10. Create a dashboard
Choose from a variety of widgets to display one or more specifically defined and filtered metrics. Those reports will then be automatically generated and displayed on your dashboard every time you login.
9. Make sure all of your pages are being tracked
In order for your reports to be accurate, the Google Analytics tracking code needs to be added to every page on your website. Use an automatic site audit tool to make sure all of your webpages are being tracked.
8. Find out if you need a mobile website
The mobile overview report shows you how many people use a mobile device when they visit your website. If a significant portion of your visits are from mobile devices, you need to make sure your site is mobile-friendly especially if mobile-visits have noticeably lower ‘time on site’ and bounce rate averages.
7. Review your statistics regularly
You should look at your reports once a week or at least once a month so you can learn and adapt from them in a timely manner. The quicker you act on your findings the better.
6. Exclude your own traffic
You’re only interested in what potential customers are doing, so you don’t want your reports to include traffic from people within your company. Create a filter to exclude internal traffic from your reports.
5. Find the locations of your top visitors
Demographic reports will show you which locations bring the most conversions and traffic to your website. Consider focusing on these locations when planning your next advertising campaign.
4. Utilize the Multi-Channel Funnel tool
The Multi-Channel Funnel reports show you what marketing channels customers interacted with during the 30 days before conversion or purchase. These reports will help you make more informed decisions and determine which marketing activities have been most effective.
3. Identify top keywords and phrases
The Organic Search Traffic report shows you what words/phrases visitors use on search engines to find your site. Once you identify the top keywords, consider adding them to your Adwords campaign, including them in your website content and looking into advertising opportunities on sites that focus on related topics.
2. Recognize your top content
Use the site content reports to pinpoint the pages your visitors are spending the most time on (avg. time on page) and the pages that are keeping visitors on your website (bounce rate). This will help when creating new content because you’ll know what content is most engaging and effective.
1. Set up your goals
Goals are actions that you want people to make when they visit your website, such as making a purchase, downloading a PDF, signing up for your email communications or submitting a request. Analyzing your goals is the best way to measure the success of your website.