It takes a lot to develop a website. If you aren’t techie, it takes a web designer and someone who understands how to develop and optimize websites. Once a site is up and running, it’s important to pay close attention to your site and how it’s performing. Website analytics can help.
Web analytics are tools that help decipher who is coming to your website, where they are from, and what they are doing while they visit. Analytics offer a ton of valuable information that help you better understand what your visitors are doing while they are on your site and what tweaks you may want to make to enhance their experience.
There are a lot of analytics you can review and plenty of tools to help. Google has free analytics, but you can also purchase web analytics that offer more tools. Some of the typical analytics worth paying attention to are-
- Traffic
- Bounce Rate
- Sources of traffic
- And More!
Traffic: Overall traffic helps determine how visible your site is- Paying attention to the overall traffic headed to your site helps determine if your site is optimized with SEO or Search Engine Optimization. If your site isn’t getting many visits, it’s an indicator that something’s not right. Your site traffic should increase the longer your site has been live. If your traffic reduces, plateaus, or stalls, it’s good to see it in your analytics so you can make important tweaks.
Bounce Rate: People leaving your site too soon determines their user experience- The bounce rate is determined by the number of people who leave your site after landing on one page. If they fail to click or take a second action and leave, they have bounced. This can be an indicator that your site is taking too long to load, has a weird navigation theme, or may be visually unappealing. Paying close attention to the bounce rate can help you tweak the user experience to keep visitors on your site longer.
Sources of Traffic: Where people come from helps determine where to put your efforts- Learning who is coming to your site and where they originated helps you make future marketing decisions. Most people come to your site based on a link that they clicked. It is helpful to know how they came to your site. Perhaps they originated on social media, Pinterest, or an article your site was referenced in. Being able to see where your traffic came from helps you do more of what is working.
Analytics takes the guess work out of running a website. It costs a lot to maintain a website. Generating content and reaching the marketplace takes time and effort. It makes sense to ensure that time is not wasted. Using analytics is a great way to tweak your website and make sure it is the most efficient for your business.