Website Design, Search Engine Optimization

Google Analytics is a free tool for analyzing the activity on a website. When I say activity I mean where the hits to your website are coming from. Google Analytics (GA) is getting more powerful all the time, the google team is doing a great job of adding new bells and whistles all the time. If you have a business and are marketing your website you should have some kind of analytics tool installed. Since GA is free it makes it very desireable.

Some of the basic information included in GA is:

• number of visits
• number of page views
• pages visited
• bounce rate
• avg. time a visitor spends on your site
• % of new visits
• Where are your visitors located by Country, State and City

But recently Google added some great new features that make it even more powerful than before. What I love is how well it is now integrating with your AdWords Account. These new tools are in beta:

• Custom Reporting for designing your own reports to drill down and get the exact information you need for your buisness
• Advanced Segments make comparisons of different segments of your business, such as visitors that are organic vs. paid, number of visit and what keywords are they using.

Not sure how to use Google Analytics or these great new tools. Below are three videso created by Google  explaining Custom Reporting, Advanced Segments and Motion charts. After watching these brief videos I had a better understanding of how they worked and a real good jump start.  They are short so give them a whirl. And if you have not installed some kind of Analytics tool on your website, make it a priority to better understand how your site is performing.

#1 Custom Reporting in Google Analytics
Learn how to create custom reports in Google Analytics that show the information you want to see, organized in the way you want to see it.

#2 Advanced Segments in Google Analytics
Learn to create and use Advanced Segments in Google Analytics to isolate and analyze specific parts of your traffic.

#3 Motion Charts in Google Analytics
Learn to use Motion Charts in Google Analytics to analyze your data in five dimensions.

Most people, especially small businesses  today have a website. Most very proud of their web presence and should be and naturally their websites bring them business. Many times in ways they never thought possible. But what  do they REALLY know about their website and what could be done differently? Until you emmerse (much like baptism) your site into search analytics you will never know.

Analytics is one method to get “personal” with your website. Common questions you should ask yourself: 

• Who is visiting your website?
• Where did they come from (referer)?
• How long are they staying on your site?
• What pages do they enter and exit your site?
• Are they submitting a contact form or buying a product (converting)?

How do you do this, without spending a lot of money on products that may not work?
I have tried different software packages (which I don’t want to get into here) and some do work, but right now my favorite is Google Analytics. Why? Because it is truly free and has great easy to read information. Google Analytics does take some time to learn and they say you get what you pay for, but I do believe it is worth the effort. I am now a “Google Analytics Junkie”.

Let’s get started with your website:

1. First you need a chunk of code to put on “every” page of your website that you wish to track. This is your tracking code. You can get this code by signing up for an AdWords account or if you have a gmail account use that as your user name/password (you don’t have to participate in AdWords). Here is the link to Google Analytics help center http://www.google.com/analytics/indexu.html
2. Now you are in your adWords account, this is really confusing. Across the top are tabs click on Analytics and that should get you started. “Create my free Google Analytics account”. Click on the continue>> button
3. Follow the directions on this page, submit >> accept the terms >>
4. Wallah - cut and past this code into your website right before the </body> tag on EVERY page you wish to track.
5. I know your lost, try the help center link above, it is worth your time and I know you can do it.

Now the fun begins watch the information roll in, give it some time. You will want to create what is known as the dashboard, personalize your dashboard.
Sample dashboard:

 This can be done by clicking through the information on the left hand navigation. For each category there is a button on the top of the page to either export / email / add to dashboard . Get familiar with these buttons. I have a report sent to me weekly with my dashboard information so that I do not have to login to find out what is going on and it gives me past week comparisons.

Some of my favorite information is: 

1. site useage 
2. the map overlay (where in the world are these visitors)
3. traffic sources overview  (where is all you traffic coming from)
4. content overview (what pages are most popular)
5. all traffic sources (who is referring to you)
6. Visitors overview (clicks per day, who is unique, how many page views…)
7. Now my favorite, setting goals and the funnel report

In each category you can get more and more granular, the best part – our friends at Google do it all for FREE!

Before I became a Google Analytics Junkie, I was THE original  Google Addict. My SEO addictions don’t appear to be going away. Does anyone know of a good 12 step program? Have fun and beware of the addictions.