Who has time for Website Analytics?
That’s right, buckle in because today’s SEO tip is about the exciting world of website analytics. How do we make sense of all that data coming in from Google Analytics, not to mention Google & Bing Webmaster Tools, and any 3rd party analytics?
For most of us who own a business or manage multiple responsibilities, there simply isn’t enough time in the day to sift through every website stat looking for patterns & anomalies that might shed light on something we hadn’t previously thought about. Instead, we need to know what we’re looking for before we even open the website analytics tools up and dig into the details. Here is a nice article with a list of metrics that should be tracked in Google Analytics.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
That article lists the following as KPIs:
- Bounce Rate
- Conversions
- Traffic Sources
- Content
- Social Report
- Percentage of New Visits
- Landing & Exit Pages
Have Website Analytics Emailed to You
Another benefit of Google Analytics is that reports can be exported and/or emailed to you on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. You don’t even have to leave your Inbox to keep up with the latest stats. Learn more from the Google Analytics site.
Big Picture
Keep in mind as you’re looking over these statistics that there is a risk in studying stats with too fine a point or too small a sample size. Allow for some big picture thinking in order to dial in on which KPIs are truly most influential for your business and your website. And if possible, gather some qualitative data as well. It requires some effort on your part and the part of your website visitors, but it may be the key to truly unlocking your website’s potential. Here is another good, quick reference article about website analytics & reporting that you may find helpful. The grammar isn’t perfect but don’t let that fool you into thinking the ideas are poor.
If you’re having trouble evaluating the KPIs for your site or just want more info about this process, contact us today for a free conversation.
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