Every website should have some sort of analytic technology providing insights into what is happening on your site. If you don’t have any – go do it now, I’ll wait.

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So – now that you’ve done that, here is the main things you need to be looking at to make some actionable insights from your Website Analytic Data. For this blog post and because I love me some free analytics tools – I am using Google Analytics as my primary example. Adobe Analytics is awesome as well and there is so much you can do, but it costs some $$.

How are your visitors getting to your site?

Visitors can come to your site via a few different ways:

• Organic – Meaning they went to Google.com – Searched Cat Videos – and Voila! There is your website! The viewer searched something that had to do with your site, or a topic that your site is keyword optimized for in their region. They did not include any kind of identifying text to get to your site (URL, Business Name etc).
• Direct – They went into their search bar and typed in your URL. They directly came to your website. Boom.
• Referral – They were linked from another website or a directory listing. If you have a link to your site from a Charity you support, that is considered a Referral link.
• Social – You may be asking – “But, Kalyn – are Social Media sites considered Referral Links?” And I would say – You are absolutely correct! But, because so much traffic comes from Social sites anymore, Google Analytics separates them off into their own category. There is also a portion in Google Analytics dedicated to Social Networking so you can really see your site path for users from different Social sites.

By viewing these metrics in Google Analytics, you can see where your biggest group of viewers is coming from, and see where you may need to put more emphasis to gain more users. Social is declining, be more active on LinkedIn. Your Organic does not seem to be doing well, invest in some good SEO. (Hint hint!)

What pages are your visitors landing on and exiting from?

These two metrics and tables are extremely important because you can see the pages that viewers are coming in on (Landing Pages) and bouncing from (Exit Pages). Meaning that if you are seeing a large capacity of viewers coming in on a particular page that you wouldn’t necessarily deem as important, then you may want to check your keywords, and how that page is optimized. Also, checking the pages that you want people to view and be ranking on Search Engines making sure they are optimized.

If a high amount people are Bouncing from a page that they should be doing some sort of Goal Conversion (submitting a lead form, or downloading an e-book), but your conversions are low, you need to look at how that landing page is set up to convert users.

What type of device are people viewing my site on?

This one is a big one for me because if your site is not optimized correctly for Mobile, but 69% of digital media time is now spent on mobile¹, you need to make sure that your site can perform correctly on mobile! No overlapping text, menus that work appropriately and mobile friendly media.

This is just the tip of the iceberg to what digital analytics can offer you to help increase your business – from your own website! It’s what you do with the information that is up to you!

For more information on Digital Analytics and how you can optimize your website better for search, contact Grindstone Consultants today! 

1). comScore’s new report (“2017 US Cross-Platform Future in Focus“) – http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations-and-Whitepapers/2017/2017-US-Cross-Platform-Future-in-Focus?