In this post, we’ll dig into what Google Analytics is, what GA can do and a list of the top 5 things for you to measure in your Google Analytics account in 2021.
Google Analytics is Free Website Analytics Software
Google Analytics (or GA for short) is website analytics or web analytics software for your website. Google Analytics was one of the first analytics solutions offered to the public as opposed to older and less insightful server log software.
Server logs are the technical logs from the website. They lack the interaction grouped by visitor session that you get from a web analytics package like Google Analytics.
Difficulty Setting Up Google Analytics
It can be complicated or very simple setting up Google Analytics. It depends on your business goals and how website actions lead to reaching business goals. If you are an e-commerce business you might measure e-commerce checkout, AOV and things like email list sign-ups and add to cart actions.
Local business may want to know how someone found them online and filled out a contact us request. Some of the challages in setup come when connecting Google Analytics to other platforms like Google Ads or CRM.
Some Common Things Measured with Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free and very powerful. It’s a multitool of interactions taking place on your website. With it you can measure things like:
- The number of visitors who made an appointment with your dental practice.
- The people who donated to your nonprofit.
- The website visitors who are interested in visiting your granite countertop showroom or, the people interested in visiting your kitchen cabinet showroom.
- The people who downloaded an ebook or signed up for your email newsletter.
- How many people returned to your site that previously visited.
Top 5 Things to Measure In Google Analytics in 2021
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The click-through rate is calculated by clicks divided by impressions. In Google Analytics, this can be used to gauge how well your keywords and ads are performing. - Total Website Traffic
A high-level metric that shows your overall site health and SEO strength is your total website traffic. Tracking this on a month to month basis, during specific peak business events will show trends of how and when users interact with your site. A yearly comparison is also helpful to measure growth over time and track seasonal trends annually. - Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the number of people who complete a desired action (such as filling out a form) out of your total number of website visitors. Track your conversion rate in Google Analytics, across the ads you are currently running or through the forms filled out on your site. Measure your conversions based on your marketing goals. - Traffic Source/Medium
This metric shows where your website users are coming from from Social Media to search engines like Google, Baidu and more. This metric also gives you a snapshot of how well your organic search traffic is working. Organic Google traffic should be your number one driver of traffic, but it is also helpful to see how effective your marketing efforts are. - Bounce Rate
Bounce rate can tell you how different traffic sources like FB posts, Google Ads, search engine traffic and other traffic sources (ideally) connect with what the visitor finds on your website. If the website visitor finds what they like, they are likely to stick around and visit a few pages resulting in a low bounce rate. If there is a mismatch between something posted elsewhere and linked back to your website there is likely to be a higher bounce rate. And generally a high bounce rate can be interpreted as not so great. We say generally, because sometimes a high bounce rate can also be a good thing. “How?” You might ask? High bounce rate of a site or webpage can be a good thing. Take for example, a personality has a page where you can listen to them online and via terrestrial radio. If visitors bounce at a high rate, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The website visitor found where the could listen to the personality and left.
