If you don’t yet use Google Analytics for your website, then this post is for you.  Or, maybe you do have a Google Analytics (GA) account, but you’re not sure which metrics you should be checking regularly?

Well you are not alone, so we’ve compiled a list for you of the most helpful metrics provided by Google Analytics!  These are metrics that you should be tracking on a consistent basis (we suggest once a month to start).  They will help keep you familiar with who’s visiting, what they’re checking out, and a few other important things.

Each of the sections below (audience, traffic sources, content) are sections of the left hand navigation menu in GA.  You can use this as a guide.  We’ll explain each one.

 Audience Tab

-Pages / Visit:  The more pages people visit the more interested they are (usually).  A good number is somewhere between 3 and 4 pages per visit but the more the better.

- Avg. Visit Duration: The time people spend on your site. Hopefully your visitors are taking time to read through the pages they are visiting.  A good average is, again, between 3 and 4 minutes.

- Bounce Rate:  A bounce occurs when a visitor comes to your site and clicks nothing, they leave the site without registering any action. The lower the bounce rate the better, but shoot for under 65%.

Also under the Audience Tab (for the visual learners) check out the Visitor Flow chart.  This is an awesome new feature that shows  you: Where your visitors come from, what pages they view, where they drop off, and lots more.

 Traffic Sources Tab

-Traffic Percentages:  This separates Search, Referral and Direct traffic to your site. These percentages are especially helpful if 1) you start receiving links from other sites, and 2) when increasing your search engine optimization efforts.

- Keywords: The search terms that people are using to find your site online.  You want keywords that relate to your industry or company listed.  For example, we like to see any combination of ‘web design’ and ‘Ann Arbor, MI’ listed in our top 10 keywords.

Content Tab

-Page Report:  This lists pages that people are visiting.  Most commonly your home page and contact page will be in the top 10, but it is good to know what pages attract and hold people’s attention.

-In- Page Analytics:  This is an AWESOME tool! It shows you your homepage with the percentages of clicks that each area receives.  You can see if that flashy “Contact Us” button is really getting people to click.

 Remember, these are things that you should be checking consistently.  These basic metrics will help you create a picture of what works, what doesn’t, what your site users like, what their behaviors are, and what changes you might want to consider. There are also many more in-depth metrics that Google Analytics can provide you, but these basic metrics will help you maintain a good 10,000 foot view of your website traffic and performance.  Be sure to check out Google Conversion University for lots of in-depth tutorials about Google Analytics.

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