Content Marketing Made Simple

Knowledge is Power: Why you Need Analytics

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My dog told me the other day that he needed a bath.  Well, he didn't exactly tell me-- I deduced from his smell that he would probably very much appreciate a bath.  Sometimes we have to take the clues we're given and figure things out for ourselves, I guess.

I wonder if your potential customers are trying to tell you something.  They won't always come out and tell you, you know.  They're not likely to say, "Here's how you can improve your site!" or "This is why I left your site after 10 seconds!" or even "Your blog is worthless!"  Wouldn't it be great if they would?  Maybe you don't want to hear it, but you need to hear it.

If you want to improve your online presence, that is.  Like my now clean-and-fresh dog, your visitors and readers are telling you a lot without saying anything.  Would you like to know what it is?  Well, that's why analytic software and services were invented.   If you're operating an online site without the assistance of analytics, you're only getting half the picture.

Google Analytics is the most popular service, used by almost 60% of all site owners.  If you're starting out it's a simple, easy-to-use tool that will give you a lot of useful information.  There are, however, many others, so look around for one that you feel comfortable with.  What do analytics measure, and how can this information help you?  Here are a few of the things to look for:

            1. Page Popularity- Which pages on your site get the most traffic?  Once you know this, you can look at those pages to determine what's working, or even add a call to action on them.

            2. Visitors- How many unique visitors are you getting?  This helps you distinguish the type of traffic you're getting.  While repeat traffic is great, garnering unique visitors is ideal because it shows that you're reaching a broader base of people.

            3. Keywords- Are you optimized for the right keywords?  Find out what terms people are using to find you.

            4. Traffic Referral- Where are your visitors coming from?  Which search engines are leading them to you?  You can find out where to concentrate your marketing efforts.

            5. Bounce Rates- Are visitors getting past your home page?  A high bounce rate could mean that your site is not what they're looking for.  You can improve your bounce rate by making sure your home and landing pages are tailored to each keyword.

Analytics give you the behind-the-scenes information you need to know about your site, so you can catch problems and mistakes early and stop wasting time on efforts that aren't producing results. 

It's the next best thing to panting and staring at you until you get the hint, which works but is a little weird.