If you have a website but don’t know who’s using it or what it’s doing for your business…this post is for you. When I started TikTalk Marketing, as any good marketer would, I tried to figure out what makes me different, and what unique value I could offer to my clients. Well the list goes ON AND ON [pats self on back sarcastically], but one differentiator that came to mind quickly was an affinity for analysis and optimization. I share my client’s disdain for “marketers” that only want to babble on about their own subjective branding and media preferences. I want to be the marketing guy that turns a marketing budget from a mysterious black-hole expense into a quantifiable investment with a measurable ROI.
That’s why I got my certification in Google Analytics in March of 2014, to be able to help my clients maximize their online presence!
WHAT IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS?
GA is a lot of things, but basically it is an analysis tool that is hosted by Google and integrated on your website (and mobile apps) that measures
- How many people visit your site (TRAFFIC)
- How those people got to your site (ACQUISITION)
- Who those people are in general (AUDIENCE)
- What they do on your site (BEHAVIOR)
- The difference those people make to your business (CONVERSIONS)
WHY DO I NEED GOOGLE ANALYTICS?
GA (1) answers management questions and (2) helps identify opportunities for improvement. Some examples of questions you might want answered:
- How much web traffic do I get from my social media activities?
- What kind of content do my visitors care about the most?
- Which of my advertising campaigns is generating the best return?
- What keywords should I use for PPC or SEO?
- What kind of customers should I target?
Some examples of opportunities for improvement:
- Creating landing pages customized to specific customer segments and ad campaigns might lower your bounce rate and improve conversions
- Having a pop-up email marketing signup form might get more contacts. Conversely, removing annoying popups might lower your bounce rate
- Putting a video above the fold (at the top of your homepage) might inspire visitors to spend more time exploring your site
- Featuring ABC products on your homepage instead of XYZ products may generate higher average sales for your online store
- Maybe a blue site color palette keeps visitors on your site longer than a red palette
The power of Google Analytics can be overwhelming. With a simple “plug-and-play” integration, you’ll get access to all sorts of TRAFFIC, AQUISITION, and BEHAVIOR data. If you are interested in harnessing the full power of GA with goal tracking, site variation testing, advertising effectiveness reporting, and more, it’s time to talk!