The first session I attended at NTEN08 was discussing how to get the most out of recently redesigned, Google Analytics, and how your organization can use it to improve your website. Google Analytics uses graphs with simple visuals to show you what you are doing right online, and more importantly, where your site needs improvement. Are your website goals being met? Let Google Analytics spell it out in an easy to read graphs, which are color coded in green and red.
- Green = Good
- Red = Bad
The simplicity of Google Analytics makes your job easier when you're trying to show your boss where your website excels and where it needs to be improved.
Google Analytics is a great tool if you want to discover how viewers are using your site. Here are a few examples of what Google Analytics can do for you:
- Show you Pages viewed per visit
- Show you how many new visitors to your site
- Give your bounce rates (Defined by Wikipedia: "A bounce occurs when a website visitor leaves a page or a site without visiting any other pages before a specified session-timeout occurs.")
- How are they using the search feature on your site
- How long did your viewers stay on your site after they conducted a search
- Maps that show where your viewers/customers are located
- Track your newsletters
Google is awesome at measuring the on-site searches but, it's best to hear it from the horse's mouth, so check out what Google has to say about their service.
Why is this information important?
You may think that you have great content on your website, but if it's buried in your site and your viewers don't go past two clicks, you have an issue. Google Analytics can uncover your hidden problems.
How does this relate to your site and your concerns?
Google Analytics can let you how many people viewed your conference information page and then clicked through to your registration page to sign up for the conference. It can also show you if people just view your homepage and then leave your site. It's all shown in easy to read graphs, so it can be analyzed in a few seconds. You can check it daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
One scenario that was brought up at this session:
What happens when you show your boss the statistics provided by Google Analytics and they are resistant to change the site's content, especially the homepage? You can let them have ownership of the content on one page, and, tell them that you will take care of the rest of the site.
After you change your site, then show your boss the results of your changes (done with Google Analytics, of course), you will have the proof that Google Analytics can help your website become more successful.
Give it a try and let me know what website improvements you implemented because of Google Analytics.
