Google Analytics is a free tool every communicator should use. Here are the top five Google Analytics metrics to watch:
1. Bounce rate
Bounce rate is when a user visits only one page on your site before heading to another site altogether, i.e., “bouncing” off your site.
A bounce might mean that a user isn’t finding the information he or she had hoped for. Or, it is an indication of a poorly optimized landing page that lacks clear calls to action. Often, optimizing calls to action will make the bounce rate go down.
2. Conversion
A conversion is when a visitor goes beyond viewing into taking action. This might be a newsletter signup, a sale, or more. Start by setting goals. As Google defines them, these could be anything from a “Thanks for registering!” screen to a minimum visit duration.
From there, setup a sales funnel to give you further insight into just how your visitor got to the point of conversion. This can also give you a better idea of just where visitors are tripping up.
3. Traffic sources
Traffic sources refers to where site visitors are coming from. This helps you determine just what platforms are best for reaching the majority of your audience.
4. Content
We all know that great content strategy is key for attracting new visitors and keeping established ones. That goes both for blog posts you create, as well as static Web copy. The Analytics content tool is important for determining just how well your content is working, and whether there are gaps. By looking at your most popular pages, you’ll get a better sense of what your customers are interested in.
The average visit time will help you determine how useful they feel your content is. You’ll see where visitors are exiting your page as well, which, when combined with a look at your conversion funnel, should tell you just where you’re losing audience attention.
Even better, go a step further and launch a content experiment to test everything from the layout of a webpage to the effectiveness of the wording on call to action buttons with a little A/B testing.
5. Percentage of new visits
New visitors are a good thing if they’re dominating the percentages. The new visits metric helps you determine how effective your marketing strategies have been in piquing visitor interest and whether they’re converting or becoming brand loyalists.
