A lot has been said about the different types of tools you can use to analyze website traffic.
It seems like every year there is a new data management software that hits the market promising to have the secret insights you need to boost traffic.
The software usually costs a pretty penny of course, which might add to your skepticism about it.
The thing is: that tool already exists, and it’s free.
Google Analytics should be the first tool you install on your site, and it is probably the tool you should be using the most to measure data about your site.
From tracking visitor flow, to measuring engagement from mobile and desktop platforms, to checking CTR’s on each page and aggregating them over the long-term, to ….. the list goes and on.
For those who want to get the most accurate and comprehensive data about their site in one piece of software, Google Analytics is a MUST HAVE tool.
You just need to know how to unpack the data.
Get Right To The Good Stuff
The Behavior tab is a great place to monitor user behavior across your site. It lets you know which page on your site is most popular, amongst which demographic of people, in which location.
Getting this kind of insight is great for all your marketing endeavors. This simple bit of data can tell you three important things:
1) Now you know that all your pages should be optimized to the most popular page. You can check audience growth overtime by going to Audience > Overview.
2) You know the age, gender, and general interests of the people who frequent your site. You can plug this right into Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, and SEO content on your blog and start to see engagement rise. In order to analyze demographics, you need to have an Adwords account and enable remarketing and advertising on Analytics.
3) Location is important for Adwords and SEO initiatives, both of which would be like shots in the dark without the help of Google Analytics.
Check The Bounce Rate
The bounce rate is that one area of traffic that is kind of embarrassing.
It refers to the number of visitors that visit one page of your site and then leave. That number might be upwards of 80% at first glance, and points to the fact that your site is not optimized for user experience.
But, as with all things in life, overcoming embarrassing things will only make you stronger. You can reduce your bounce rate by understanding why it’s happening.
Deal with pages that have the highest bounce rate first by bringing the content more in line with your marketing strategy.
If all the pages have a high bounce rate, it’s probably time to change up the design. You always want to keep your site fresh, easy to read, and simple to navigate.
Google Analytics comes with another free software called Optimize that you can use to experiment and test new website designs before launching.
These tools only scratch the surface of what Analytics can do for your business. It really is the only data management tool you need to propel growth and get your website working betting than ever.