Once you have a welcoming website with valuable content and a brand that is unique and robust, you probably want to ascertain if everything is performing well for you. Are these fundamentals achieving your goals? How do you know?
You can find out by using web analytics via tracking tools installed on your website. If you simply assume your site is working for you, you’re flying blind.
What should you look for? How do you gather and interpret the data? How can web analytics help you make decisions about your business?
Essential data points you should track on your website are:
- Traffic (new versus returning visitors)
- Traffic Sources
- Average Time Spent On Your Site
- Pages per Visit
- Conversions
#1 Traffic: Keep an eye on this metric! Everyone wants to increase site visitors. You can get engagement and conversions – however you define them – only if people see what you have to offer. How many people visit your site? How many are new and how many are returning? How many total pages are they visiting? More importantly, is the amount of traffic increasing over time? How can you boost traffic to your website? (Factors that can boost traffic include the age of the site, use of SEO [Search Engine Optimization] Keywords, paid ads, etc.)
#2 Traffic Sources: How are people getting to your site? Did they type in your URL? Did they enter your specific business name or an industry keyword in a Google search? Did they come from a social media platform or link from another site?
#3 Average Time Spent on Your Site: How long do they spend on your site? This is largely determined by the type of content you offer. If your business website contains only a few pages of minimal information, people will spend seconds—a minute or two at most. But if your site is loaded with interesting, valuable information in the form of blogs, videos, images, audio, infographics, case studies, reviews, white pages or interactive content, visitors will spend more time because they are learning and engaged. The duration of their visits reveals their assessment of the quality of your content.
Providing helpful information builds your reputation as a subject expert, increases time spent on your site and encourages conversions. The longer visitors stay is one of the metrics Google uses to determine your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking.
#4 Pages per Visit: The more pages your web visitors read, the longer they stay on your site. Again, since their remaining on your website is a significant Google ranking metric and important to your success, encourage them to visit additional pages. One way to increase this is by including internal links, where people can click to another of your pages to find more valuable information. Remember, though, that each page they get to should contain so much useful content that they are eager to dig deeper and learn whatever they can from you.
#5 Conversions: What do you want your website visitors to do? Did they do it? Conversions can include subscribing to a newsletter, submitting a form, purchasing an item, booking a service, sharing on social media or requesting a quote. It all comes down to what your goals are for your site.
How do you gather and interpret this data?
This collection and assessment of web data is called web analytics and can be set up, explained and monitored for you by the Fryed Egg Productions team.
We suggest using Google Analytics, which succinctly outlines the data in an easy-to-understand format. All our SEO and Web Packages and Retainers provide this service, including a monthly reporting on each of these metrics. We send the information via a monthly email with an attached PDF and a link for you to access live reporting.
How can web analytics help you make decisions about your business?
The truth is always your friend.
This data is vital to helping you determine if you are successful in realizing the results you want. If you discover your analytics are awful and your website isn’t working well for you, you know you need to develop a strategy to improve and to move toward your goal.
The first thing the Fryed Egg team does is help you set goals that clearly define your desired outcomes so you can measure your success. Perhaps you want people to find your site faster. You may need to create digital display ads or pay to boost your site. If your goal is to increase the time people spend on your site, the logical step is to create valuable content for it.
Do people understand what you want them to do? Is your content easy to read, error-free and engaging? Are contact information and call-to-action buttons on every page? Is your site easily navigable or does it frustrate folks and make them leave quickly?
If you want a clearer understanding of the effectiveness of your website, contact Fryed Egg today for a free consultation. We would love to help you with accessing data, interpreting the findings, determining what is and isn’t working and making informed decisions and adjustments to improve your results. Reach us at (813) 478-0494 or [email protected].