Quick Google Analytics Tips for Small Business Owners
Are you a small business owner who wants to understand your website’s visitors through Google Analytics, but don't know where to start? I'm a Google Ads specialist. As someone who worked at Google for six years, I have plenty of tips to help you effectively use Google Analytics to grow your business. Get more out of your website analytics with these fast, simple tips that can help you evaluate your site's information, improve user experience, and increase conversion rates.
Google Analytics audience overview for beginners
If you find numbers and dashboards overwhelming, you're not alone! Here are some of the key metrics you'll find when you look at your Audience Overview in Google Analytics.
Users:
People who visited your site.
New Users:
People who are visiting your site for the first time.
Sessions:
How many times your site was visited.
Number of Sessions per User:
People who visit your site multiple times.
Pageviews:
All the different pages visited on your site.
Pages/Session:
People who view more than one page per visit.
Avg. Session Duration:
The average amount of time someone spends on your site during each session.
Bounce Rate:
Refers to someone that only visits 1 page on your website and then leaves without viewing another page.
Learn more about your ideal audience
This is one of my favourite free features in Google Analytics. With the Interests report, you can learn what your current website visitors are interested in and what they are currently shopping for online. Make sure you "Enable" this view when you set up your Google Analytics account!
Affinity Category (reach):
General interests of users who have visited your site.
In-Market Segment:
Users that are more likely to purchase products or services in a specified category.
Other Category:
This category groups users based on what else they are browsing.
By using these insights, you can target ads, and this can help you develop your overall marketing strategy.
Set up conversion tracking
Conversion tracking can help you see valuable customer activity on your website.
Here’s how to set it up:
Go to Settings > Goals > New Goal > Custom > Name your goal (Goal description) > Destination > Pick a key page on your site > Save
BOOM! You just set up conversion tracking
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
Compare some of the metrics we've talked about by device can let you know if your website is mobile-friendly. If your ‘Bounce Rate’ is a lot higher on mobile, your ‘Pages / Session’ is a lot lower, and ‘Average Session Duration’ is a lot lower on mobile, then you need to check your mobile site to make sure that it’s user-friendly.
Identify entry and exit points on your website
It’s important to know the entry points on your website so that you can carefully design your page content to attract target prospects, and lead them to a conversion.
It’s also important to know where the user exits your website so that you can refine your pages to improve retention and increase your conversion rate.
Here’s how you can identify the traffic to your ‘Landing Page’ and ‘Exit Page’:
Go to Behaviour > Site Content > Landing Pages
Under ‘Landing Pages’ you will see where people are entering your website, and it’s not always on the homepage.
Then check your ‘Exit Pages’. This is where you will see where people are leaving your site. Do you see any surprises?
Set up Google Analytics remarketing for Google Ads
With Remarketing you can show relevant ads to people who have previously visited your site, when they visit other sites.
Here’s how you can set it up:
Settings > Audience Definitions > Audiences > New Audience > Create New > Define your audience > Name your audience > Next > Add destination > Publish
You just set up Remarketing!
Use acquisition reports to understand how people are finding your website
Do you want to know how people are finding your site?
With the ‘Acquisition Overview’ you can view where your website visitors are coming from, and which ones are performing best for your business.
See how users interact with your website
Do you want to find out how people are navigating your website?
With the ‘Behaviour Flow’ report, you can see exactly where users went on your website. This report is important because it can help you understand potential issues with your website, as well as what is keeping users engaged.
It's also the only part of Google Analytics that shares the data visually rather than with numbers, which can be a nice break!
Analyze how your best customers are finding your site
How are your best customers finding your website?
Here’s how to find out:
Go to Conversions > Goals > Overview
Click on Source / Medium and see where your best traffic comes from.
Analyze your reverse goal path
Want to find out what people are doing right before they convert on your website?
The Reverse Goal Path report shows you where they converted, and what they were doing right before, plus the frequency of each path.
Reviewing the Reverse Goal Path can help you understand where your best visitors are coming from, where your site needs improvement, and what sources are bringing the best visitors to your website (search, email, social, etc.).