Perhaps you’ve heard of Google Analytics. You may know it’s a good thing to pay attention to, but aren’t sure where to start. The good news is that it’s not as complicated as you might think, and a simple introduction can get you rolling in no time. Let’s review some “Google Analytics for beginners” insider tips to get you started.
Should I use Google Analytics?
You may be wondering if Google Analytics is worth your time. Luckily, the answer to this question is pretty straightforward. If you have a blog or website that you use to support your business (or perhaps it is your entire business), you should be using Google Analytics.
Google Analytics gives you quick insight into areas such as:
- How many people visit your website
- What links people who visit your website are clicking on
- What content attracts the most attention
- What websites send traffic to your website
And that’s not all, this is just a sample of the many things you can track. Using this information, you can make smart decisions about what you put on your page, what you don’t, how your page is structured and how your page interacts with other pages.
Set up an account
Setting up a Google Analytics account is easy. If you already have a primary Google account, you can use that account as your “homebase.” Make sure this is an account that you can easily access and additionally only allow others you trust access to it as well. Just go to google.com/analytics and follow the prompts. There, you’ll fill in information about your account. If you have multiple websites, no worries; you can set up as many as 50 sites under one account. You’ll receive a code that you will then have to install onto every page of your website; how that works depends on the platform you use, but most platforms have made this process pretty painless thanks to the popularity of Google Analytics.
Once you’re set up, you’ll see that there are dozens of reports available to you regarding your site’s usage. Here are the ones to pay attention to:
Landing Pages
This report shares information about how visitors are entering your site. It tells you if they’re coming in through the main or index pages and if they are finding you through a search engine or know your URL and are typing it into their browser. You may notice, though, that one page in particular on your site is getting a lot of entry traffic. This is an insight you can use to add more content to that page, push conversions or create an ad campaign specifically for it.
Traffic Sources
This data is displayed in an easy to read pie chart that shows you where all your traffic is coming from, whether it be search engines or other websites. You can use this information to make decisions about SEO, or what websites/businesses you might consider partnering with.
Keywords
This immensely useful report shares what key words someone typed into a search engine to find your page. This is hugely helpful because it gives you insider knowledge about what your customers are thinking. If the things people are searching for doesn’t line up with what you are offering, it may be time to rethink the content or structure of your site.
Conversions
While increasing traffic to your site is a worthwhile goal, not turning those visitors into customers is a big problem for any e-commerce site. The Conversions report from Google Analytics lets you track information about how many visitors clicked to visit your commerce page or signed up for a free offer or newsletter.
Knowing about these reports and the information contained in them is a solid first step, but you won’t see any measurable change unless you set goals – which is something you can do directly in Google Analytics. You’ll then need to use that incoming data and make tangible changes to reach those goals. The platform is pretty intuitive, so once you’ve gotten a feel for how it works, take some time to dive deeper and truly access the full scope of the information that Google Analytics offers. Once you become a master, consider taking the official Google Analytics Individual Qualification test – a challenge for even the most savvy of users – and see how fluent you’ve become!
Kayleigh Karutis is a contributor to the Connectivity blog.
