3 Google Analytics Stats You Need To Care About
Data has played a vital role in turning marketing from an art into a science and now there’s more than ever. It can be difficult to know what statistics you should be paying attention to and how to use them. So how do you know your website is performing? What can you do to improve it? Here is Marketing Eye’s quick guide to Google Analytics statistics and how to use them to improve your online marketing.
The most important thing you need to understand about Google Analytics Stats is that no singular statistic will tell you everything. The key to making informed decisions is looking at several statistics to form a more complete picture of your online marketing, and compare this to your strategy to see if you are on the right path. If you’re getting all your traffic from Twitter, but no one is buying your products, maybe you need to rethink your social media strategy.
The most important thing you need to understand about Google Analytics Stats is that no singular statistic will tell you everything. The key to making informed decisions is looking at several statistics to form a more complete picture of your online marketing, and compare this to your strategy to see if you are on the right path. If you’re getting all your traffic from Twitter, but no one is buying your products, maybe you need to rethink your social media strategy.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a great online analytics tool that tracks and reports website traffic. Smart marketers use Google Analytics to provide feedback on their online marketing, and use the data as a tool to guide improvements and make informed marketing decisions.
Time on site and behaviour flow
How long do you want your visitors to stay on your website and what do you want them to do? This question really depends on the objectives of your website, but also the user experience you are trying to achieve. Do you provide content and want them to leisurely read through blogs on a Sunday morning? Or are you a professional services firm wanting to give visitors a sense of your brand and then contact you as quickly as possible so that you can meet in-person?
Website time on site and navigation trends tell you whether your site is working to keep visitors engaged, and whether they are following the path you want them to take. If they’re reading your blogs, but dropping off immediately, maybe your call-to-actions aren’t clear enough and you need to consider reviewing your website design to encourage visitors to take the next step.
Acquisition – where is your traffic coming from?
Knowing where your traffic comes from is vital in understanding your online marketing and how it’s performing. Traffic sources will help inform you about how well all of the following are working, and where you need to put your efforts.
SEO: organic and paid search
When was the last time you reviewed your search engine optimisation? Are you spending too much on paid search, or on the wrong keywords?
Social media
Which platforms are you on, which are delivering the most traffic to your website, and why? Are you sharing all blogs equally on LinkedIn and Facebook, yet a majority of your traffic is coming from LinkedIn? This can provide a good signal that you need to customise your content strategy to each platform, or reallocate your resources and marketing spend accordingly.
Audience demographics
Is your website attracting visitors in your target market? Perhaps there is another market interested in your services that you can expand to. Are you heading up an international expansion, but not reaching your new locations? Your audience demographics can be considered one of the most influential sets of statistics to look at. At the end of the day, marketing decisions often come down to the audience you want to communicate with. Monitoring who your online audience is will help to keep you on top of whether you are reaching them and how effectively you are doing so.
Is Google Analytics making you rethink your online marketing strategy? Learn more
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Patrick ODoherty
26 Oct 2016I could not agree more with your point that only a complete picture based on various elements can be informational. Not a single statistic or a single aspect of digital marketing. For example, a local business site with a prominent phone number and address on the homepage may be all users need from the site, thus negating the need to interact with the site further. Read more about meaningful use of Google Analytics stats: https://www.yarraweb.com.au/1370/google-analytics-basics-3-key-stats-beginners/
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