The WEBPRO team have been revealing industry secrets and disclosing top tips as part of our free webinar series. The latest in our series was all about using Google Analytics.

If you have a business website, you should be using this free platform to make positive website changes. We recap what you may have missed below.

#1: Google Analytics is…

Google Analytics is a free online platform that tracks website activity. You can learn a lot about your website visitors and the performance of a website page or marketing strategy through Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is the most-used of its type with over 1.6 million website owners using Google Analytics to track website data in the UK alone. It’s simple to use to gather basic information and reports, but you might need professional help to generate and understand complex data.

To get started, you simply add a unique code provided by Google Analytics to your website CMS, and then Google Analytics will automatically start to track important website metrics. Our web developers can help get you up and running.

#2: A wealth of information

Google Analytics can provide website owners with vast amounts of data and valuable information. For example, using Google Analytics you can learn:

• How many website visitors you received over different periods 
• The location of your website visitors and what devices they used 
• Demographics of your website visitors based on previous searches (not 100% reliable) 
• Where your website visitors are coming from (i.e., organic searches or paid marketing) 
• How engaging or unengaging (bounce rate) your website pages are 
• Common navigation routes taken by website visitors, including which pages put off visitors the most

The data you collect can be as simple or as complex as required. Most people utilise Google Analytics independently with general success. But if you want to make the most of this platform and uncover complex website or marketing trends for bigger returns, you may need the help of a Google Analytics professional. Discuss your options with our team at WEBPRO!

#3: Website tracking is essential

Every website owner should be using Google Analytics to track basic website information. For example, if you find that most website visitors leave your website after visiting a certain page, you might want to re-evaluate the content of that page and ask why it’s putting people off. Simple tracking and minor adjustments could make a huge difference to your website’s conversion rate, which is why Google Analytics is so important for everyone.

Each business and website owner’s exact use of Google Analytics comes down to individual objectives and goals. Some businesses might be investing in a specific type of marketing, such as Google Ads, and therefore want to utilise Google Analytics to measure the success of their marketing. Whereas other businesses might want to use the platform for other reasons.

#4: A special word on bounce rate

Google Analytics can measure your website’s bounce rate, which deserves special attention. A website bounce rate is the percentage of your website visitors who arrive at your website but then leave without taking any meaningful action, such as leaving without navigating to another page or making an enquiry.

The higher your bounce rate, the more your visitors are leaving without getting what they want. Google penalises websites with a high bounce rate because these websites aren’t providing value for Google’s searches. Thus, Google Analytics is so important for all businesses because they need to be aware of their bounce rate and how to reduce it.

But note, Google Analytics is migrating to a newer version called Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This newer version won’t track bounce rates in exactly the same way; it will track similar data but it’s called engagement rate. The engagement rate will be just as important to track as the bounce rate.

#5: Google Analytics alternatives

Google Analytics offers the most suitable and straightforward website tracking services for the vast majority of businesses and websites. There are alternatives to Google Analytics, but these options don’t typically offer more (suitable) capabilities than Google Analytics. And many of the alternative options are a paid-for service.

If you’re struggling to track information through Google Analytics, consider speaking with a member of our team for the solution. Or to discuss other platforms to get the data you need.

Join our next free webinar!

Our next free webinar is fast approaching and it will be all about utilising Google My Business (GMB). We’ll be revealing what you need to do to become a visible business on Google Maps and in other important areas. Register your free spot now to avoid missing out!