Google Analytics - Seeing the Big Picture

by Scott Jemison
DesignedbyCarla

There is a wealth of information available through Google Analytics. It can provide you with a number of insights into the traffic coming to your website; such as, what your visitors are searching for and which pages hold their attention and which don't.

In previous posts we have examined a number of different aspects of web metrics and internet marketing strategy. We have touched on traffic sources and informative web metrics.

The world of internet marketing can seem daunting and confusing. And, unfortunately, there is as yet no definitive guidebook to navigating SEO. Rather, there is an almost daily debate among professionals as to what is working and what isn't.

The most important thing to remember when dealing with your internet marketing strategy and the information provided by Google Analytics is to put it in perspective for your particular business.

For instance, don't be discouraged if you are a service provider and your website sees high traffic but your bounce rate is high. If you have placed your contact information prominently on the site and are receiving calls then the website is performing well.

Likewise, if you have good time on site numbers and low bounce and exit rates but your traffic is slim, this indicates a great opportunity for growth. You should look at PPC and SEO for strategies to increase traffic.

As I said in the first article, "Google Analytics - What Do They Mean to YOU?", Google Analytics can provide a very comprehensive picture of your web traffic. The important thing is to look at those numbers in context of each page and its purpose.

You might surprise yourself.

Google Analytics – What Do They Mean To You?

by Scott Jemison
Designedbycarla

The first article in an ongoing series on Web Metrics

Google Analytics is an excellent source of information about your website traffic. Whether your just curious about the sources of your web traffic or a web professional seeking insight into the success or failure of online projects, the information provided by Google Analytics can create a comprehensive picture of your site’s online activity.

But, with so much information at your fingertips it can be overwhelming. As a website owner or operator what information is relevant to you? What is all that data telling you about your sales, traffic, and opportunity?

Analytics breaks it all down to three main categories: Visitors, Traffic Sources, and Content. All three are equally important but each reveals something different about your website.

The Visitors section provides an in depth review of visits, pageviews, time on site, bounce rate, and much more. This can reveal when the majority of your site visits occur down to the day or hour, how long visitors spend on your site, and how many pages visitors view on your site.

By reviewing data on Traffic Sources you can discover how visitors are finding your site. Are you receiving the majority of your traffic from search engines? Which ones? What keywords are bringing visitors to your site and are they the best choices for your business?

Information in the Content section can provide invaluable insight into what is and what isn’t working for you. Which pages are most viewed? Which pages have the highest abandonment rate and why might that be?

The first step to understanding the wealth of information offered by Google Analytics is to clearly define your goals. Once you have identified your goals you can determine which information would best help you to accomplish them.

The next article will examine differing web strategies and how to implement Google Analytics for your success!

Are You Wasting Time with Google Analytics

Over the past couple of years, Google Analytics has become the most popular analytics program to measure how your website is performing. Once a website is launched, you need start to understand where you are getting the best traffic from, to learn how the potential client is entering the site or exiting, and what keywords drive the site. The whole point is to have huge amounts of traffic and be making more money, Right?

But before you start reviewing the stats and the performance of the website, you will need to concentrate on how the program will benefit your business. Google Analytics can track all online campaigns, from keywords to emails, search engine traffic and referral sources. Also, if you have an Adwords Campaign, you have direct interface to calculate the ROI metrics and keyword tracking of data. This can improve the campaign and save you money in the end, by ensuring you are targeting the right clients.

In the very beginning, you may not be impressed with initial results and your number of keywords may seem very small. But in time, you will start seeing results -- more keywords listed in organic search due to your expanding optimization of the website. There is opportunity to improve the website and add additional content based on the target keywords in the program. Targeting newer clients and expanding the website's content areas which show interest may improve your readership.

Even though it is completely free of charge, Google Analytics offers more functionality then some of the paying tracking tools on the market. If you're new to the program, you may want request that the web developer review the stats reports for the first year or login at a regular time of the month to review the progress of the website. This gets you more involved and gives you more of an understanding of how to read the reports, target the ad campaigns, or create those special sales that drive the site during certain times of the year.