How Google Analytics can help your business
Introduction
There are simply loads of businesses that completely outsource their seo requirements to an agency, yet do not have access themselves to their own Google Analytics account.
Well, we don’t think this is a good idea, that’s because we think both the seo agency, and also the client should have access to the Google Analytics account.
The reason being is that Google Analytics offers a wealth of information on how well your website is doing.
Just like a dashboard on a car tells you all you need to know about how the car is operating, well your Google Analytics does the same, but for your website.
Now, if you’ve never looked at your businesses account, well you might not have the foggiest idea about what Google Analytics is, and why it is so important.
But do not worry, as this guide will not just explain how you can obtain such an account, but also some of the super neat features that it can offer you.
First things first, sign-up to Google Analytics
Setting up your businesses Google Analytics account is an absolute piece of cake. Head on over to Google Analytics page here, and they follow the step by step instructions.
Are you struggling to set up your Google Analytics account?
The most common problem that some people struggle with is setting up the tracking id.
This is basically a piece of code that allows Google Analytics to talk to your website.
Now, if your struggling to set this up, its worth talking to a website designer for help.
Yet, if you’re like us, and you’re a big fan of WordPress, well there’s a super easy way you can set-up Google Analytics on your WordPress website.
Just follow the link here, to this rather handy article that explains all you need to know on how to set up Google Analytics on a WordPress website.
All good to go?
Okay, we will presume at this stage that your all set up and ready to go, and now that you have a cup of coffee in hand looking at your Google Analytics account, we will get started.
So, while your sipping away on your espresso, you’re probably thinking what’s so good about this Google Analytics then?
Well, we will tell you.
Audience data
If you rely on visitors coming to your website, that’s in order to generate sales, then this data will be important to you.
For example, you should pay particular attention to the “sessions / users” data. This will inform you of how many people have visited your website.
So, whether your implementing seo yourself, or a local seo agency is doing all this for you, you will now be able to monitor if the number of users is increasing or not.
Bounce rate?
Imagine just for a second you have set up a restaurant in the heart of your city. Now, it’s the opening night and you expect floods of customers to start coming through the door.
Yet, what is actually happening is people are coming through the door, then turning straight around and exiting within a few seconds.
You would be asking yourself, what on earth is happening here, right?
Well, this is kind of the same as your website having a super-high bounce rate. Therefore, a high bounce rate means people are finding your website, then clicking on it, and then deciding to leave more or less straightaway.
So, a missed opportunity, right? Well, this is why your seo agency should get straight to work, and start working out why the bounce rate is so high.
For example, they should asking questions like is the websites navigation hard to use? Is the website loading correctly on smartphones?
The aim therefore would be for the business to decrease it’s bounce rate.
Acquisition
A buzz word for the 21st century is “ROI”- after all, everyone likes facts and figures. And this makes sense, if you’ve forked out a ton of money on online marketing, well your going to want to know if it’s working or not.
And when working out your return on investment, your going to want to know how visitors are finding your website.
For example, you may well be paying a digital marketing agency to take care of all your businesses online marketing. Yet you will still want to know how people are getting onto your website.
That’s to say, are they landing on your website via a social media advert, via organic business listings or they coming to your website through a promotion page, so directly, via a url you have published on flyers?
Well you guessed it, your Google Analytics account allows you work out how your websites visitors are finding your website.
User behaviour
It used to be the case that some seo companies were obsessed with rather simple seo tactics, such as placing keywords over and over again within the text of a website.
Well thankfully these seo methods are now dead. They have since been replaced with metrics that are far harder to manipulate.
For example, if users are spending longer on your website, well that’s a good thing, right? As if your website didn’t offer what the customer wanted, well they would be leaving straightaway.
That is why many leading digital marketing agencies watch their clients user behaviour closely.
For example, they will be monitoring bounce rates, average time spent on a website, and also how many pages on the website the average user has viewed.
So, let’s say for example you are a retailer of rather fancy designer trainers, and you have say a collection of 50 pairs of shoes that you retail.
Well, you wouldn’t want the average visitor to look at just one pair of shoes, then bounce off the website, would you?
No, you would want the average visitor to spend time browsing all what your business has to offer.
Therefore, you would want the visitor to look at as many shoes as possible, increasing the chances of your business making a sale.
As you can see Google Analytics offers some really useful information for any business owner. If your business requires help with its seo, then why not give us a ring?