One of the first pieces of advice we offer to new web design and online marketing clients is to start tracking visitors and studying statistics. That way they can know whether their campaigns are moving in the right direction. Often, they fully understand our suggestion, but have a follow-up question in mind: “is Google Analytics free?”
The short answer is that it doesn’t cost you anything to use, at least not in a monetary sense. And, it’s a powerful piece of software that can literally transform your business. To help you understand why, let’s look at three things you get from using Google Analytics effectively…
#1 Basic Website Traffic Stats
With Google Analytics installed and working, you get instant access to reports about activity on your website. These include basic statistics like the number of visits, how many repeat visitors you’ve attracted, the source of new website visits, and so on.
These simple pieces of information let you look at the “dashboard view” of your business website, giving you quick insights into whether things are busy or slower than normal, or moving in the right or wrong direction.
#2 Conversion Guideposts
As we like to remind our clients and readers, your website doesn’t exist as a piece of art or an online brochure. Its job is to generate leads, online sales, or other forms of conversions. Using Google Analytics, you will not only see how many successful conversions you’re generating, but also track the source of those visits and the steps they’ve taken on your website along the way.
These help build stronger lead generation platforms and prevent buyers from falling out of your sales funnel as they move along the buyers journey.
#3 Advanced Insights
When you use Google Analytics consistently, you get access to data on bigger trends and ideas. For instance, you could find that certain keywords are under- or over-performing over time, that your PPC ads are most effective during certain times of the day or week, or that your best customers originate from certain ZIP Codes or social media platforms.
That kind of insight can be used to make your business stronger and stronger as you maximize your best opportunities and avoid campaigns that aren’t generating a high ROI.
The One Cost of Google Analytics
We started this article by pointing out that Google Analytics is free in financial terms. However, that’s not the same as saying it has no cost at all. To make the most of the software you have to install it first and then study the information you receive. And, you have to act on those insights.
Most business owners will say there is a small learning curve associated with Google Analytics. It’s not difficult to understand or master, but you will want to take some time with your web designer to get familiar with the most important reports and dashboard items. If you fail to make a commitment to this part of the process you’ll always be working with incomplete information.
Want More From Your Website and Marketing?
At Biondo Creative, we’ve earned a reputation as one of Philadelphia’s top web design and marketing firms for one simple reason: we help our clients to achieve real-world results. When we get involved it isn’t to design a page or launch an ad – we want to help you build a stronger bottom line and get sustainable business growth.
If you feel like it’s time you started getting more from tools like Google Analytics, social media, and search engine optimization, then contact us today so we can schedule a free no-cost, no-obligation website review.