You update your business website religiously. You include web links wherever you can. Is it working? How do you know?Google Analytics is the minimum website analysis tool you should be using. 56% of businesses rely on this tool alone, (Econsultancy). It's good and it's free!
You’ll have to dance around the changes – which fuel arguments about the validity of keywords – but this remains an insightful tool.
As a minimum, you see straight away:
- How many visitors you attracted (new and returning)
- How long people stayed on your site (average)
- How many pages they viewed (did you successfully encourage them to browse beyond the first page?)
- Bounce rate (what percentage of people clicked away from your site after viewing just one page, typically within 30 seconds)
Is your website really making a difference to your business?
It’s difficult to say from the top level information. However drill a little deeper and you’ll find the quality details you need. You can do this without any further registration or Analytics tools. We believe in keeping life simple.
Time is tight. Read our top three Analytics nuggets – quick, easy, valuable:
1. Where is your traffic coming from?
'Acquisition’ is a major menu option. Select ‘All Traffic’. You’ll see the top places which are successfully referring visitors to your website. There should be a mix of ‘organic’ (natural search results), ‘direct’ (your full address – url – was entered) and referral channels.
Do your social media channels, networking groups and directories show here? This is your chance to streamline your efforts and maximise impact. You’ll also see whether people are using mobile or desktop versions of social media… whilst your website should cope with both (responsive), it’s a useful insight as to how people will view your information.
2. Which search terms are relevant to you?
Google no longer provides the details of the top performing key word within Analytics… but there are ways around this. For now, select ‘Acquisition’ and ‘Keywords – Organic’. You’ll see the search terms that people have used in finding your website online. It’s interesting to note what’s there – and what isn't.
How does this affect you? Target people to a specific landing page (website entry page) – it doesn’t have to be your Home page. Use just two or three very different keywords to integrate into this page’s search engine optimisation. You’ll see from the pages accessed – and when – if these keywords are attracting visitors, even though the ‘keywords report’ may not show them.
3. How are people moving around your website?
Getting people to your site is clearly vital. But – it’s what they do when they’re there that counts.
This is fascinating! Choose ‘Behaviour’ and then ‘Behaviour Flow’. You’ll see which pages people accessed first when they reached your site. You could argue that the top keywords would tell you that. But – what happened next?
This section of Google Analytics shows what people did next after entering your site. How did they flow through your information. This will tell you if your internal web links and directional wording are working. Have they seen enough details to make them want to access your prices details, or your background. These are positive signs.
You’ll also see how people leave your site: from which page and after how many page views. Are people behaving as you want them to? How can you influence them? Are your special offers or headline events creating interest?
To summarise:
- Google Analytics is a free tool and you don't need lots of time to benefit from it.
- Not using it yet? You can get the code you need to install it from Google.
- Use the insight it gives to help shape your internet marketing.
If you’d like to know more about analysing your website, contact us. From a quick look at your Analytics to a website review, we’re here to help.