How To Use Google Analytics Like A Rock Star
We’re all about free stuff—especially if it helps us get better results from our content. And that’s where Google Analytics steps in. This is a free service that gives your site comprehensive statistics about the people that visit your website.
Let’s go over some of the fist-pounding, lighter-igniting ways you can use Google Analytics like a rock star.
So what can you do with Google Analytics?
To get to the nitty-gritty, Google Analytics shows you information regarding site visits, page views, bounce rate, average time on site, pages per visit and percentage of new visits. As well, you can also track referral traffic, which includes search engines used, direct visits, website referrals and marketing campaigns.
You want to see where your visitors are coming from. Are they coming from clicking on a banner? Are they being referred to your site from social media sites? Or perhaps they are finding you based on keywords you’re using in your articles. This will show you what traffic generation methods are working and the areas you need to improve on.
Google Analytics and your site—a perfect match
You’ve signed up for a Google Analytics account—that’s awesome! But to get it working for you, you need to either insert Google code onto every page of your website or you can install a WordPress plugin that does that for you or simply use your Google Analytics Tracking ID or Google Analytics UA-XXXXX-YY code. If you use another content management system like Squarespace, it’s even easier, there’s a special field for it, and then you can begin to track this visitor info.
Keep an eye on Google Analytics
Google Analytics isn’t just one of those tools you can just set up and forget about. You need to keep an eye on your numbers. It’s a good thing Google Analytics lets you see how your site is performing daily or hourly and even in real time. You can track is there are peaks during certain times of the day or on certain days of the week. You can use this data to plan your editorial calendar or social media updates, or send out newsletters and plan other traffic generating methods.
Do you have a Google Analytics account set up yet? How do you use it? Have you noticed a difference in your traffic since you started using it? Let us know—we’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.