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Unlock the $ in your Google Analytics Data

It was only a couple of years ago that Web Analytics data was information that resided on the IT guy’s computer and was occasionally discussed when it was time for the next website redesign.Google Analytics has changed all that. In less than 2 years Google has become the dominant market leader in the Web Analytics marketplace offering Australian businesses the opportunity to easily track the performance of their website.

Have you installed Google Analytics, but not using it?

A large number of Australian businesses that I speak to have installed Google Analytics but haven’t found the time to closely analyse the data and its implications to their business. There is no doubt the amount of information available from Google Analytics can be overwhelming at first glance, which leads you to think – where do I start? This results in Google Analytics going on the backburner.

Figure 1: Google Analytics Dashboard (Sample)

Top 10 Essential Statistics to Measure in Google Analytics

What is the average number of unique visitors to your website per month?
How many sales leads or sales are generated from your website per month?
What % of unique visitors convert into new sales or sales opportunities
What % of your traffic is generated from:
- Your Brand (direct traffic)
- Search engines (minus brand related searches)
- Referral traffic (other websites recommending your site)
What keywords or Internet Marketing activities provide the highest sales lead conversion rates or the result in the longest amount of time spent on your website?
What % of your search engine traffic is generated from pay per click marketing as compared to organic search?
What are your most popular content pages and do these pages match your revenue streams?
What % of your website visitors are New versus Returning?
Identify the top 25 keywords which are providing the highest traffic or sales conversion rates
Assess the top 25 referring sites sending traffic to you? For example: How much traffic are you receiving from Yellow Pages online?

The untapped traffic opportunity in Google Analytics

With the rising cost of Google AdWords and the increased levels of competition online many Australian businesses are looking at the % of traffic being generated from organic search versus paid search.
If Google AdWords is generating a profit for your business investing in organic traffic from search engine optimisation is like investing in online real estate. Every top 10 Google ranking is valuable to your business and the closer to number 1 result the better.

Your initial goal should be to generate at least 40% of your traffic from relevant organic search.

Is your website accessing 52% of the search market?

The chart below using Hitwise data shows that 52% of the search market is generated by users typing in 3 keywords or more.
A common mistake by business owners is to only focus on a small number of keywords due to running broad match settings on their AdWords campaigns.

Figure 2: Word count in search phrases -U.S Searchers (Source: Marketing Sherpa 2008)
The data presented in the table above highlights that your business has the potential to unlock the value of long tail search and the traffic available for keyword searchers using 3+ words. Plus, our research indicates that long tail search generally converts better. A more specific search is generally a sign of a Internet user which is further in the buying cycle roi.com.au can help your business achieve this through advanced content generation and blogging techniques.

FREE Google Analytics Assessment

Would you like an independent expert assessment of the performance of your website?
Simply reply to this email and a team member will organise a free review of your Google Analytics data using our guide provided in this newsletter. Our consultants can also discuss the potential online opportunities available to your business.

Posted on October 11, 2007