5 Ways to Use Your Google Analytics Data to Increase Revenue for Your Small Business
BySarah Harris
Sarah Harris takes care of the customer support requests at Workast. She is also an avid writer.
Sarah Harris takes care of the customer support requests at Workast. She is also an avid writer.
Google Analytics is probably the most powerful web analytics tool available today. While there are numerous marketing analytics tools that focus on certain aspects of web analytics, often focusing more on specific metrics, it is Google's app that provides the most comprehensive data.
The sheer volume of information that Google Analytics can provide is staggering, and it's no wonder that some businesses find it difficult to understand how to use Google Analytics data effectively. Fortunately, not every single one is required in order to make use of the tool. In fact, simply having a few key performance indicators can make a world of difference.
Those KPIs can be used to track many different things, but in general, they should focus on aspects that affect the revenue. Additionally, they should be actionable – that is, you should be able to take direct steps to improve them. With that being said, below are five ways to use your Google Analytics data to increase your revenue.
Conversion funnels are an essential part of understanding how your website is performing. They show the journey your potential customer has to make in order to complete a purchase and can be used to identify any bottlenecks or problem areas.
Google Analytics allows you to track redirects the user took before arriving at the checkout page, as well as any pages they visited afterward. That data, paired with information from apps such as https://www.fintelconnect.com/, can be used to understand how successful your website is at converting visitors into customers.
For instance, you may find out that a large part of your potential customer base is dropping off at the product page stage. In that case, you may want to take a closer look at what could have caused that and consider what can be done. Fixing common website problems like confusing navigation or poor product descriptions can make a world of difference – both for your customers and your business.
Google collects a lot of information about its users – age, gender, approximate location, interests, and much more. While this might sound like an invasion of privacy to some people, it is extremely useful information for businesses. Simply put, with all the data gathered by Google, you can accurately assess and segment the demographic of your website.
Needless to say, this information plays a significant role in the marketing and sales efforts of any business. With accurate data at hand, you can fine-tune your marketing campaigns for various demographics and drive up conversions. For instance, by looking at age groups, you can tailor your message to seniors, baby boomers, or millennials – and get better results.
Not all traffic is equal, as some sources are more likely to result in actual conversions than others. For example, organic traffic from Google is often considered more valuable than social media traffic, as users who arrive at your website via a search engine are generally further down the sales funnel. That’s why those sources should be prioritized when it comes to your marketing efforts.
Google Analytics makes it easy to track where your traffic is coming from and what kind of conversions those sources result in. Simply go to the Acquisition section and then click on All Traffic. From there, you can see a list of all your traffic sources, as well as how each one performed. If you notice a source such as a blog that's driving a lot of traffic, it's high time you contacted them to review your product or link back to your website, again.
If you run a blog along your eCommerce store, you probably know that your internal links matter just as much as your external ones. That's because every time you publish a new blog post, it gives your customers another opportunity to click through all the other parts of your website.
The Reverse Goal Path tool allows you to see from where your customers are landing on your product pages, similarly to the Acquisition tab. This is extremely useful as it allows you to identify the most profitable content on your site so that you can replicate its success in other blog posts. Conversely, you will also know which parts need further improvement.
In the eCommerce industry, your landing page is your business card, with the advantage that it also links to most other sections of your store. Google Analytics behavior tracking can help you identify which page elements catch visitors' attention the most and which ones they ignore – so you can check whether the big SALE sign is visible enough or if the color scheme is too aggressive and scares potential buyers away.
Again, the information you get from the landing page performance report is much broader, with bounce rate and page visits per session being some of the most crucial metrics. Bounce rate stands for the percentage of people who leave your website after viewing only one page, while page visits give you a general idea of how much your potential customers spend on browsing through your store.
Google Analytics gives you an exhaustive amount of data, but it's what you do with that information that counts. To get the most out of your eCommerce store, you need to understand what your customers want and how they behave, also when it comes to your website.
The five ways to use your Google Analytics data to increase your revenue listed above are a great starting point – so make sure to implement them in your business strategy and see how much of a difference they can make. And if it is still not enough, you can always complement that data with other tools available.