Beginning Google Analytics: Interpreting and Acting on Your Data

When starting a web site, it is a good idea to get a measurable data on how well your site is doing.  One way to do that is with a tool that most of you may have heard of but might not understand. It is called Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytic s solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites. The tool is just about for everyone.

For Executives:

• Which marketing initiatives are most effective?
• What are accurate traffic patterns/trends on my websites?
• Which customer and customer segments are most valuable?

For Marketing Professionals:

• Where are my visitors coming from and what do they do on my site?
• How can my website convert more visitors into customers?
• Which keywords resonate with prospects and lead to conversions?
• Which online ad or creative is the most effective?

For Content & Web Developers:

• Why do so many people leave my site without doing what I want?
• Are there website design elements that are turning visitors away?
• What site content are people most interested in? 

Any website that I have been connected with uses Google Analytics. Google Analytics shows you how visitors found your site and how they interact with it. With this information, you can improve your return on investment, increase conversions, and make more money on the web.

You'll be able to compare the behavior and profitability of visitors who were referred from each of your ads, keywords, search engines, and emails, and gain valuable insight into how to improve your site's content and design. However large or small your site, and however you drive traffic to it -- whether it's unpaid search, partner sites, AdWords, or other cost-per-click programs -- Google Analytics tracks it, from click to conversion.

For AdWords users in particular, Google Analytics will provide you with the actionable information that you can use to increase your ROI by tracking cost data for all of your campaigns and combining that data with conversion information on a page-by-page basis. Google Analytics automatically imports AdWords cost data so that you can track the effectiveness of your AdWords campaigns, and automatically tags your AdWords destination URLs to track keyword and campaign conversion rates with no effort on your part!
All of this information is presented in intuitive, thorough, visual reports. Google Analytics won't affect the performance or the appearance of your website, and there are no extra files to host on your website.

If you want more information check out the video below.