In order for a website to be successful and show return on investment
, one has to continuously devote time and resources to website improvement and management. We have discussed measuring how visitors engage with a website previously, and to reiterate, this can be measured through analytics software like Google Analytics.
The data derived from Google Analytics can be used strategically as part of your web strategy to improve the overall performance and usefulness of your website to visitors. Some of the criteria that can be tracked in Analytics include:
Visitor statistics
Among other things, Google Analytics will show you how visitors found your website as well as the actions they performed whilst on the website. This data can be used to improve the overall functionality of the website, for instance a page with a high bounce rate may need tweaking. If visitors found your website with a certain keyword and almost immediately left the website it indicates that they did not find the content they were looking for. Make sure your website copy is easy to scan by bolding keywords and key-phrases and make use of interlinking. If a visitor lands on a certain page they need to be able to determine within seconds if your website has the information they are looking for.
Visits through mobile devices
Do you know how many people are viewing your website on a mobile device? In Google Analytics you are able to see which mobile devices they used to view the website as well as which cellular networks your visitors use under the Visitors tab. Have you accessed your website through a cellphone yet and is it loading properly? If not, check it.
Site overlay tool
Another useful tool in Google Analytics is the Site Overlay under the Content tab. When you select this option you are shown where visitors click on your website as a percentage of clicks over a certain period.
The above are only a few of the things you can track through Google Analytics. To find out how to make the most of Google Analytics visit Googles Conversion University.