WHY YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND GOOGLE ANALYTICS

The word ‘analytics’ is enough to instill boredom in anyone but the most dedicated data analyst. But let’s change our perspective because, let’s face it, Google Analytics is not pie charts, bar graphs and numbers, it’s your window to your customers.

Google Analytics has been around for a long time, meaning many of us run the risk of checking it out of habit, without reaping the rewards of this powerful (and free) tool. GA today is far more than your most popular pages. It’s the key to a library of information that could influence the way you do business – for the better.

You may not realise how many assumptions you make about your audience. What does their end-to-end journey look like? Do you know the real route they take? How do your customers navigate your site? Is it the same for those on mobile and those on desktop? As always, Google has the answers.

Use these seven Google Analytics tools to improve your business.

Behaviour flow

Think of this as Google Maps for your data. Behaviour flow can show you the journey each visitor takes, mapping their movements: where they linger, where they try to click and where they can (and do) click. See what holds their attention and where you can make improvements – the results might surprise you.

Good for: Website UX/UI and planning your information architecture (AI).

Desktop, mobile, tablet…

Devices are as diverse as your audience. In fact according to recent research the average user is on four devices a day. Google Analytics will show you which devices your customers prefer, so you can meet their needs better. For example, if the majority are on mobile, you need to prioritize a mobile-optimized site.

Good for: Honing your omnichannel journey and optimizing your site.

eCommerce tracking

Set up eCommerce tracking within Google Analytics and it will start to monitor your products as they sell, providing you with the low-down on your high-performers and where you can cut back.

Good for: Providing more of the things your customers want to buy.

Cart abandonment

This is gold dust for your eCommerce site. See exactly where your visitors are abandoning their cart. If there’s a problem with your purchase process, you’ll find it in double-quick time if you have Analytics plugged in.

Good for: Targeting ways to keep their custom. Can you offer discounts, free shipping or just improve your site flow.

Conversion and CTAs

In a similar way to eCommerce tracking, you can set Google Analytics to monitor how many visitors are converting. You can do this across your whole site. If you have newsletter sign up, Contact Us forms, or any other call-to-action on your site, Google can show you if these are successful. It will even monitor at which parts of a form your visitor drops off, so you know exactly which CTAs and form fields are the sticking points.

Good for: Improving CTAs and understand drop-offs in the conversion process.

Test your knowledge

You want to know the best part about all this? Now that you’ve gathered all your analytics, you’ve had a good look at them and decided to make some changes, you can alter your site and monitor how well the changes are working. That’s right. Google can show you. If it’s not having the effect you’d like, simply change it back.

Good for: Trial running your changes. Google Analytics it. Change it. Test it. See what happens, with minimal consequences for your site and store.

Using something else for analytics?

Plug it into Google. The Data Import function lets you connect your other (multiple) data sources to Google Analytics, so you can see everything in one, easy step.

Want to dive a little deeper into your Google Analytics? Give us a call and we’ll help you with a data-driven, personalised approach for your eCommerce site.