You know Google Analytics is important to your business. You've got everything set up. Now what?
I’ll be the first to admit that Google Analytics intimidates me. Do I really need to know this much information? And what could I do with these numbers once I get them? You may feel like you need a marketing or computer science degree to even log in. Can you really use it to keep your customers on your site for longer? Let’s take a deep breath and do a breakdown of the Google Analytics home screen with three big categories: Audience, Acquisition, and Behavior.
Audience: Who’s coming to your site?
What’s the age of your average online customer? Where are they located? How many new users are you getting per day/week/month? You may be able to target specific markets in your blog or marketing materials instead of spreading yourself too thin trying to please every customer. Google Analytics can help you determine which people are already visiting your site so you can focus on them.
Acquisition: How do people get to your site?
Are most people finding your site through a search engine like Google? If yes, then you may want to beef up your SEO to maximize your search results. Do you have a Google AdWords campaign? This section is where you can track its effectiveness with keywords and bids. Have dismal numbers from email blasts? Maybe redirect your focus on other acquisition formats like social media.
Behavior Flow: Where do people leave your site?
How are people interacting with your site? How long are they staying on the site? A page? Are they leaving at the right time? Behavior can help us determine which pages are working and which aren’t. However, don’t get caught up in believing a high percentage of exit or bounce rate is bad. We would expect a high percentage of exit on a contact page or a directions page, and some pages might have a high bounce rate like a bill pay page where a user pays their bill and leaves. You also may have very low traffic, like 10 visitors per month, on a certain page, yet that page may be very important to those 10 people. Sometimes you have to look beyond the numbers and see quality over quantity.
Remember, knowledge is power.
Read our previous articles on Google Analytics, especially how to deal with digital paralysis. With practice, Google Analytics can make your site work smarter for your business. Contact us today for a free Site Audit to see if your website could be improved. If you’re attending our free Lunch & Learn at Innovation Depot today, you’ll learn all about “Analytics 101” in our training. If you’re not able to join us in-person, we’ll have a webinar sharing that same information within a month; check back on our Infomedia Trainings page to find the video.
