If you have ever tried to learn a foreign language, you know that it’s a huge undertaking! It takes a lot of intentionality with reading, learning, and practice. For small and large companies, trying to understand Google Analytics reports feels like learning another language. At Spot On Solutions, we want to help exterior services companies not only utilize but understand their Google Analytics reports so they can track and analyze critical data from their websites and those who visit them. We know how valuable your time is and are in the business of making your life easier. For many businesses, the amount of information that these reports provide is extremely valuable, especially when you own an exterior services business. We love helping our clients understand how to read Google Analytics reports so you can make your website more effective and efficient.
The first thing we need to do before getting started is to break down the basics of a Google Analytics report. Every Google Analytics report displays a combination of dimensions and metrics. To gain a greater understanding of what the different reports are telling you, it’s important to understand the dimensions and metrics.
Dimensions: Dimensions are basic attributes of the data that has been collected. One example of a dimension that may be provided for user data, for example, could be ‘State’ – this dimension tells you which states your site users are from.
Metrics: Metrics are quantitative. An example of a metrics measurement would be the ‘Sessions’ metric. This measurement tells you how many sessions took place on your site over a specific amount of time.
Now that we know what these reports will be made up of, we want to focus on understanding one of them. Typically the first report you are likely to see is called the Audience Overview. This report gives you an overall rundown of the traffic that your website receives. The metrics we highly suggest you focus on from this report are:
Although we only went through this one report, it is good to keep in mind that all the analytics reports in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t know how to understand them. Once you understand them, you can turn them into actionable improvements. If you are ready to learn more or receive help understanding other reports from people who know the language of Google Analytics reports, give Spot On Solutions a call today.