Web Marketing: What Advanced Google Analytics Tells a Marketer, and Questions to Ask Next

In a recent post, I talked about how a marketer can use basic Google Analytics data. Now I’m going to focus on some advanced slicing and dicing to help you better understand the behavior of your site’s viewers and customers using advanced features of Google Analytics.

Marketers can learn how many users take what steps towards goals (conversion tracking); what documents they download and links they use (event tracking); and what groups of users visit certain pages or take specific actions (segmentation analysis.)

GOALS AND CONVERSIONS
Marketers can set a goal by specifying the various pages a visitor has to click through to reach that goal. For example, a workshop signup goal might have these steps: workshop page, workshop description page, signup page, credit card page, and “thank you” landing page. This series of pages is called the funnel.

To set up a goal, go to your Aanalytics settings page, the page that lists the websites on which you have Analytics running. The column on the far right of the Website Profiles table is called Actions. Click Edit there to set up a new goal. Scroll down under Profile Settings, below Main Website Profile, to the section on Conversion Goals and Funnel. Add up to 4 goals there. To get the most use out of goals, use them in conjunction with Google Adwords campaigns.

Stats to focus on: goal abandonment and goal conversion rate
Questions to ask yourself: On what pages are customers abandoning the funnel, and what changes can you make in those pages to encourage them to take the next step? How many potential customers who click over from a Google ad actually complete the purchase? Is this number increasing or decreasing from earlier periods, and why? What can you change to increase it?

Links:

Google site: Goals and Funnels
7 minute video on How To Create Google Analytics Conversion Goals
Google Analytics Demystified: Goal Tracking and Funnels example of funnel and goal setup for an online store

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4 Comments May 19, 2009

Web Marketing: What Basic Google Analytics Tells a Marketer, and Questions To Ask Next

“What marketing questions can website statistics like Google Analytics answer? What should I do with this information?” Here are nine key marketing questions, the Google Analytics stats to get a handle on them, and some followup questions to pose.

I’m ignoring metrics from Google Analytics that help with site design, like browser usage and connect speeds. We’re talking hard-core marketing here.

In case you need a refresher before we start, here are links on basic definitions (clicks, visits, visitors, and page views), how to install Google Analytics tracking code, and an intro to Google Analytics.

VISITORS

1. Is traffic to my website growing, declining or stagnating? What are the trends?

Stats to focus on: Visits per period vs last period; absolute unique visitors per period vs last
Questions to ask yourself: Are numbers of visits and unique visitors growing, steady or declining? Do I see spikes when I run various campaigns and promotions? Because of technical limitations in tracking, trends are more meaningful than absolute numbers.

2. How useful are visitors finding the site? What are the trends? In essence, are users engaged?

Stats to focus on: Average pageviews, time on site
Questions to ask yourself: Are pageviews increasing or decreasing? What about visitor time on the site? If there are changes from last period, why? Are high pages views and time on site due to visitor interest or their difficulties finding what they are looking for?

3. Who are my visitors? Where do they live? Are they new visitors or returning?

Stats to focus on: Map overlay and new vs returning
Questions to ask yourself: Where are my visitors concentrated geographically? Does my copy need to be modified (language, jargon, pitches) to tailor the appeal? Which group is growing faster, new or returning visitors? Do I need to run new campaigns targeted to the slower group? How should I reposition product and service offerings on web pages to encourage visitors to return?

Sorry, no individual visitor emails from Google Analytics. You marketers already have data on user actions from other sources: email inquiries, mailing list signups, downloads if visitors register with an email, and of course purchases. Work on a system to add these client and prospect emails to your database. (more…)

2 Comments April 14, 2009