The Most Important Data in Google Analytics
Almost all of us have installed Google Analytics on our website, or have a built-in analytics tool that we can use to look at website stats and track trends from month to month and year to year. The problem, however, is that almost none of us know exactly what to do with the information - or even what to look at in the first place. So which information is the most important in Google Analytics? Here are a few considerations.
1) Are you attracting the right people?
First, it’s important to know who your audience is, and if your website visitors match your ideal client. Go to analytics.google.com and navigate to Audience-Demographics-Overview. This will give you a picture of the age and gender breakdowns among your website visitors. The main portion of users should line up closely with who you serve.
If it does, great! If not, think about who is coming and why they might come. You may have to adjust the content you are creating to attract a more ideal audience, or you might get a whole new perspective on who your ideal customer actually is! Either way, make sure your website is optimized for the best user experience for a majority of your visitors.
2) Is your web traffic trending up long-term?
Day-to-day and week-to-week trends can often be misleading one way or another. Take a look at the past year by simply clicking ‘Home’ on your Dashboard and looking at users, making sure to adjust the timeframe so it’s not just the default 7-day window. Overall, is your traffic trending up, down, or staying steady? What can you do to improve these numbers? This might involve creating more content (or targeting your ideal customer better), or creating a more user-friendly experience. If your marketing efforts are falling flat when it comes to driving traffic, you likely need to make some changes so that you don’t keep trending the wrong way.
3) How long are customers staying on your website?
If you are bringing in a ton of people to your website, that’s good news…unless they are all leaving as soon as they arrive! Navigate to Behavior-Overview and look at the average time on page, along with the Bounce Rate, which tells you how many people leave your website after looking at only one page. To increase the time customers spend browsing, here are a few tips:
-Make sure the navigation on your site is clear and user-friendly. Check this on desktop and mobile devices, because there is a huge difference! Ask a trusted friend to help evaluate how easy it is to navigate, and make any changes necessary.
-Is there a clear ‘next step’ for your website? Every single page should lead naturally to another page. There should be lots of clear calls-to-action (contact us! schedule your free consultation! click here for more!) so website visitors are enticed to stay longer.
4) What is your most popular content?
Tying right into #3, you can view your most popular pages in the same location. In fact, your top content might be a surprise to you, and it can help inform what you should be creating in the future. If the best pages are where you want customers to land, then great! Make sure there is a clear call-to-action and/or next step, and be sure to keep these pages updated so they never grow stale.
If for some reason your top content isn’t a good representation of your product or service, dig down deep and ask why. This may go back to targeting the wrong audience, or there may be other issues. Either way, it’s easy to update that page with easy navigation to the content you want your website visitors to find, which will both extend their time on your site and lead them to see what your business is all about.
There is no one single piece of information that will make or break your web analytics, but these four are some of the biggest factors to consider when evaluating your website. If they are hitting the mark, you’re on the right track, and while there are plenty of ways you can dive in deeper, you’ve got the basics of Google Analytics for your small business covered!
