Google Analytics provides a mountain of information, overwhelming for an average user. Here is a list of 5 graphs you should check regarding your site and how to interpret them.
Audience Overview
Look at a couple month of data. If the trend is going up – great! If the trend is going down without any business related reason, it’s a sign you need to put more effort into advertising your business and improving the SEO on your site.
Location Overview
Check the demographics by city – you might find out that your customers are exactly where you expected them to be, or that you have a pocket of admirers in a different state – this information might affect the way you handle your business.
Acquisition Report
Direct Traffic (usually in green) shows the number of people that typed your URL directly into the browser. They either have your site saved in their favorites or know your URL by heart. These are your loyal customers.
Organic Search (in blue) shows the number of people that found your site through the search engine. If this number is low, you need to improve SEO on your site.
Paid Searches (in yellow) is the traffic you paid per click for. Comparing this number to your Organic Search will be a good indicator if you are ready to stop paying. Good SEO on the site should make the paid searches superfluous.
Referral (in red) indicates the traffic to your site from other sites that referenced you. This can be valuable information for your business to know who is speaking well of you or if your social media campaigns are fruitful.
Pages
The list of most visited pages is one of the most important pieces of data for your site. It tells you what people are interested it. You should be adding more information and “call to action” items on the most visited pages. Write more blog post on the topics your visitors are reading the most. If the page you want people to visit the most is not getting any traffic, make sure it’s easily accessible and SEO is well configured.
Mobile Overview
Check the percentage of users viewing your site on a mobile device. If it’s more then 30% make sure every page on your site is mobile friendly.
There is a lot more information on Google Analytics to help your website be a success. Once you’ve mastered these skills you can continue exploring. If you realize that your website needs help with design or SEO, give us a call.