I’m going to share the biggest business secret for being successful—are you ready? It’s all about strategy. In fact, I would relate it to playing a game of chess. You have to be thinking five steps ahead and not just here and now. Perhaps a few of you could argue that the strategy of having no strategy is working just fine—well, maybe, but I doubt it will work for the vast majority of people.
Guide to Google Analytics
Succeeding in business is all about having a blueprint for your next moves. Sometimes we have to do a little trial and error with a current approach, but if we know what the end goal is, it’s a lot easier to correct the course. Here is where and why installing Google Analytics is so important to your overall mission.
What Is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free service provided by Google that gives you data about your website. It tracks your SEO, gives you insight in the actions people are taking on your site, and helps you analyze those actions. Understanding many of these key functions can help you create a powerful position for your business. For example, if you see that a particular post is getting lots of traction, maybe you should write a series on that topic. Or if you see a high bounce rate on your site, you might want to provide more valuable content.
Video Tutorial: Setting Up Google Analytics
In this short (I like short and sweet) video tutorial, I’m going to show you how to add Google Analytics to your website. In this example, I’m using the website platform Wix. If you have WordPress, all you have to do is download the Google Analytics plugin and add your code in the prompt. It’s very easy to do and only takes a few minutes to set up.
The Tool
Google Analytics is a seriously robust tool for website reporting. It can help you understand your clients through multiple data sources. It will tell you how many page views you’re getting, give you a better understanding of your users, report your bounce rate, and indicate who your top referrer is. You will need to create a Google account if you don’t already have one.
Getting to Know More about Your Audience
Knowing your audience will help you create a better overall strategy. If you take a deep dive into your analytics, it will show you what your audience is doing when visiting your site. You will find out demographics about who your audience is, including how old they are, what gender they are, and where they are located. You will also find out things like what their interests are and how they are finding you. For example, you might be thinking it’s Instagram, but Google could confirm it’s actually Facebook. So in that case, would you want to spend more time and money on Instagram or Facebook? Facebook, right? Since that’s where your people are hanging out. This information equates to power. Analyze the heck out of it and then create a plan to convert those who are just checking out your site to actual, paying clients.
Conclusion
So go ahead and install Google Analytics to your site. Check it in 30 days and analyze the data. How will you make a strategy armed with this information? Maybe you’ll work on a series of blog posts, or maybe you’ll spend more time on your number one referral. Once Google Analytics is installed, you’ll have the ability to make meaningful, positive changes in your business. This power gets a little addictive—you don’t want to surf it every day, but be sure to check it at least once a month.
