You have a website, but is it working? Analytics tell you what visitors do on your site - where they come from, what they look at, and whether they take action. Here's a non-technical guide to understanding your data.
Key Metrics to Track
- Users/Visitors - How many people visit your site
- Page views - Total pages viewed (one person can view many pages)
- Bounce rate - % who leave after viewing only one page. High bounces = problem.
- Time on site - How long visitors stay. Longer usually means more engaged.
- Traffic sources - Where visitors come from: Google, social, direct, referrals
- Conversions - Actions you want: form submissions, calls, purchases
Setting Up Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free and powerful:
- Create a Google Analytics account
- Add your website as a property
- Install the tracking code on your site
- Set up conversion goals (contact form submissions, etc.)
- Wait 24-48 hours for data to appear
If this sounds technical, your web developer can do it in 15 minutes.
What to Look For
Once you have data, look for:
- Top pages - What content attracts visitors? Create more of it.
- Traffic trends - Is it growing? What caused spikes?
- High-bounce pages - These need improvement
- Conversion paths - How do people find their way to contacting you?
- Mobile vs desktop - Is your mobile experience good enough?
Check your analytics weekly. Patterns emerge over time.
Analytics turn gut feelings into informed decisions. You do not need to be a data scientist - just understand the basics and let the numbers guide your website improvements.