Many business owners judge the success of their marketing campaign by how many new clients they get. There are big problems with that method.
That method doesn’t paint you a full picture. Nor does it help you determine what’s not working if you aren’t getting new clients. Instead, you end up paying money to someone whether it works or it doesn’t.
But if you incorporate website metrics into your marketing campaign strategies, you’re given a wealth of information that helps you turn every campaign into a successful one. To help you get the most bang for your buck, keep reading.
We’re sharing with you the most important Google analytics metrics every business needs to use in order to truly thrive.
Use Website Metrics Like Traffic Sources to See Who is Visiting Your Site
One of the best business tracking tools you can use is traffic sources. Traffic sources help you determine where your site traffic is coming from when they first visit your site.
And there are three main sources of website traffic to help you make smart marketing decisions. Direct visitors got to your site by typing in your URL into their browser.
Search visitors use search engines to find your site. And referral visitors found you from another blog or site that mentioned your company/brand.
You want a variety of traffic sources and each one helps you understand which campaigns are the most successful in delivering traffic to your site. If you find one traffic source has a lot of bounce rates, you can focus on making adjustments until you begin attracting more qualified leads.
Bounce Rate
Out of all the web metrics you’ll use, the bounce rate is one you’ll look at the most often. A bounce happens when someone visits your site and then leaves your site by clicking the back button or closing their browser.
A high bounce rate indicates your visitors aren’t finding what they’re looking for and they’re leaving. Basically, it’s like owning a physical store and have most of your customers walk in your door, glance around quickly, and then immediately leave.
If your bounce rate is high, it’s a great opportunity to find out why they’re leaving and to fix the content or navigation so people start staying longer. It’s important to use this tool to help you save tons of money on failed marketing campaigns.
You can fix the issues as soon as you start seeing them. It’s a great tool to determine what methods work and which methods don’t.
Return Visitors
There’s a rule in marketing known as “The Rule of Seven.” This rule states people need to see an advertisement seven times before they sit up and take notice. In other words, people need to see and consider a product or service more than once before they buy it.
Google Analytics helps you track your return visitors.
Converting Visitors Into Customers
It’s not an exact science and with today’s technology, it’s not uncommon to leave items unpurchased in an online shopping cart. Thankfully, there is something you can do about these visitors.
If you spot a ton of return visitors compared to the number of leads or customers you’re receiving, it’s time to determine why they’re hanging out and returning, but haven’t yet made a purchase.
This is an opportunity for you to find new strategies to convert these visitors. Maybe your copy needs a rewrite or perhaps an offer to sweeten the deal is all it takes to convert the visitor into a buyer.
Conversion Rates
You’ll need to implement conversion metrics in order to determine the ratio of people who buy or sign up to the total number of people who visit your site.
A high conversion rate means more visitors are taking the action steps you want, which is a great sign you have effective marketing strategies set in place. A low conversion rate means it’s time to take a look at why no one is taking any action.
Maybe you need a stronger CTA (call-to-action). Maybe people can’t find the information, products or services they’re looking for. Figure out what isn’t working and keep tweaking it until your rates grow higher.
You can automate this by setting up Analytics to track your conversion rate.
Cost Per Conversion
Knowing your cost per conversion helps you understand how much you’re paying for each conversion. And it’s important to know this because even if you have a high conversion rate, you may find that your net income still isn’t ideal.
When that happens, it means you’re still spending more to convert a customer than you’re making money on the transaction. And that’s an indication you need to start making some changes to your campaign.
Knowing your cost per conversion will help you save money can create campaign strategies that are effective and affordable.
Top Pages
When using web metrics, it’s important to know which pages get the most traffic. This helps you to know which pages your potential customers spend the most time on.
You can use this information to improve your site and by knowing which pages make the biggest impact while you’re making the changes. For those who own content-based sites, this reports shows you the type of content and headlines your visitors find the most useful.
You can use that information to continue providing your visitors with exactly what they’re looking for, now that you know what that is.
Referrals
Part of a successful business tracking strategy is determining how people found out about your company. Yes, you can directly ask them but some people won’t answer and others may not remember. Plus, it’s a pain to remember to ask.
Luckily, there are web metrics that perform this task for you. The referrals report tracks users as they click on links in search engines, blogs, websites, and social media sites.
Knowing where your traffic is coming from is the key to figuring out where your marketing efforts and dollars has the best chance of succeeding. And the referrals report is great for helping you determine who your biggest supporters are.
Maybe people are mentioning you without your knowledge. This report helps you find companies and sites where establishing a formal networking relationship can help both of you gain more traffic.
Let Us Help You
While website metrics are helpful, they’re rather useless if your website crashes. And if that happens, it can take hours before someone notices, especially if it happens in the middle of the night.
Don’t let this happen to you. We can help. Click here to register for an account.
