Diving a bit deeper - more on G.A, Goal Flows, Site Search, and Content Reports
In my 9th week of my Conversion XL course I learnt more about G.A and funnels, as well as Site Search, and Content Reports. I also learnt some handy tips and tricks, and about a free tool. Read on to find out more..
Continuing on from last week, I'm going to dive a bit deeper in to GA and various reports you can run to make better business and marketing decisions.
I was starting to talk about Goal Flows last week, so topping up on this;
Goal Flows
First Conversion XL recommended you stop everything and check this article out by Google on the difference between Funnels and Goal Flows
Why Use Goal Flows?
- You can see actual user flows toward goals, no 'back-filling' (see link above)
- You can segment the flow by traffic sources, landing pages, events, technical data like browsers and more
Goal Flows vs Funnels
In the words of Conversion XL, "Goal Flows kick Funnel Visualization’s ass almost every time."
Visualising Drop off with Goal Flow
Here is what a funnel looks like in Goal Flow;
Yes it might be harder to see the drop off but you've just got to hover over the read area.
What you can do though is segment big time!
Here are some questions you could look to answer with looking at Goal Flow;
- How are new vs returning different?
- What are main drop-off pages for mobile visitors?
- How are different traffic sources performing, especially paid ones (where you need to increase ROI)?
Downfall in GA Funnel Visualisation?
As you might have guessed by now you can't segment with GA Funnel Vis, and they don't work retroactively.
FREE TOOL TIP
There are a few free tools (like Kissmetrics) that can help with the above 2 problems, but you can sign up for free with DashRocks https://dash.rocks/
A Powerful Insight - Reverse Goal Paths
WTF is a reverse goal path?
A reverse goal path "shows you the last 3 pages they visited before conversion" (CXL), a very useful piece of info!
Here is the application of goal paths and an example CXL gave;
31% of people are twice (!) on /form4-2.php URL.
Why is that? Is that a problem? Go find out via user testing, navigation summary and heuristic analysis.
You can also use Reverse Goal Path for error reporting.
Site Search
I remember a big lesson I learnt whilst working for an SEO agency, was to use Site Search data to discover 'holes' in content, and to build better Hub and Hygiene content.
Here is an article on the 3 H's of content - Hub, Hygiene and Hero
Firstly you need to configure Site Search within GA, here's how to do it, as per CXL advice;
"Behavior -> Site Search -> Overview report and if it shows nothing, it’s most likely unconfigured"
What Now/ So What?
Now, go and compare conversion rate for visits with or without site search.
DOUBLE
CXL says that "On an average, I would say that the conversion rate for visits with site search is usually TWICE AS HIGH as visits without site search." That's a big number!
ANOTHER TIP
Make sure you extract bounce visits from the comparison as bounced visits have CR of 0%
Digging/ Mining - Misspelling and Synonyms
CXL then recommends mining site search data for misspellings which are unmatched in your results, or products which visitors look for but you currently don’t have in stock.
On What Page Do People Use Site Search??
Find out via Site Search -> Pages report
If the Site Search bar isn't very obvious on those pages, then fix that, make it big like Amazons!
Content Reports
IMO you should be obsessed with this!! This report looks like below
Look at higher bounce rates and exit rates, vs Site Average.
I'm going to rehash this piece of research because again it is relevant in context of content reports
Look at the above research and your Content Report. On those pages, are you using;
Relevant overall page content?
Query relevant words & phrases
Is your content perceived as having expertise, authority/ being trustworthy?
Is your content most likely matching the exact keyword string somebody would use? Think of the most likely, greatest intent!
Thanks for reading my article on why understanding Goal Flows, Site Search, and Content Reports are vital for your site!