What Do Website Analytics Mean?

Website Analytics are not something you need to be intimidated about.

This information you can gather is extremely helpful in your online business planning.

How does it work?

When people visit your website they leave a trail. Remember Hansel and Gretel? As they wandered through the forest they left a trail of pebbles so they could find their way back home. Well, it’s possible to track your site visitors and get detailed information about what they’re doing, where they’re going, and where they came from, through the use of computer ‘cookies’.

When used by website owners a computer cookie is a small, harmless file that is automatically downloaded to a visitor’s computer when they come to your website. This file then allows website analytics software to track all sorts of data about your visitor, such as where they go on your site, what kind of Internet browser they’re using, how they arrived at your site, what page they entered on, where they leave, and so on.

In the old days, this data was only available at great cost and effort, and then website owners had to manually make sense of it. Enter the 21^st century. Now, website analytics programs gather and compile all the data automatically, and then spit it back out in understandable and useful reports that you can then apply to your business.

Let’s review:

• Your website has lots of pages, as many as you’ve created.
• Your visitors arrive, and they get tracked using cookies.
• Those cookies are used by website analytics software to record important information about your visitors’ activities as they arrive and while they are cruising around your website.
• The website analytics program sends you back statistical data about your visitors that is useful and can ultimately help grow your business.

Here’s what analytics can tell you:

• Keywords – what words and phrases people actually type in to Internet search engines like Yahoo and Google to find your site.
• Search Engines – what search engines were used to find your site.
• Internet Browsers – which internet browser was used to view your site.
• Visitor Count – how many people visit your site per day, week, year.
• Referring Sites – what other sites sent you traffic.
• Popular Pages – what people were reading on your site and how many visited each page.
• Time on Site – how long people spent on your website.
• Entry Pages – which pages people entered your site from.
• Exit Pages – which pages people left your site from.
• Conversions – which pages resulted in sales, which resulted in email sign ups.
• Demographics – what countries visitors live in.
• Time – What days and times are busiest on your site.

There are many programs out there and web host systems have analytics options as well, but I simply use Google Analytics on my sites.  It’s free and fairly comprehensive as well.   The biggest thing I can recommend is that as a business owner and company with a website, that you be tracking your website analytics on some way.  It’s often something overlooked when setting up or upgrading a website – make certain you don’t forget this vital tool that can help you learn how to improve and change your website based on the results you see in your reports.

AND… once you have it setup – Make sure you review it at least once a month!!!

 

What system are you using, and what, if any, roadblocks do you have with regards to your website analytics? Please share!

 

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1. Why you need a Website for your Business