If you are a creator, you need to know how to analyze data from your website or app. Data can help you understand your audience, optimize your content, and grow your revenue. But how can you collect, measure, and interpret data effectively? In this article, you will learn some basic steps and tools to analyze data from your website or app.
Before you dive into data analysis, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, you might want to increase your email subscribers by 10% in the next month. Your metrics should be aligned with your goals and reflect the actions and behaviors of your users. For example, you might track the number of visitors, the conversion rate, and the retention rate.
For example, if you want to track your email subscribers, you may need to use a software to do that. Whether it's Constant Contact or MailChimp, you will be able to see the new email subscribers that sign up within the back end reporting of the software. From there, you can utilize different tactics to gain more subscribers and match back what works and what does not.
Depending on your goals and metrics, you need to choose where and how you will collect your data. You might use different sources and tools for different types of data, such as web analytics, user feedback, social media, email marketing, or app analytics. Some of the most popular tools for data analysis are Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Hotjar, SurveyMonkey, Mailchimp, and Firebase. You should also consider how you will store, organize, and access your data, such as using spreadsheets, databases, or dashboards.
There are more intuitive tools out there today for less skilled individuals. You do not need to be an expert to get started. Google Analytics, set up with Google Tag Manager, is usually a good starting point and then you can go from there. Start by determining what you want to learn and how you'll define success. Is success defined by readers reaching a specific section of a blog post, or is it when they initiate the checkout process? Go through all these points and then build the tracking for it. If you're selling a web tool of some sort, I would though suggest checking out FullStory, Hotjar and Mixpanel. I would advise you to use ChatGPT to help you understand what you need to track and how to set up your tracking.
Even though Google Analytics seems to be the top of the pile in terms of analyzing data, there are other options. Many website and app hosting platforms have analytics reporting built into the back end admin sections. Before you start to build out Data Studio pages or tracking user experience in HotJar or Microsoft Clarity, understand the basics and how the numbers are presented. Once you can figure out what they all mean, it is time to move towards a more advanced analysis of the data.
Once you have your data, you need to analyze it and find insights that can help you improve your website or app. You can use various methods and techniques to analyze your data, such as descriptive statistics, trend analysis, segmentation, correlation, or experimentation. You should also use visualization tools, such as charts, graphs, or heatmaps, to make your data easier to understand and communicate. The key is to look for patterns, outliers, and anomalies that can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your website or app.
Based on your data analysis and insights, you can formulate hypotheses and test them to optimize your website or app. For example, you might hypothesize that changing the color of your call-to-action button will increase your conversion rate. You can test your hypothesis by running an A/B test, where you compare two versions of your website or app with different button colors and measure the results. You can then use the data from the test to decide which version is better and implement the changes.
Data analysis is not a one-time activity, but a continuous process. You need to monitor your results and see how your website or app performs after you make changes. You should also track your progress towards your goals and metrics and see if you need to adjust them. Moreover, you should always look for new opportunities and challenges and iterate on your website or app based on your data. Data analysis can help you learn from your users, experiment with new ideas, and grow as a creator.