There is one simple rule to follow if you want to be successful online.

Generating results online is ALL about system and process.

Not to bore you with the nitty gritty details, but if you want to have meaningful results online then you have to measure, test, and optimize your site.

The reason is simple.

If you don’t have any data regarding traffic to your website AND what people are doing when they land on your site you will never make any money, generate any leads, or generate any interest.

Translation: if you don’t track your website’s performance, you may as well just shut it down and go do something else.

Now I’m going to put you on the spot for a few moments by asking you to review a few critical questions regarding your website:

• Do you know how many unique visitors your website receives each month?
• Do you know where they come from?
• Where they are located?
• What pages they look at?
• How long they review your pages?
• Which pages the “like” and which they avoid like the plague?
  
• How long they stay on  your website?

Now let me ask you one more question…

Do you think knowing the answers to these questions would make a difference for your online marketing? And your business?

Exactly.

The fact of the matter is this: a tool exists that can do all this for you (and more… MUCH more), and it doesn’t even cost you one red cent to get the code.

It’s called Google Analytics, and if you have a Gmail account you can get set up in only a few minutes.

If you have a “traditional” website, getting the code installed will depend on a few outside factors. Your web developer may have to install the code for you. And if you are not sure, give us a call and provide us with your website address (URL) and we’ll take a peek for you…

What’s more, a lot of people running their own websites ALREADY have the code installed.

Sadly, they don’t know how to use it. Time and again when we speak with people like you they’ll admit that the “data” doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot to them.

And that, my friends, is a shame…

How to Use Google Analytics

Why does it seem so darned hard to read the data that Google Analytics can provide to you?

That’s a great question.

One issue involves language. Remember, most “techies” know this stuff inside and out. Yet, the terms THEY use to describe stuff to YOU may not make any sense to you.  And you are often left with more questions than answers.

Does that sound familiar?

It’s like a language only they can understand.

So that is definitely part of the problem.

The other part is a question of resources.  Namely, who do you turn to when you need help with this stuff?

I can tell you from experience that most web developers don’t have a clue about Google Analytics in any deep detail. Heck, some don’t even install the tracking code on their client’s websites.

In fact, whenever we work with a new client the FIRST thing we do is check out your website’s code to see if tracking software (i.e. Google Analytics or something else) is installed.

At least 50% of the time it isn’t…

And even the web developers who install the code for you don’t know how it works. Or, they don’t really understand what kind of information or reporting Google Analytics can provide you.

So what can you do?

Understanding Google Analytics Webinar

The good news for you is… we are launching a monthly webinar series focused on using and interpreting Google Analytics data to improve your web presence.

• What “bounce rate” means, and why it is critically important for you
  
• How to sort through “top content” based on source of traffic
• How to use “navigation summary” to see what your web visitors are doing
• What “avg time on site” tells you about your website content
• How to track actual keywords used to find your site…
• And how to identify the BEST keywords from that list

Some of the topics we will discuss during the webinar are:

• How to sort through the data
• Interpreting the data to optimize your website
• Tracking your traffic sources
• Identifying what your website visitors DO once they are on your site
  
• How to set up automatic reporting
• Using “Event Tracking” and what it means
• Setting up “Goals” to easily track conversion

So stay tuned as we add more webinar details in the next couple of days…