Google Analytics - useful and free!
Google Analytics is a free tool supplied by Google which can give you invaluable information about the people who have been looking at your website, and how they interacted with it.
When I create your website I will create and integrate a Google Analytics account for you as part of the service.
When I create your website I will create and integrate a Google Analytics account for you as part of the service.
Real Time reports
As the title suggests, this feature allows you to see your website's analytics and data in real time. You can get instant information about who is on your website at any given time, how they got to your site, where in the world they are from, and what pages they are clicking on.
All live, right before your eyes.
All live, right before your eyes.
Audience reports
The Audience report gives you a wealth of information about the people who have visited your website.
The data includes the location of your visitors, their language, the web browser used and their operating system (e.g. Windows).
The data includes the location of your visitors, their language, the web browser used and their operating system (e.g. Windows).
Using this data, you can start to build a picture of your average visitor, identifying the optimal language or region upon which to focus your website, the web browsers most commonly used to visit it, and the number of visitors viewing your site via tablets or smartphones.
Acquisition reports
The acquisition reports contain what is probably your most valuable data, and allow you to see your traffic levels in addition to how people found your website.
The acquisition overview page (below) will give you a high-level view of the exact routes people have taken to reach your website.
The acquisition overview page (below) will give you a high-level view of the exact routes people have taken to reach your website.
Behaviour reports
The behaviour reports contain data gathered from the behaviour and actions of users visiting your website. You can use this data to help improve the content of your site and to further meet the needs and requirements of your visitors.
Use the behaviour section to investigate the most popular and least popular pages on your website. You can also track the behaviour flow or the specific path visitors are taking through your website.
Use the behaviour section to investigate the most popular and least popular pages on your website. You can also track the behaviour flow or the specific path visitors are taking through your website.
Landing and Exit page reports
Here you can get a quick overview of what your most popular landing page is (i.e. the first page your website visitors were directed to). In many cases you will find that your "home" page will be your most popular landing page (shown in the report as simply "/" or as "index.html").
This is to be expected, as a large portion of your traffic will usually visit your website directly by typing your website address into a web browser.
This is to be expected, as a large portion of your traffic will usually visit your website directly by typing your website address into a web browser.
Identifying popular landing pages can help you understand the type of content that brings people to your site. Using this knowledge you can create more of the type of content your visitors want - and get a greater number of similar, new visitors looking you up online.
An exit page is the one from which people leave your website. For example, you will find it quite normal that people leave your website on the "thank you for your order" page.
However, if you find users leaving your site from a page other than the one you would expect them to exit from, then you need to quickly identify exactly what aspect of that page is causing so many visitors to leave your website prematurely.
An exit page is the one from which people leave your website. For example, you will find it quite normal that people leave your website on the "thank you for your order" page.
However, if you find users leaving your site from a page other than the one you would expect them to exit from, then you need to quickly identify exactly what aspect of that page is causing so many visitors to leave your website prematurely.
