When it comes to analytics, many can get a little lost in the maze of different platforms, metrics and access points available to the user. The endless list of views and visitors can easily become overwhelming and if you don’t know the difference you may misinterpret one for another and make ill-informed decisions that will negatively affect your brand’s marketing strategy and SEO.
This quick guide by Myk Baxter Marketing aims to outline the basics of analytics so you can at least get a grasp on the somewhat convoluted world of website business management.
Why is Web Analytics Important?
Web analytics is crucial to the success of any website or eCommerce business out there. In its most basic form, near-endless lists of metrics about your website are stored – such as number of visitors, where they are visiting from, who they are (in some cases), how long they stay on a page and even what type of device they are using.
These metrics can then be used as insights into your website and its users, allowing you to improve the guest journey, user experience, target audience and much more. Web analytics also help you to shape and improve your SEO strategy. By looking at your top viewed posts, for example, can help you know what to create in the future.
Key Metrics
Each analytical tool, such as Google, has a different definition for each of the following. For the sake of universal understanding, we are going with the standard:
Pageviews – The total number of times a page was viewed on your site. Technically, this describes how many times a browser directed a user to your unique URL – if the same page was opened on ten tabs, that would count as ten page views. Pageviews are mostly used to see how popular your site, but alone it can be misleading. Most Web SEO Agencies UK like Myk Baxter Marketing, prefer to use pageviews in context with other metrics.
Unique Pageviews – This is the same as above except it’s the total number of times a page was viewed by users in a single session. This means, if one user opens your URL ten times in one session, it would count as one, not ten as above.
Session – As we mentioned it above, it’s probably best we clarify what we mean by a session here. A session is a group of interactions that take place on your website within a given time frame. Each time frame varies depending on the tool you use but Google and HubSpot both use 30 minutes as default. A user could open your eCommerce website, look elsewhere and come back. If it’s within 30 minutes, that’s counted as one session. If it’s more than 30 minutes, that’s counted as two.
Other key metrics include:
- New Visitors – first time visitors to your site.
- Returning Visitors – returning visitors to your site.
- Traffic Sources – where visitors are coming from.
- Bounce Rate – percentage of users who leave after visiting only one page.
How to use Web Analytics
There are many ways a business or eCommerce website can use and take advantage of web analytics, with many being specific to the objectives and the vision you have for your brand and its online achievements.
To get a head start against the competition, it can be useful to employ the services of a bespoke digital marketing agency like Myk Baxter Marketing who can identify the exact metrics best suited to your site and who have the manpower to sift through each number and compare graphs to identify new and improved digital strategies for your business.
By using data to drive decision making, they enable you to quickly understand what’s needed to improve your online presence and reach specific target markets in a timeframe that is realistic and beneficial to your business.
As a bespoke agency, MBM works with their clients, rather than for them, understanding that each business and each goal is unique. By not limiting data to simply improving traffic, they know that for a small family run business in County Durham, North East UK, an increase of 15,000 visitors from East Asia or South America is pointless. Myk Baxter, Founder of MBM often has to remind clients that high traffic doesn’t necessarily mean success – millions of visitors buy zero conversions helps nobody.
Look at your web analytics in context and use a digital marketing specialist like Myk Baxter Marketing to help. Whether you’re a small local business in Darlington looking to seek more customers online to international eCommerce enterprises, MBM can help decipher your analytics and understand what steps are needed to improve your company’s goals online through affiliate marketing and optimise conversion rates. Increase online sales and improve the user experience with web analytics and Myk Baxter Marketing.
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