of the analytical paper by yourself, make sure the theme you will be dealing with is familiar or at least seems interesting to you. 

Remember that different subject matters require a different approach to their analysis. If you examine some literature work, you can prove your opinion based on the deeds of a certain or several characters. But if you have been assigned the task to elaborate on some historic events, analyze their main causes, driving forces that have affected their course, and their global consequences.  

Take care of the proper start

Don’t forget to start your analytical essay with a thesis statement. It is a sentence or a couple of sentences that aim to summarize the key statements of your paper. A thesis statement should provide readers with a preliminary idea of what your essay is all about.  

Find extra reasoning

Make sure your thesis is supported by compelling arguments. To find enough evidence, you should carry out a thorough analysis of the assigned topic. List the crucial points of your research and ponder over the ways they can be used to prove your final opinion. 

Elaborate the outline

A sound outline elaborated at the preparation stage will help you ensure a proper analytical essay structure and make the overall writing process easier. As a rule, an analytical essay consists of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Your outline plan should include the key arguments you want to discuss in each paragraph. 

Analytical Essay Thesis

A thesis statement represents the central idea of your paper and must serve as strong proof of your standpoint. While elaborating your thesis statement, it is crucial to include it at the end of the first paragraph and thus set a direction for the overall paper. 

Analytical Essay Outline

An outline is not a required element of analytical essays writing and should not be included in the text, but it can greatly facilitate the whole process of paper writing.

The analytical essay structure looks as follows:

Introduction

In the introduction of an analytical essay, you will need to identify your paper’s subject matter. Mention the purpose of your work and specify its scope of research. Don’t forget to include a thesis to let readers know what your work is about.

Body Section

As has already been mentioned, the body section covers three or more main paragraphs, each being supported with arguments and details. Besides, you need to provide a small conclusion to each statement to make your essay sound professional and persuasive. 

At this stage, you need to summarize the points elucidated in your paper and make sure there is a smooth and logical transition from the body section to the concluding part of the text. If you don’t know how to conclude an analytical essay, try to restate the thesis statement without copying it word for word.  

Analytical Essay Examples

Writing an analytical essay may seem to be a thorny way. If you are still not sure how to properly craft one, try to find some examples that will help you go in the right direction. Below, there are some great examples of analytical essays. Take a look at their structure and try to write something similar based on your views and ideas:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JeR4i4RIZIj448W3KVFyHP-eS3QPN7gW/view

https://stlcc.edu/docs/student-support/academic-support/college-writing-center/rhetorical-analysis-sample-essay.pdf

https://www.germanna.eduhttp://handmadewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/tutoring/handouts/Literary-Analysis-Sample-Paper.pdf

30 Analytical Essay Topics

If you were allowed to choose the theme for your paper by yourself, check on the following analytical essay topics. Each of them can bring you the highest score:

General topics

• The influence of social networks on the life of teens
• Are salaries of football players too high?
• Wearing uniforms in schools should be banned
• A person in society: the problems of loneliness and privacy
• Sociology of corporate relationships
• Does the observation of space need more investments?
• Should the voting age in the UK be decreased?
• Reasons why capital punishment should be brought back in the UK
• A world with no rules: a new human era or a road to the global collapse?
• Life without technologies: will modern people survive?
• Should scientists test drugs on animals to fight cancer?
• The problem of keeping the balance between career and family life
• The importance of listening to your body 
• Problems caused by the lack of communication
• Food addiction and the problems it causes
• Problems of vaccination in the XXI century
• Does evil really rule the world?
• How does body size affect life quality?
• Pros and cons of video games 
• The role of a family model in the life and career of a person

Analytical Essay Topics on Literature

• “Robinson Crusoe”: fantasy vs reality
• Observation of the artistic uniqueness in the comedy by W. Shakespeare “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 
• Observe the social problems in the novel by John Steinbeck “The Grapes of Wrath”
• Convulsions and death of the “little man” in the networks of impersonal, alienated forces in the novel “The Metamorphosis”
• Observation of the problems of a man on a plagued land in the novel “The Plague”
• Revolt of the protagonist in the novel by J. Salinger “The Catcher in the Rye”
• Observation of friendship and love in the fate of humanity in the XX century
• The triumph of immorality in the novel by F. Sagan “Hello Sadness”
• Observation of the personality of an American student in the novel by J. Salinger “The Catcher in the Rye”
• Eternal tragedies of humanity in the tragedy by W. Shakespeare “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”

How to Write a Well-Structured Analytical Essay With a Solid Argument

Writing an analytical essay with a clear structure might be challenging unless you are thoroughly prepared. We decided to help you out and create a detailed guide listing the main things to consider when creating an analytical essay outline. You need to explain your main idea in a concise way to bring your point across. As analytical writing has high requirements, it pays off to find an analytical essay example and analyze how this text was written. It will allow you to understand the analytical essay format better and learn how to provide substantive analysis on various topics. Read on to learn how to write a top-level analytical paper and submit it on time.

Main Tips for Writing an Analytical Essay

An analytical essay should provide a comprehensive analysis of a chosen topic. What makes an analysis essay different from other assignments is that it includes a personal opinion of an author. This is why analytical writing should be persuasive.

Below, we have rounded up the key tips you need to follow when producing an analytical essay outline and the main body of your text. Read on to learn more about the analytical essay format and create a text that will fully meet the requirements.

Select an Analytical Essay Topic

Before creating an analytical essay outline, make sure to pick a topic that you are interested in. It should be provocative enough to engage your readers. A widely-debated topic will help you write an analytical essay that grabs the attention of a wide audience.

Consider your goals and conduct thorough research to see if you have enough sources to support the main thesis of your analysis essay.

Come Up With a Strong Analytical Thesis Statement

When writing an analytical essay, start by formulating a thesis statement that includes the topic and the main goal of your text. It will help you create an analytical essay outline and show your readers what you will discuss in your analysis essay.

Add it to the last paragraph of your analytical essay introduction. Due to this, your analytical essay outline will look better structured. Look at any analytical essay example to see how you can introduce your subject. In most cases, one sentence will suffice to state your analysis essay’s goal. However, a complex analytical essay outline might require you to use two sentences for a thesis statement.

Write an Analytical Essay Body with a Clear Structure

Your analytical essay outline should include 3-4 paragraphs. However, a literary analysis essay usually consists of 5 paragraphs. When it comes to analytical writing, it is important to cover a different point in each section of the main body of an analysis paper.

After writing an analytical essay, check whether each paragraph contains an introduction and the main point. Besides, it should contain evidence. An expertly written analytical essay outline will help you reach out to your target audience more effectively.

Conduct Research Before Writing an Analytical Essay Outline

While this step is preparatory, it is a must for those who want to write a well-grounded analytical paper.

• First, select the best ideas for your essay
• Then, emphasize the problems with works written by other researchers
• Finally, write your analytical essay outline to demonstrate what approach you want to take

Examine the context and find examples to illustrate the scope of the issue. You may draw parallels to emphasize your point and make your topic more relatable.

Analyze the Implications of the Evidence

After listing your pieces of evidence and demonstrating how it is related to your thesis, show why it is important. You need to explore it deeply and use it to support your argument. It will make your analytical essay outline well-grounded facts.

Write an Analytical Essay Conclusion

Whether you write a literary analysis essay or other types of assignments, there is no need to add any new data at the end of your analysis paper. Instead, summarize the arguments you mentioned in your analytical essay outline. The conclusion of your analysis essay should be short and clear. Here, you need to demonstrate that you have achieved your goals.

Analytical Essay Writing Tips

If you want to get the highest grade for your analytical essay, you need to know a little bit more than just the basics of paper writing. Read these handy tips to write a perfect essay you will be proud of:

• Double-check your paper for spelling and grammar mistakes. In case your essay contains too many errors, neither an in-depth analysis nor the elaborate writing style will make it look any better. Situations when essays of great value in terms of research and a message they convey are poorly assessed because of the abundance of mistakes are not rare. Make sure you have enough time to proofread your paper before submission. Also, you may consider asking somebody to take a fresh look at your essay and check it for you.
• Reading your analytical essay out loud helps you discover all types of errors or weak phrases. This method might seem a bit uncomfortable, but it has proved to be very effective for many students. Note that silent reading of your paper isn’t even half as helpful as reading it aloud. 
• Another great idea to check on the rhythm and flow of your paper is to ask someone to read it for you. While listening to the text, you could perceive it from another perspective and discover even more inconsistencies and mistakes.  
• Double-check the facts you use in your analytical essay. The names of people, books, research, publications, as well as dates of historical events are too important to be misspelled. Things like these show your professionalism and the way you treat your readers.

Write an Analytical Essay with HandmadeWriting

Writing an analytical essay requires time, strong writing skills, great attention to detail, and a huge interest in the assigned topic. However, life can be unpredictable sometimes, and students might find themselves at risk of failing their creative assignments. Stress, family issues, poor health, and even unwillingness to work on a certain topic may become significant obstacles on their way to the A-grade work.

If you have similar problems, there is no need to compromise your reputation and grades. You can always refer to HandmadeWriting professionals who are ready to help you with a paper of any type and complexity. They will understand your individual style and totally devote themselv

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