The Importance of Google Analytics

What is Google Analytics?

Companies have been using data to track the way customers interact online to enhance their experience and sell more of their products. Google Analytics is a free software that lets companies track their online data with easy to read reports generated by Google. Since Google Analytics is free, it lets smaller e-commerce businesses track the way their customers interact with their website with the program.

Why do businesses need to know this?

Google Analytics helps businesses make decision with their online website from where something is placed on the page to how long a video should be. The number one reason why businesses should use this is because it is easy to use and it works automatically. Google collects the data you tell it to and processes it into an easy to read report that can be filtered by different categories. The report can be easily read by anyone who has a lot of analytic data experience or is new to the subject since they can watch the online video lectures that Google provides.

Any business that has any validity has an online sector at this point in time. When customers purchase items from a physical store, it is pretty simple to tell the demographics of the customers through a simple field study. But when people from all around the world are purchasing your products online you have to use a program like Google Analytics so you can see who buys your product which affects how your market to different people. Companies like Levi’s and Twitter currently use Google Analytics. Levi’s is able to see if their online clicks are generating sales and if not where the customer left the process. Levi’s is able to use that information to change the customer’s experience and hopefully generate sales. Twitter uses it to see how often their visitors end up tweeting after ending up on the site and how uses use links around the platform. 

Google Analytics Features

Google Analytics has many different features that helps businesses give their customers the best online experience. The goals feature allows you track specific user interaction on your site. You define these interactions as a goal. There are four main types of goals: URL destination, visit duration, page/visit, and event. Google Analytics gives you the ability to follow the path that your customers take to see how your online traffic is flowing. Behavior Flow report is a chart that gives a snapshot of how customers are engaging with your website and where you might be losing them.

Google Analytics gives detailed audience reports that show things from customers age, gender, and location. The location feature lets you see each country’s details about how they use your website.  For example, you are able to see the number of users, the bounce rate, the average session duration, and how much revenue is generated by each country. You are also able to see what type of device and operating system customers are using while on your website so you are able to customize the website to best fit those devices. You have the ability to add filters to your data which can be specified by the way you want your data to be seen. There is an ability to add a filter which lets you use your website, but Google Analytics won’t collect the data on you so it doesn’t mess with your overall data.?

These features are all things you can learn from the online Goole Analytics course. They have a set of beginners videos and advanced videos with assessments that let you become certified in Google Analytics. This helps you become introduced to the topic of analytics and lets you improve your skills by the easy to use online course.

Google Analytics Demo Account

Google Analytics provides an online merchandise store demo account that allows you to practice using the website before doing it in the real world. They provide everything you need to know to master using Google Analytics so you can be successful in your business.

When I was looking through the online merchandise store demo, I found it interesting that majority of their customers are new customers (86.2%) rather than returning customers (13.8%). Most of their customers found the store by using social media and YouTube was the most common social media type that led traffic to their store. I would suggest that the company focuses on creating ads focused towards social media platforms like YouTube. They should also focus reaching out for new customers since that was their main flow of traffic, but also keeping their current customers happy.

Google Analytics might seem difficult to use at first, but Google helps provide everything you need to know to learn how to do it since it is so important in today's world of online shopping.