Just like a shop keeps a log of customers that visit them, there is a lot of data you can collect about how visitors interact with your website. For instance, you can track visits, the time people spend on each page, or referrals (how did they reach your website). This is essentially what website analytics is. For a newbie, the massive set of information can be overwhelming. It might take some time for them to figure out how to tackle and organize it. But once you get it, the tide is going to be really smooth.
What is Google Analytics?
Essentially, Google Analytics is a free tracking tool by Google. It shows and guides people on how to use their website. For example, if an online store wants to know the number of sales they have made that they, they can easily get that through Google Analytics. You can also see where they are coming from, and how much time did they spend looking at a single product.
What Does Google Analytics Do?
In simple terms, Google Analytics give information about user behavior that is crucial for your business. Following is a list of benefits offered by Google Analytics:
- GA can measure the performance of your website
- It can see if your marketing strategies and efforts are bearing fruit
- It will determine the type of content you need to list on your site
- It can divide users in various segments such as age, gender, device, country, etc.
- It will optimize the website pages to enhance and boost conversions
Tracking Core Web Vitals with GA
Let’s admit it, Google controls the internet. Everything Google says is empirical and therefore is word on stone. Recently, it verified that the LCP (Largest Content-ful Paint), First Input Delay and Cumulative Layout Shift all are a part of the Page Experience ranking factor. These three elements collectively are known as the Core Web Vitals.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
LCP is a Core Web Vitals metric. It measures the largest content element after the latter becomes visible. LCP is used to establish when the primary content of the website has finished rendering on the screen.
First Input Delay
FID is a user centric metric that measures the time from the user’s first interaction with your website to the time when the browser responds to that interaction. It quantifies user experience and their feelings when they are interacting with an unresponsive page. Lower the FDI, higher the page’s usability.
Cumulative Layout Shift
It refers to the unexpected shifting of the website’s elements while the page is downloading. These elements include images, fonts, videos, information and buttons, among several others.
Fix the 404 errors
The worst part about browsing is clicking on a link, only to being sent to an “oops” page. Plenty of reasons can affect it. It could be due to a forgotten redirect, or perhaps you spelt something wrong in the URL.
Find these mistakes and fix them ASAP, if you want to enhance the best possible experience for your user. One of the ways you can find these broken links by visiting pages that do not have much traffic. Once that is figured out, you can copy the title tag and follow the following steps:
>Google Analytics
> Behavior
> All Pages and toggle over to Page Title.
> Search using the title tag of your 404 page.
You will reach a page with the stats of your error page. Click on the title name to reach the page that will lead you to a screen with all of the broken URLs and 404 pages links. Determine what these pages were about. You can fix the existing pages, or create new pages with similar URLs.
Find ways of Easily Capitalizing on the Traffic
In Google Analytics you will find the option of Search Console under Acquisition. As you might know, Search Console allows webmasters to assess indexing status to optimize the visibility of a website. You will also find CTR, landing page data, and your position of your website on the internet.
To access Search Console follow these steps
>Google Analytics
>Acquisition
> Search Console
>Query
Through the advanced search bar you can find extra data, such as average position etc.
You can test new title tags, and meta-descriptions through CTR option which you can assess in the Query option. Increased CTR will increase your rankings.
Do not make it a One Time Thing
Many businesses lose track of how their website is performing and ultimately get lost in the herd of websites present on the internet. It is crucial to keep checking your rankings from time to time. Keep up to date with the URLs, look for any new errors and consider every element that might depreciate the value of your website.
You can also track the changes in the Annotations section found in Google Analytics that can help you in reducing potential effects instantaneously.
Conclusion
For better rankings and higher profits you can’t wholly solely rely on empirical data. You need to assess every aspect of your website and its working. A tool like GA can help you keep abreast of each and everything that is happening on your website.
The best thing about GA is that it is free and gives you access to a sheer amount of data that can really boost your business output. You can keep it basic. But if you want to give yourself an edge over your competition, there are some advanced trick you can use.
It might be a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but once you get the knowhow of Google Analytics, it will be the best thing that can happen to your business.
