Google Analytics is a free website monitoring tool and arguably
the most useful webmaster tool of the 21st century. Let me explain why.
Prior to 2005, if you wanted an in-depth analysis of traffic, you were
given a rather simplistic chart showing that you received x number of
visitors and the time-frame. Secondly, if a business wanted to know more
about where their visitors are located, their gender, and other
demographic data, they would have had to carry out time-consuming
surveys. Google Analytics eliminates these issues by allowing you to
know the gender, age, location, and other demographic data of your
visitors. Fortunately, it displays all this information in a beautiful
and easily understandable fashion. In fact, my 86 year old grandmother
loves looking at her Google Analytics dashboard and telling me how well
her gardening blog is doing. In this tutorial we shall explore
implementation and usage of Google Analytics data.
Implementing Google Analytics
You need a Google account in order to get started. Once you have logged into Google, visit Google.com/analytics. You will be given an HTML code for placement into the header code of your site. On most website management software there should be an option for this. For example, in WordPress all you need to do is click edit on a page in admin, look in the right hand corner of the text box and click on the option to the right. Now paste the HTML code from Google analytics into the top of that box. Once you have done this, click save.
Allow for 24 hours to pass before perusing the data displayed inside Google Analytics.
Google Analytics dashboard
The dashboard is the main page for Google analytics data. On the left hand side you can view the different categories. Let's go through the main sections and see how each can be used for the benefit of website growth.
Overview- The key metrics on this page are the average visit duration, bounce rate, and number of returning visitors. It is perfectly fine to have a low returning visitors percentage, especially if your site sells products. However, if your bounce rate is high (70%+) then something needs to be done. A high bounce rate and low average view duration (less than 30 secs) indicates that people aren't getting the information they need in order to consider venturing further into your site. If this isn't rectified, getting referrals and increasing sales becomes challenging. You can solve such a problem in 3 ways:
1. Review the design for your page.Does it have a lot of elements which may make it difficult for visitors to get to the information the need? Functionality is more important than aesthetics.
2. Review your text. Is it all about you? "Me, me, me" talk can be incredibly off-putting. It would be more beneficial to state how your website is useful to others. If you offer products or services, make sure that the over-arching theme are the benefits.
3. Visit gtmetrix.com and check the speed of your site. A site can be deemed slow if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Research shows that for every extra second a site takes to load 10% of visitors exit. If after passing it through gtmetrix.com you can see that it is slow, remove images and video until you have the bare minimum. Take a look at your embeds and replace them with direct links. Finally, review the remaining content. Does everything left have to be there? If not, move some of your content to other pages and/or edit them to make your content more succinct.
Demographics
One of the best things about Google analytics is the level of detail it gives you about website visitors. For instance, it tells you their age, gender, and location- even down to city level! It is important to note that due to privacy restrictions there are some users that you won't see the details of.
Demographic data can be used for a range of purposes, such as:
Advertising
You are privy to what your typical visitor is like. As a result when you need to buy advertising space, you know exactly the type of people to target. The end result is that you don't waste money advertising to people who aren't interested in what you have to offer.
Content creation
By knowing your target audience, you can create content that is more likely to attract people just like them.
Business transactions
At some point in the future you might want to sell your site. Most buyers are unlikely to part with their cash unless they know the type of audience you have, the traffic, and bounce rate. Google analytics allows you to easily export this data.
User flow
This element of Google analytics tells you how many people are visiting your site, and their navigation habits. It allows you to measure page popularity and take appropriate action. For instance, if a high percentage of cart abandonment, you could investigate why. Perhaps the checkout process is broken, or you could entice them with an offer at the cart stage.
Moreover, a freelancer who has many people visiting their "Hire me" page but never following through, could consider improving the page's persuasiveness; for instance, by adding a testimonial, rewriting the page text, or making their contact form more straightforward.
Referrals
This section is great for finding out which sites are sending traffic. For instance, if you notice that most of your traffic comes from social media, you can spend more time promoting your posts, and spend less on advertising.
In summary, Google analytics is a great way of analysing what is working on your site. Data is power and Google Analytics gives you more of it.
Implementing Google Analytics
You need a Google account in order to get started. Once you have logged into Google, visit Google.com/analytics. You will be given an HTML code for placement into the header code of your site. On most website management software there should be an option for this. For example, in WordPress all you need to do is click edit on a page in admin, look in the right hand corner of the text box and click on the option to the right. Now paste the HTML code from Google analytics into the top of that box. Once you have done this, click save.
Allow for 24 hours to pass before perusing the data displayed inside Google Analytics.
Google Analytics dashboard
The dashboard is the main page for Google analytics data. On the left hand side you can view the different categories. Let's go through the main sections and see how each can be used for the benefit of website growth.
Overview- The key metrics on this page are the average visit duration, bounce rate, and number of returning visitors. It is perfectly fine to have a low returning visitors percentage, especially if your site sells products. However, if your bounce rate is high (70%+) then something needs to be done. A high bounce rate and low average view duration (less than 30 secs) indicates that people aren't getting the information they need in order to consider venturing further into your site. If this isn't rectified, getting referrals and increasing sales becomes challenging. You can solve such a problem in 3 ways:
1. Review the design for your page.Does it have a lot of elements which may make it difficult for visitors to get to the information the need? Functionality is more important than aesthetics.
2. Review your text. Is it all about you? "Me, me, me" talk can be incredibly off-putting. It would be more beneficial to state how your website is useful to others. If you offer products or services, make sure that the over-arching theme are the benefits.
3. Visit gtmetrix.com and check the speed of your site. A site can be deemed slow if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Research shows that for every extra second a site takes to load 10% of visitors exit. If after passing it through gtmetrix.com you can see that it is slow, remove images and video until you have the bare minimum. Take a look at your embeds and replace them with direct links. Finally, review the remaining content. Does everything left have to be there? If not, move some of your content to other pages and/or edit them to make your content more succinct.
Demographics
One of the best things about Google analytics is the level of detail it gives you about website visitors. For instance, it tells you their age, gender, and location- even down to city level! It is important to note that due to privacy restrictions there are some users that you won't see the details of.
Demographic data can be used for a range of purposes, such as:
Advertising
You are privy to what your typical visitor is like. As a result when you need to buy advertising space, you know exactly the type of people to target. The end result is that you don't waste money advertising to people who aren't interested in what you have to offer.
Content creation
By knowing your target audience, you can create content that is more likely to attract people just like them.
Business transactions
At some point in the future you might want to sell your site. Most buyers are unlikely to part with their cash unless they know the type of audience you have, the traffic, and bounce rate. Google analytics allows you to easily export this data.
User flow
This element of Google analytics tells you how many people are visiting your site, and their navigation habits. It allows you to measure page popularity and take appropriate action. For instance, if a high percentage of cart abandonment, you could investigate why. Perhaps the checkout process is broken, or you could entice them with an offer at the cart stage.
Moreover, a freelancer who has many people visiting their "Hire me" page but never following through, could consider improving the page's persuasiveness; for instance, by adding a testimonial, rewriting the page text, or making their contact form more straightforward.
Referrals
This section is great for finding out which sites are sending traffic. For instance, if you notice that most of your traffic comes from social media, you can spend more time promoting your posts, and spend less on advertising.
In summary, Google analytics is a great way of analysing what is working on your site. Data is power and Google Analytics gives you more of it.
Author bio: Hi! My name is Abdul Jawula- a freelance writer,
copywriter, and content strategist known for creating compelling
content. Contact me through my official site (http://www.happytowrite.com)
or on Twitter (@jawulawrites) and let's talk about your article
writing, content marketing, customer acquisition, blogging and/or eBook
ghostwriting needs. Thank you.
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