Most people who own websites want to know how they are doing when it comes to the amount and type of traffic hitting their sites. Google Analytics is a free service that reports out data so you are able to monitor your sites and make the right adjustments to better your products and services.
There is a great deal of information Google Analytics can provide for you, however, the most relevant ones that affect your business’ return on investment include:
- Where the traffic is coming from,
- Who is visiting the site, and
- What users are doing when they get to your site.
The information reported from Google Analytics will give you the statistics needed to make adjustments and continue to please your loyal clients and attract potential ones.
Where Is Traffic Originating?
It is important for a website owner to know where traffic is coming from. Google Analytics will present statistics about where people are linking from to your website. As part of your SEO strategy, you need to be enhancing the websites where you get active links, and abandoning the ones that send you zero traffic.
For example, if you are submitting well-written back-linked articles to a number of directories, you would want to know which ones are sending you traffic and which are not. You can use the data to decide which article directories to continue using and add to, and which ones are a waste of time.
Who is Knocking on the Door?
It is important to know who is visiting, especially the ones who return often to stay updated on the latest you have to offer. Google Analytics pulls data to show you the demographics of your users, including where they are physically located, the language they are using, the browser they are using, among other statistics. In addition, statistics will also tell you which pages on your website they visited. This will inform you greatly about how navigation is working on your site and whether or not anything needs to be fixed.
What are Visitors Doing on Your Site?
Once they are on your website, visitor behavior can be tracked through Google Analytics. Reports will show you your bounce rate, or the amount of time people spend on your site: whether they stay a while and browse your content, or whether they move on to something else almost immediately. This will help you determine engagement on your site and adjust accordingly if visitors are bouncing from your website very soon after they arrive.
With over 80 reports, Google Analytics can provide you with a wealth of information to help you decide the next steps in marketing your website’s products and services. Although there are other, more comprehensive services out there, Google Analytics is the only one that presents you with such depth for free. It is one tool that can help you meet all of your SEO needs.
