Of all the tools you can utilize for website improvement, Google Analytics provides some of the most valuable insights into your site’s metrics. Many people feel overwhelmed when they’re logged into their account and review their metrics, and they’re unsure how to take this information and make website improvements.

Discover the top five metrics you should take note of in your Google Analytics and how you can turn them into an action plan for your site’s performance.

Change Page Elements to Reduce Your Bounce Rate

A bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who didn’t visit more than one page, and a high bounce rate (over 70%) is something to be concerned about. If you’re experiencing a high bounce rate, it could be due to a lot of factors ranging from confusing navigation, poorly optimized CTAs, or even unengaging content. Start A/B testing particular elements on your web pages and see if you notice any changes in your bounce. Even the most simple changes can make a significant impact!

Leverage Attention-Grabbing Pages

A high duration spent on a web page tells you that these pages have piqued users’ interests with its content. To maximize conversions, utilize these pages and turn them into a part of your sales pitch. Make sure to also look at how they’re getting to this page and what percentage of your traffic is viewing this page.

Tailor Content for Your Most-View Areas

Unless you exclusively serve one area, there’s a whole world out there that’s open game to market toward. If you noticed a jump in sessions from a new region, consider tailoring content and/or deals to this new shift. Take a look at the geographic breakdown of where most of your traffic comes from and use this information in your favor; it could open the door to new potential markets.

Examine Behavior Flow to Understand Buyer’s Journey

The behavior flow section of Google Analytics (which can be found in Behavior section) provides a visual flow of where people enter and exit your website. This tool can help you decipher your visitors’ intent and tailor how to make the user experience more natural for your visitors to get to their destination.

Increase Your Referral Traffic

Search engines such as Google aren’t the only channels where visitors find your website. One other channel to take note of is the referral traffic, which are sessions that came from people clicking a link to your site from somewhere else (not a search engine). If your referral traffic is lower than you’d like it to be, reach out to people within your network to see how you can have them link to your site. Whether it’s through a guest blog post or local media outlets, there are plenty of opportunities to consider so get creative!

Google Analytics can offer a plethora of benefits for your business, and if you don’t have it set up for your site yet, let us show you how easy it is!