If you’re not a data nerd, you’re going to have to pay attention to this blog post, because I am!  And data, analytics and insights is where it’s at to know if your website is doing what you’re wanting it to do.

One of the brilliant things about anything digital, is that it can be measured. Which is awesome for us tech-nerds, because we can actually see results from the work we’re doing and then run around the office in excitement.

Here are 5 reasons why you need to get on top of your analytics.

  1. Website traffic. If your website is doing what it’s supposed to, then over time, you should see an increase in website traffic. You can do this by logging into your website CPanel and hitting AW Stats. You’ll be able to see how many unique visitors, how many website hits and more via this tool. If you’re not getting growth in your visitor numbers, then you may need to ensure your SEO is up to date and figure out what else you could be doing to drive those numbers in an upward direction.
  2. Set up Google Analytics. If you want to find out who your website visitors are, what they look at and their buying behaviour, then it’s imperative you set up Google Analytics. It will require you to put a tracking code on your website. You can even download the app on your phone and you can see how many unique visitors came to your page, how they found your page (was it social media, from a referral website, a google search?), what pages they looked at, how long they spent on your site and where they are based.
  3. What resonates with your audience? Knowing if your blog posts are doing well (or not), you can use this nifty little tool called Campaign URL Builder. It creates a code based on the website link and where the website link is going (for example, shared on Facebook or in your monthly EDM). When you access Google Analytics, you can see a tab called Campaigns and that is where you can see the data on anyone who has clicked on those links. For example, this blog post is called Let’s Get Analytical. I run this through the Campaign URL Builder, and for those of you who have clicked on this, I will be able to see Let’s Get Analytical as a campaign and just how many people viewed it, Pretty cool, huh?!
  4. Just who are your audience? Not sure who your website audience is? Are they your target audience? By accessing Google Analytics, you’ll find out age, location, gender and more about your audience. Does it match up to your target audience? If not, you’ll need to work on your website to ensure the information is valuable and targeting the audience you want.
  5. Conversions, baby! There’s nothing more satisfying that setting goals, usually with a dollar figure attached and seeing those goals met. Through Google Analytics, you can set goals that are valuable to your business. For example, if someone fills out the contact form on your website, that could be a goal and could be allocated a $50 figure. For every person who fills out a form, how many convert to a paying customer? From there you can work out what $$ you’d put towards that goal. Pretty awesome to see your website making money – cha-ching!

So, have I converted you into a massive data nerd yet? No? Fine, the cheese stands alone. In any case, I hope you’ve found this information useful!