Your guide to Google Analytics

When we set up websites for our clients we always integrate a Google Analytics account so we can help clients monitor the success of their website.  The Google Analytics package is a great way to find out how many visitors your site is receiving, where they are coming from, how long they stay on the site and loads more useful information.

With so much information available from one source it can be difficult to understand what to look out for and what everything means to your website.  With this in mind, we have put together an article to help you make the most of your Google Analytics account and how best to spot trends.

Overview

Once you login, you will be faced with the dashboard which gives you an overview of key stats for your website.  At the very top of the page you will see a line graph which shows you the number of visits your site has received within the last month.  Above the graph you will see the dates and if you click the arrow you can select the period of time you want to review.

You will see a menu on the left hand side which leads to an array of information and below we will explain some of the main benefits of each section.

Visitors

The visitors section provides a range of useful information so you can understand who is coming to your site, where from, if they are new or returning visitors, how long they spent on the site and how many pages they viewed.

One of the more important elements in this section is the Bounce Rate. This means the percentage of visitors who left your site without browsing any other pages. Ideally, you should aim to have a bounce rate of less than 40%. If there are a high number of people leaving your website at first glance there is a possibility they are not finding what they are looking for or it’s due to poor usability. On the other hand, there is the chance that the page they land on provides all the information they need so there is no need to look further.  The best thing to do is evaluate your content and think of yourself as the user to try and establish if your content clearly outlines what you do and what the purpose of your website is.  If your website has been optimised well it should decrease the amount of unrelated visitors to your website.

The time visitors spend on your website is also important as the longer they spend the more useful they found your website. This links to your bounce rate as the more people that browse through the site, the lower your bounce rate will be.

Traffic Sources

This section monitors where all your traffic is coming from. This is a great way of measuring the success of articles and press releases or other information you post online and analysing if people are actually drawn to your website through this information.

It also shows the amount of traffic coming from search engines which will give you an indication of how well your website has been optimised. As it shows the top keywords used to reach your website, you can gain a clear indication of which keywords are working and those that are not as prominent.

Content

This is a really useful section as it shows the most popular pages on your website amongst visitors. Knowing the more popular pages means can make sure these pages are filled with relevant information that prove to be useful to your visitors.

It also tells you the highest landing pages on your website which is another way to monitor campaigns if you set up separate landing pages for adverts or articles which can give an indication about how many people are interested in the information you promoted.

This segment also displays the top exit pages. This can help you to improve certain pages to contain more relevant information and will help you to see which pages are less successful than others. 

If you click on the site overlay option, it takes you to your website and displays the percentage of clicks different links/banners/menus receive. This is a useful way of measuring the success of your call to action banners on the website as well as which areas of your website are more popular.

Explanation of terms

It can be hard to understand all the terms used throughout Google Analytics so here is a brief explanation of some of the key words used:

• Visits - the number of people visiting your site within the selected time period
• Pageviews - the number of pages the visitors of your site viewed
• Bounce Rate - the percentage rate of visitors who left your site after viewing only one page
• Average time on site – the average amount of time a visitor spends on your site before leaving
• Direct Traffic - the amount of visitors who came to your site by typing in the URL directly
• Referring Sites – the number of other websites with a link to your website bringing traffic to you

We have been designing and developing websites for over 10 years now and understand the key elements in making your website a success. If you want to discuss your website or would like a FREE website review where we compile suggestions to improve your website, call us now on 020 8747 3274.

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