Most business owners are aware of the importance of online visibility, which is why so many companies of every size have business websites, on-site blogs, and a social media presence. Without these tools at your disposal, your business really can’t compete in the modern marketplace any more.
That said, simply setting up a website, blog, and social media accounts isn’t enough to get you noticed these days. You also need to have a strategy for increasing visibility, attracting targeted traffic, and making conversions.
How does Google Analytics factor into this equation? More importantly, how can you use this program to improve your website? Here are a few things you need to know to make the most of your online operations by properly utilizing Google Analytics.
Take Tutorials
Can you learn to use Google Analytics on your own? Yes, you can. However, the learning process is going to progress more quickly with the aid of resources designed to give you the 411 on everything from basics like setting up dashboards, tracking conversions, and reading reports, to using features for data collection, processing and configuration, and complex analysis.
Google provides scads of free services for training and support, including online tutorials and a YouTube channel specifically covering Google Analytics topics. You can also use the forum if there are questions you’re unable to answer on your own. If you want to utilize this program to the fullest in order to improve your website, start by learning all you can about how it works.
Pay Attention to Bounce Rates
Many businesses use Google Analytics to hone their marketing strategy, and spend most of their time focused on where customers are coming from and how they’re reaching the website. If you want to improve the customer experience once visitors find you, however, you need to zero in on their behavior once they arrive.
Bounce rates can tell you a lot about how your website is performing, depending on how long visitors stay, what they look at, and where they click, or alternately, how quickly they navigate away (or bounce) from your site. This can provide insight into ways you can improve landing pages to better achieve conversion goals.
Pay Attention to What Engages
Which pages are performing up to or beyond your expectations? Google Analytics can provide this information. However, more important is understanding why these pages are performing so well so that you can emulate results.
Paying attention to visitor behavior, or user flow, on specific pages can help, but you also need to compare between pages, especially in instances where unique visitors view multiple pages on your site. When you compare behavior like browsing, interactions, conversions, and disengagement, you can glean a better understanding of what you’re doing right in certain areas and how to replicate success.
Compare Desktop and Mobile Use
More and more consumers are utilizing mobile devices for browsing and shopping, and it’s important to understand how users are viewing your website so that you can adjust accordingly to optimize the user experience.
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