Author:
Cassie Scott
About 50 million websites use Google Analytics, according to Marketing Land. Is your website one of them? Google Analytics can make your website and online presence more productive. Who doesn’t want that?
The information provided by Google Analytics helps companies make effective changes to their marketing plans, content strategies, website navigation, and products or service offerings to help generate more traffic and convert visitors into customers. Photo Credit: Pressidium.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free analytics service that reveals how visitors find and use your website. Google Analytics lets you make data-based decisions and tracks your return on investments in online marketing, said Nate Shivar, author of “What Does Google Analytics Do?”
The service provides in-depth details about people visiting your website, including how they found your site, which pages they visited, how long they spent on a page, what links they clicked, and other vital data. It can even tell if visitors accessed your page from a tablet, smartphone or desktop computer. As you’ll read, all those details are important.
Why Use Google Analytics?
Whether you want to boost sales or find more customers, Google Analytics’ many features help you improve your business’ website. The service collects data to help you understand what’s most important to your customers. You can then adjust accordingly. That information also helps companies make effective changes to their marketing plans, content strategies, website navigation, and products or service offerings to help generate more traffic and convert visitors into customers.
Google Analytics shows your most-visited pages and most-clicked links based on traffic numbers. Use those data to determine which content performs best on your site. Photo Credit: MediaLabs.
Can Google Analytics Boost Business?
Shivar calls Google Analytics “a problem-solving tool” because it helps companies identify problems to address. Let’s review a few Google Analytics’ features, and how to use them to improve your website.
– Site Content/Top Pages and Links: Google Analytics shows your most-visited pages and most-clicked links based on traffic numbers. Use those data to determine which content performs best on your site. Consider creating similar content to give readers more of what they want.
– Bounce Rates: A bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits to your website. That is, it measures the percentage of readers who land on a webpage but leave without clicking onto more pages, explained Business Insider. A high bounce rate means your site isn’t making a strong impression. If your website or a landing page isn’t retaining customers and prompting them to click for more, it’s time to re-evaluate your web design. The ATA’s web-development service provider can help you create a professional, well-designed website.
– Internal Site Search: This feature shows how people use your site’s search function. You’ll see the phrases or search terms they used while on your website. That could indicate what information is difficult to find, thus encouraging you to create ads that drive more users straight to your site. You can also use this information to identify keywords for your site. By including good keywords in your content, you’ll boost your search-engine optimization and Google rankings.
– The Device Category: The devices people use to visit your site matter, whether it’s a tablet, smartphone or desktop computer. This information helps determine if you need a mobile-friendly – i.e., “responsive” – website. According to Smart Insights, 80 percent of internet users own a smartphone. Therefore, most of your users likely access your website from their smartphone. If Google Analytics confirms this assumption, your website must be mobile-friendly.
How Can I Get Google Analytics?
Visit Google to start for free. Just sign up, add the unique Google-created tracking code to your pages, and you’ll soon see data about your website.
You can also view Google Analytics’ demo account to see how the program works. In addition, Google’s help center offers tips and instructions for setting up the service, managing your account, and using its reports feature. In addition, the Analytics Solution Blog answers other questions about Google Analytics to help you maximize the service’s potential.
Contact the ATA’s membership office at (866) 266-2776 for more information on web-development services.