If you have a website, you probably have Google Analytics set up. Google Analytics (GA) offers website owners deep insights into how users are finding and interacting with their website. Unfortunately, GA is not the easiest piece of software to use.
Here are our recommendations for establishing Google Analytics reports that will help you use the data to make more informed decisions for how your website should perform. Are you ready to make Google reports that you can easily use for business purposes?
Traffic Acquisition Reports (Understanding Where Your Traffic Is Coming From)
As an owner, you should be aware of where your traffic is coming from and how these users are finding your site. This report will help you understand the following:
- Whether your traffic comes from a direct channel, organic searches, paid mediums, social media sites, or referral sites.
- Which are your most productive channels, which areas need more investment or help to guide more qualified traffic to your site.
- To a limited extent, the type of search terms and queries users are using to find your site.
Use this data to build an internet marketing strategy that will best comply with your budget. Keep testing different channels to see which convert for you, providing the most turn-around.
User Behavior Report
This Google Analytics report spotlights the distinctive behaviors among new and returning visitors. This report will focus on specific areas that you can use to improve the user experience:
- Which pages are users visiting – This is a great signal to help understand how users are navigating around your site and what they are searching for. Knowing which pages are important to your users allows you to cater to their needs better.
- Time users spend on the site – Here you can gauge the length of time users spend navigating around the site. It is a positive sign when users spend a longer amount of time on your site.
- How are users navigating around your site – Understand user engagement and the flow/path they are taking to find what they are looking for. Can you make their journey easier?
Content Performance Report
This report is essential in helping marketers and owners concentrate on KPI’s that are used to pinpoint the web pages with the best performing content or those pages that need improved copy.
Utilizing this analytics report allows owners to determine which types of content attract the most engagement. This report also allows you to see the content that has not worked so you can produce copy that does.
Site Health Report
Think of your website as being something that changes and grows. As a result, problems always creep up and it’s important to know how to find them. With this report, you will immediately be able to identify pages that are not performing correctly or simply need to be optimized better.
For example, if a specific page is slow to load, you’ll be able to spend time improving the factors on that page causing it to load slowly. This report will help you to improve the overall user experience with your website. Use this website audit guide to help you dig deeper into issues causing your site to not rank as well.
Conclusion
Every business owner wants to make sure their website is performing at full potential. Using these Google Analytics reports is an integral part of improving your site. We have only scratched the surface.
There are many other reports that can be beneficial. However, make sure you understand these reports first before moving on to more complicated areas.