7 Reasons to Pay Attention to Web Analytics

Google processes 74,361 search queries per second. 

How do we know that? 

Easy — because of web analytics: The data that tells you how well your site is performing. They can tell you how many visitors your site receives, where those visitors are coming from, how long they’re staying, and what they’re doing before they leave.

Here’s why you should pay attention to them. 

There are several ways to measure your site’s web analytics, including: 

Our blog has posts dedicated to each of the above analytics, what they mean, and how you can use them to improve your site. 

You don’t have to be an expert to understand web analytics. In fact, there are a number of user-friendly tools, like Google Analytics, Chartbeat, and MonsterInsights that can make it easier. Here’s how they’ll benefit you in the long run. 

First impressions matter. You want your website to not only be an accurate reflection of your business, but also a good one. 

Monitoring your site’s analytics will tell you exactly what your visitors are seeing and what problems they may be running into. This can tell you which aspects of your site are effective and which ones could use improvement. 

The first step in any marketing strategy is to identify your audience. Analytics don’t just tell you the ages, races, and genders of your site’s visitors; they also tell you what they’re doing on your site, how they got there, how long they stayed, and why they left. 

These additional insights are another way to gauge where you can make improvements. If you get a lot of foreign visitors, it might be a good idea to add accurate translations. If a majority of your visitors are accessing your site from smartphones, then it’s probably time to optimize it for mobile.

Knowing your site’s analytics will help you identify the content that works and doesn’t work for your business. Once you have a profile of the typical visitor to your site, then you can start producing content targeted specifically for that visitor. This will help make your site more visible in search results. 

Plus, analytics can tell you which sites link back to your page and how much traffic those referrals generate. This way, you can build networks with those sites by linking back to them in future content. 

Just like analytics tell you which sites link externally to yours, they also tell you which sites you externally link to and how often they’re clicked on. You can use this information to build partnerships with non-competing businesses.

For example, if you constantly link to a blog or forum and notice that your links generate substantial traffic for them, then you might approach them with an offer that could benefit the both of you, like sponsorship or paid partnership. Having those statistics on hand will only help you make a stronger pitch.

If you own a law firm in Australia, you probably don’t want a bunch of traffic from outside the country. Low conversion rates will reduce your overall rating on search engines, making it harder for visitors to find your site. 

Since analytics tell you where your traffic comes from, you can use that information to improve your SEO by including location-specific keywords. And, you can take out online or offline ads in the areas that generate the most traffic to your site. 

Whether you use social media or another advertising medium, analytics can tell you how effective those channels are at bringing in traffic. They can tell you where your visitors come from and how long those visitors stay on your site. 

For example, if your social media isn’t generating a lot of traffic, you might consider changing the timing or content of your posts. And if certain keywords aren’t generating a lot of traffic — or are bringing in traffic that doesn’t stick around for very long — then you might look for more effective keywords. 

To build a website is to invest in the goal of reaching visitors, and then converting those visitors into customers. If you’re investing in the wrong marketing strategies, you are losing that money on top of the potential sales you lost as well. 

Attracting customers is not a game of luck; it’s one of complete intention and strategy. Whether your website cost you $200 or $2 million, not using analytics will almost always result in a loss of profit for you.

Web analytics is an invaluable tool for business owners. In short, they help paint a more complete picture of a website’s visitors. They help business owners improve the experience for regular visitors and attract new ones as well. 

Now that you know the benefits of using web analytics, here’s how you can analyze them. And if you have any questions, contact us for a free consultation.