What Website Analytics Should I Track?

In today’s digital age, having an online presence is essential for any small business striving to grow and see success. The introduction of the internet all those years ago created a new landscape, where storefronts became digital, and receipts became downloadable. However, since then, we’ve come a long way, and businesses now understand the importance of tracking and measuring user traffic and behaviour, as Google Analytics 4 is used by over 28,000,000 websites worldwide!

However, as this is a blog about small businesses, it’s important to note that out of all the companies across the globe that use Analytics Platforms such as Google Analytics, 74% are considered as a ‘small business’ with 1-10 employees! So, let’s jump into some key website metrics and why they are important for your small business.

Pageviews are a key metric you should keep an eye on, as this is the total number of times a page on your website was visited. A page view occurs when the search engine loads a page on your website and can help provide insight into how popular a page on your website is.

However, remember that nothing in search engine marketing is black and white; just because one of your web pages experiences an influx in pageviews could mean that the page is confusing and requires the user to revisit the page multiple times to understand your content. That’s why context is key when looking at the data in Google Analytics.

New visitors 

Also known as new users, unique visitors, or new visitor sessions are the number of unique visitors visiting your website for the first time. Pretty straightforward, right?

As we’ve established, a new visitor is when a user visits your site for the first time; a healthy website will tend to have a steady stream of new visitors. However, although this metric gives insight into what percentage of users find your website for the first time, it’s not 100% accurate. For example, the same person who visits your site via their laptop and mobile phone will be counted as two separate users, even though you are reaching the same user.

Our Website Analytics and Tracking Services allow your business to unlock valuable insights about your website performance. Learn more here!

Traffic Sources

If you’re wondering what website analytics I should track? Traffic sources is definitely one of them.

Understanding where your traffic comes from is vital to any digital marketing strategy; otherwise, you cannot allocate resources effectively and are practically running blind!

GA4 (Google Analytics 4) lets you view your traffic, highlighting your most effective channels: organic search, paid search, organic social, etc. It also provides traffic information regarding the type of device users visit your website from, like desktop or a mobile device.

Analysing the traffic sources provides valuable insights into how visitors find and interact with your website. These insights can help you make data-driven decisions to optimise your online presence and achieve your business goals. If you’d like to learn more about GA4 or know about it but are yet to migrate over, check out our blog, ‘Should I Switch To GA4’.

Bounce Rate

One of the most important website analytics you should watch is the bounce rate metric, which tells you the percentage of visitors who land on a specific website page and then leave without taking any further action or navigating to any other pages. This is a crucial insight into user behaviour on your website.

Generally speaking, when it comes to user behaviour in the form of bounce rate, if it is lower than 40% or it is considered reasonably good, 40% – 70% is okay, and anything over 70% needs to be addressed urgently.

A high bounce rate can indicate several things:

• Content Relevance

A high bounce rate can sometimes mean that the content on your website or a page needs to be more relevant to what the user is searching for or engage them enough to make them continue.

• Usability Issues

A study has shown that nearly 50% of consumers expect a page to load in under 3 seconds! Talk about needy. Nevertheless, this could be a reason why the bounce rate of your website is so high, as users don’t have the patience to wait for your site to load, especially when a competitor is just one click away.

Misleading Marketing Campaigns

We’ve all seen those ads that promise one thing, but when you arrive at the landing page, you realise that neither the landing page nor the ad shares any relevance; this could be why the bounce rate on your landing pages are so high, consider better aligning the ad and landing page to help give users the best possible experience.

So, we’ve covered the critical web metrics, but to conclude this blog, let’s go over why companies need web analytics and critically, analytics tools.

Companies rely on web analytics for essential insights into user behaviour, allowing them to make data-driven decisions. By analysing the valuable insights that the various web metrics provide, companies can personalise their content to meet the needs of their consumers and provide a better user experience. To learn more about the benefits of accurate website analytics, check out our blog, ‘Accurate Website Tracking and Analytics in 2023.’

Analytics tools make tracking user behaviour on your website, including direct traffic, conversion tracking, goal conversion rate, views per visit, session durations, and the essential metrics, much easier to visualise and understand. Of course, the most recommended Analytics tool has to be Google Analytics 4.

Using a tool can help further inform your digital marketing strategy going forward.

 For more, read our blog post ‘Website Tracking and Analytics to Improve Your Marketing in 2024‘.

Here are six of the most important website analytics you should be tracking:

• New Visitors
• Traffic Sources
• Bounce Rate Metric
• Content Relevance
• Usability Issues
• Misleading Marketing Campaigns

Key Takeaways

• It’s time for other small businesses to recognise the significance of web analytics in their digital journey. With an astounding 74% of Google Analytics users being small businesses, it’s evident that harnessing data-driven insights is essential for growth as a small business.

• Using the insights gained from the various web metrics to personalise your content will result in exceptional user experiences for your user base. Through leveraging these insights, small businesses can adapt and, more importantly, compete in such a competitive digital landscape.

• If you’re looking for the best tools to track your website analytics, check out the ROAR blog for more.

Don’t let valuable data go to waste! Contact ROAR and discover how our Website Tracking and Analytics Services can help you uncover hidden opportunities and drive growth for your business.