What to Look for When Reviewing Google Analytics

Even if you’re familiar with monitoring website data, the numbers, charts and settings in Google Analytics can be intimidating. Knowing what to look for will help you interpret Google’s insight about the users who visit your website.

General Traffic Trends

Understanding how website traffic fluctuates will help you determine when people are most likely to seek your products or services. Your website might generate more traffic during the warmer months, or maybe most of your traffic is driven on weekdays instead of weekends. Knowing those patterns lets you strategize when to add new content or features, such as promotional offers.

Traffic Origination

Learning how users find your website allows you to target their search patterns. Google Analytics segments traffic by acquisition source and evaluates performance based on that data. Do most of your online visitors reach your website organically through a search engine? Is a recent ad or email campaign driving traffic? Some users may find your website via social media posts or links on other websites.

Audience Details

Google Analytics profiles users who visit your website. As a result, you can see where your visitors live and the type of device each one uses to access your site. And when you know how much of your audience uses mobile phones versus desktop computers, you can tailor your website to better serve your visitors’ preferred technology.

Specific Website Content

Here are some questions to consider:

• Which pages on your website do people visit the most?
• Do users enter your site via the home page, or is traffic coming from another page?
• Which blog posts resonate with your audience?
• How long are users staying on certain pages?
• How many of your website pages does an average visitor view?

Google Analytics shows page-by-page data and interprets the flow of online traffic. You can analyze the pages each user visits before they move to another part of your website and at what point they leave.

Events and Conversions

Tracking actions on your website is especially valuable. Google Analytics reports specific user actions, such as clicking on a phone number, making a purchase or filling out a form. Tracking events and conversions requires some technical work, but it’s worth the effort to understand how users interact with your web pages.

Realtime Data

You can review website data in real-time with Google Analytics, including:

• The number of visitors on your website at any given time
• Which pages users are viewing
• The types of events and conversions being recorded

Monitoring performance is particularly insightful if you want to track the user response to an email campaign, social media post or announcement intended to drive traffic to your website.

Once you learn to navigate Google Analytics, it’s important to set a schedule to evaluate the site’s performance. You can opt for auto-generated reports with specific information and have those delivered daily, weekly or monthly.

The TouchStone Digital team will set up and review Google Analytics for your website to optimize your digital marketing efforts. Call 419-299-9000 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.