Google Analytics - Metrics that matter
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Metrics that matter - Google Analytics
Google Analytics is notorious for being a rabbit hole of information. It’s a fantastic way to discover what’s working on your website, what isn’t and what you can improve. The trick, is knowing where to look.
Our mission is simple: to constantly redefine what it means to deliver a best-in-class website. To do that, we need to know what makes them tick after they’ve launched. Are Inbound Marketing efforts producing value? If users are bouncing too soon, does the UX need navigation or design tweaks? A thorough Analytics report will highlight a great deal, and can put any of our teams to work!
The problem with Analytics reports right now is that you will often encounter a cookie-cutter template that was designed to save the other guy time. Traffic numbers, bounce rate, percentage changes. The metrics one can report on are so abundant that these reports become oversaturated with the broad-sweeping, so-called ‘all encompassing’ information that really isn’t very useful when it comes time to think forward.
So we stopped. We dumped our report templates and started developing custom Analytics reports based on metrics that mattered, situationally. Different strokes for different folks, and their phases of inbound marketing progress. Plain english, relevant information. The good stuff.
So here you have it - the first in a series of blogs that will cover some of the more interesting metrics we dig into when it comes time to report on your website. For a timeless refresher, visit our earlier blog here. When you’re back up to speed, we’ll proceed!
Site speed
Google defines its site speed category as a report on how quickly users can see and interact with your content. It’s all about how fast your site is loading for each user, and that’s an important aspect of any website. If your website is taking 10 seconds to load, it doesn’t matter how many articles you’ve published or how much you work on SEO - when users see a loading bar, they run for the hills.
How fast your site loads is something everyone notices. It’s going to effect all of the rankings that matter, and is far from a typical front-page report metric, despite being one of the most important! According to a study by Forrester Consulting, “47% of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less.”
Slower site speeds are usually the result of a slow host, but pointing the finger isn’t always the best solution. Loading times can also be bogged down by a massive library of images that your home page needs to load, or assets that haven’t been optimized to load quickly. Obviously the ticket is identifying the problem to begin with - once you’re there, the solution might be as easy as a chat with your web partner.
It’s worth noting that there are a handful of web-based solutions for slow load times; these services catalogue what’s going wrong and where. Compression, optimization, caching - it’s all useful, but take those recommendations with a grain of salt before you press any big red buttons. Their utmost goal is to make your website faster, not more compelling. There’s beauty in having both.
For more Analytics reporting questions, fire us a note on social media or through our contact page and, of course, stay tuned for the next instalment of Metrics that Matter.