Website Data Is A Rich Asset We Should All Be Mining
The data freely available to all businesses in Google Analytics and Google Search Console is a rich asset that we should all be mining to understand our customers better, understand our competitors better and, ultimately, use to grow profits.
If this is really true then why do many businesses fail to monitor and understand their own website data – data with valuable insights into the profitability of the company?
One obvious reason is that large amounts of data can be overwhelming and if a business does not have in-house expertise to analyse the data it is often neglected. Neither do businesses always want to outsource this work as the data could be confidential. Yet there are such huge benefits to understanding the data that it would be worthwhile employing a data analyst in-house or training up an existing employee with the right capabilities and potential to become a data analyst.
Although understanding the data is key there are also many tools available to easily view the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and make understanding them easier. Many of these tools, especially those from Google, are even free to use.
GOOGLE TOOLS
Any business with a website and most definitely any business with a website that is being promoted by pay-per-click advertising or search engine optimisation has most likely heard of Google Analytics. This is the tool that enables a business to see who is visiting their website, their location and demographic. It also shows how visitors found the website and their behaviour within the website. It is an essential tool in determining conversion rate and improving conversion rate.
Another free Google tool is Search Console which will warn website owners of errors that are restricting visibility in organic search. It will also highlight improvements that can be made to improve user experience – an essential part of the 2021 Core Web Vitals algorithm we are all looking forward to.
Other useful Google tools include: PageSpeed Insights, Keyword Planner, Tag Manager and Optimize to name just a few.
Where to Start with Website Data Analysis?
A good place to start is simply with Google Analytics and Search Console.
Start by monitoring some of the fundamental KPIs on a regular basis (one per month will be often enough to start with) to get a feel for how well the website is performing and how a typical visitor is interacting with the website. Useful KPIs to look out for are:
- Visitor Source (organic search, referrals from other websites, paid advertising such as Google PPC or Facebook and Instagram Ads, regular social media etc.)
- Number of Web Visits
- Bounce Rate i.e. what percentage of visitors leave the website after viewing only 1 page
- Dwell Time i.e. the average amount of time a visitor spends on each page
- Conversion Rate – how many web visitors take a pre-defined “conversion” action, such as visit the “Contact Us” page, subscribe to a newsletter, make a purchase etc.
- Click-Through Rate i.e. how many people who see the website on the organic search listings actually click on it.
Remember website data is a rich asset from which to grow profits – why would a business not want to capitalise on that?
