Google Analytics: Why Less is More in Small Business Web Analytics

Before this year, I had very little exposure to Google Analytics. In fact, I had very little exposure to Web metrics at all, but as I have spent time analyzing the traffic patterns on Web sites, as well as the referral sources, clicks-through, landing pages, social shares and mentions and the ways that blogs contribute to corporate search engine optimization, I have begun to fall in love with the importance of analyzing Web site traffic. Now, I know you are busy and do not have the time you need to sit down and watch how people interact with your Web site, but might I suggest considering spending even twenty minutes per day checking to make sure your Web site is doing what you intend for it to do. Remember less is more. Starting some Web analytics can make the world of a difference over no Web analytics at all.

Where to Start with Web Analytics

Let’s start with intentions, using this blog as an example. My intentions for this blog are to provide content that engages readers, welcoming you all to click on multiple articles and spend time learning from the things I have learned. Beyond that, I hope that my site will allow you to see that Amy Bayer Marketing can help your company with many of the day-to-day marketing tasks that you may not have time for or with which you may want to employ our expertise. So that you can get me and my team on your team, helping you accomplish your business’ goals. With these two key performance indicators (KPIs) in mind, let’s take a look at how Google Analytics says I am performing.

Why Google Analytics is Probably Sufficient for You

As an aside, I am using Google Analytics because it is a free service, available at no cost for just about everyone (unless your website has over 10 million visits per month, in which case it will cost you $150,000 per year). Google Analytics is set up to allow you to track traffic for just about any function of your website. For most companies, Google Analytics is sufficient, but for those desiring more in-depth data, I recommend looking into HubSpot, GoSquared, Hootsuite, ClickTale, IBM Digital Analytics, Mixpanel, Piwik (free), VisiStat, XiTi, Adobe Site Catalyst and other fee-for-service analytics providers.

Getting Started with Google Analytics

To get started with Google Analytics, open an account, indicate which Web site you want to track, and generate a tracking code to plug into your site. Opening another window on your browser, bring up your site and insert the tracking code. For more information on tracking code placement, read this article on Yoast.

Once you have inserted the tracking code into your Web site, you are ready to begin tracking. After about a week or so, your site will have captured data about site visitors, their time on your site, the average number of pages they viewed, how long they spent on each page, where they were located when they visited your site, what Web browser they used when visiting your site, if their visits generated any revenue for your company, what operating system they were using when they viewed your site, who their internet provider is, and what their typical flow through your website is, including the page from which people typically leave your website. Surprising, isn’t it? The way I see it is:

Just think of what you could do, armed with such expansive data, to improve your website or cater your marketing efforts toward the needs and wants of your target audience as expressed in their use of your website!

My Most Important Metrics

Obviously, unless a company has a full-time analytics team, it is going to have a difficult time leveraging all of the data available in every area of digital communications. So, selecting most important metrics can be helpful. Again, these key metrics should be chosen based on your company’s key performance indicators. Here are some of the most helpful metrics Google Analytics has provided me in dealing with the key performance indicators of this blog:

• Visitors Flow: This gives a visual representation of where people click, then click next, then click next on my blog. This helps me to discern which pages are driving traffic to which pages. This metric is helpful in blogging because it indicates which pages drive people to new blog posts. In the world of e-commerce, this metric can be particularly helpful in determining which pages drive site visitors toward the purchasing pages. Here is a visual of Visitors Flow in action: 
  

Screenshot: Google Analytics Visitors Flow

• Average Visit Duration: The Average Visit Duration metric is helpful for Web sites that are seeking to engage readers with content. And, this metric can be helpful for companies that have found that sheer time exposure to a product boosts sales of that product. Either way, Average Visit Duration is helpful for me as a blogger in that it indicates how much time people are spending reading the content I am developing. Google Analytics makes it easy for you and includes this metric in the dashboard, so it is one of the reports you can have easy-access to.
• Location: This metric may not be as helpful for someone in the service industry or for a communicator/blogger as it would be for a product distributor, but it is absolutely fascinating! When pulling up the Location metric in Google Analytics, it displays as a map of “hotspots,” indicating from where your site visitors are coming. It can also display the language in which they are reading your Web site. This can be helpful for product distributors, as it can shed light on which region of the country and of the world could benefit from a manufacturing, distribution or retail location due to high demand. Here is what it looks like:

Screenshot: Google Analytics Location

• Frequency & Recency: These metrics go beyond the simple “unique visitors” metric to explore HOW OFTEN the same individual visits the site and HOW RECENTLY did they visit. This metric is helpful for bloggers and other Web sites seeking to build affinity and loyalty because it provides concrete numbers of how many people are coming back. It can also be helpful for events-based organizations seeking to boost attendance at events, as they can see how many people continue to come visit the digital events calendar. More, it can be invaluable for e-commerce websites seeking to solicit repeat sales from customers. As a side note, many companies in the direct marketing industry leverage frequency and recency for a system called “predictive analytics.” Predictive Analytics couples frequency and recency with monetary value to discern which customers are the most likely to spend, what they are likely to buy (based on their purchase history and aggregate data from others like them), and how much they are likely to spend. Companies like Coldwater Creek leverage predictive analytics to boost sales and customer loyalty.

These are four metrics I like. The Google Analytics list goes on and on, and they’re all free! My suggestion is this – set up an account, start tracking, and choose four metrics that you want to keep an eye on. Then, spend maybe 20 minutes per day looking at the data and making adjustments to your website. In the end, those 20 minutes per day could end up being the most financially lucrative 20 minutes of your day. Who knows? You may just find a fluke in your website that is keeping people from being able to check out, or driving them away for some silly reason. Either way, Web analytics can pay off greatly in the long run while still keeping in focus the principle LESS IS MORE.