Google Analytics Metrics & How You Can Improve Yours!

Having a deep understanding of what your Google Analytics account is telling you through all the different data and metrics is a very important step towards mastering selling online. In case you missed part 1 of this blog series, you should check it out here: “Using Google Analytics & Website Metrics- Part 1.” Carrying on with the same theme, this article will delve deeper into the metrics themselves, explaining various ways you can improve upon the results you have been seeing.

Visitors vs. Unique visitors

• What can you do about it? When it comes to generating more traffic, there isn’t some industry secret that you can tap into; there’s no magic formula - a good place to start is with your business performance metrics. It’s a process that takes time, but creating captivating content that draws users in and focusing your SEO efforts on targeted keywords that aren’t dominated by industry leaders is the first step towards increasing traffic. In terms of keyword research and choosing the right targeted search phrases, there’s plenty of work that goes into getting on the right track. Utilize Google’s Keyword Tool to find keywords that aren’t being completely dominated by big name businesses.

• Tips for Keyword Research: When you are using the Keyword Tool, it is important to always keep user intent in the back of your mind. What this means is, asking yourself for each keyword: “Would this page give the person searching for this what they were looking for?” If it’s questionable or you are unsure, then it’s probably the wrong keyword. This thought process can be applied for every keyword on every page of your site.

Bounces/Bounce Rate

• What can you do about it? When you are optimizing a page for SEO value, consider whether or not a user will find what they are looking for if they land on one of your pages via a targeted search. The goal is to make sure that every keyword or search query a page ranks for is explained or answered by that particular page. This is where some of the “art” aspect of SEO comes into play.

• Tips for Optimizing Pages: It isn’t easy to contemplate what kinds of thoughts are running through the minds of others, but there are any subtle identifiers in keywords that people use. For example, let’s look at something small that can affect a web development company in terms of search queries. If the page is optimized for the term “web development,” they run the risk of getting a lot of traffic from people looking for general information on how web development works, or possible even to learn how to do it themselves. The term “web developers” is much more targeted, because it’s almost guaranteed someone searching for this phrase is looking to do business with an actual company.

Entrances

• What can you do about it? If you are dealing with landing pages, creating content that utilizes targeted keywords and site links is the best way to improve the amount of entrances. These SEO strategies will lead to more page entrances, but it is still your job to improve the overall experience so users want to stay once they have entered. However, just ranking well in search engines isn’t always enough to draw people in. Your site will never be the only choice, but there are still things you can do to stand out!

• Use Meta Descriptions to Draw Users in: The meta description of a website page is the short description that shows up underneath the link to the page itself in the search results. This meta tag doesn’t have any impact on your rankings, but if used correctly it can drastically improve your click through rates. Since you don’t have to focus as much on SEO optimization with this tag, you can experiment with different ways of writing them that may appeal to your target audience. You should still include a couple relevant keywords in there, but since you have 200 characters to use, there’s plenty of space to spice it up with some humor or interesting copy. Depending on your industry, the approach may vary, but don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works!

Exits/Time on Page

• What can you do about it? The exits and time on page metrics are included together here because in terms of improving them, they are pretty much identical since they both involve keeping users on the page. There are a couple things you can do that will benefit you in the long run; mainly creating great content for users, not search engines. This seems obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how many site owners fill a page with optimized content without considering whether or not a visitor would enjoy it. The second, less obvious tactic is making sure the way your pages are laid won’t drive users away instantly.

• Use User Friendly Page Layouts: One of the biggest mistakes site owners make is creating pages with a huge amount of written content that is not laid out properly, and no images. We’ve all entered a site page with a daunting amount of content and thought, “Well, there’s no way I’m reading all that!” then subsequently clicked the back button. There may have been great information on that page that answered all of your questions, but the layout scared you off! If there’s no choice but to make a page content heavy, make sure you use headers and sections effectively so the visitor can navigate efficiently.