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3 Key Google Analytics Metrics For Beginners

Written by Kris Baker on . Posted in Best Practices.

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Looking for valuable, actionable information on your website and not sure where to start?

Many organizations utilize Google Analytics to track website statistics, and while tons of data is available, we recommend organizations start by reviewing the following key metrics:

  • Visitors Flow (Audience –> Visitors Flow) – This report shows the most popular visitor paths through your site. It can help uncover buried content that should be more prominent. It can also help better format the user experience – maybe at the end of a new article, you should include a link to read a related story? Or to register for a program? The information is here. Taking full advantage of this report can take hours – so pace yourself and be sure to make a list of the changes/updates you’d like to make.
  • Bounce Rate (Dashboard –> Bounce Rate) – Bounce rate indicates the number of visitors who visit only one page before leaving … i.e. they ‘bounce’ off your site. This can be because they didn’t find what they were looking for or were confused about your organization. The goal is to keep the bounce rate as low as possible. Review the pages aside from your home page that have a high bounce rate and ask yourself how a visitor would land there in the first place – and why they would bounce away. Additional reports can assist with how they got to the page.
  • Exit Pages (Content –> Site Content –> Exit Pages) – The exit page is the last page a visitor sees before leaving. Review this list and ask yourself whether or not this makes sense. Is this really the last place a visitor should be? For example, if a particular exit page has poor navigation, can an additional link or two be added to get them back on track?

By taking initial action based on these metrics, you’re well on your way to optimizing your site for visitors.

To utilize Google Analytics, the tracking code must be installed on your site. For WebWriter® customers, this code is installed automatically.

Have you found success with another key metric? Which one do you like? … and what information did you find?

Kris Baker

Kris Baker is the President of Demosphere and has been serving the Youth Sports Community since 2006.