Understanding Google Analytics For Your Skilled Trade Business

If you have ever tried to learn a foreign language, you know that it’s no small feat! It takes a lot of hard work with reading, learning, and practicing. For most companies, trying to understand Google Analytics reports feels just like learning a foreign language. At Spot On Solutions, we want to help skilled trade companies effectively utilize and understand their Google Analytics reports so they can track critical data from their websites. As a business owner, we know how valuable your time is and we are in the business of streamlining your workload. For many businesses, the amount of information that these reports provide is invaluable, especially when you own skilled trade business. We love helping our clients understand how to read Google Analytics reports so they can make their websites more effective and efficient.

How To Read Google Analytic Reports For Skilled Trades

When getting started, the first thing we need to do is break down the basics of a Google Analytics report. Every Google Analytics report displays a combination of dimensions and metrics. In gaining a greater understanding, it is important to learn more about these fundamental units.

Dimensions: Dimensions contain the 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’. When this dimension is reported, it tells you which states your site users are from. 

Metrics: Metrics are quantitative measurements. An example of a metrics measurement would be the ‘Sessions’ metric. This measurement will tell you how many sessions took place on your site over a specific amount of time.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of what these reports do, we want to share with you how just one of these measurements works. When reviewing your report, you are likely to see what is called the Audience Overview. This measurement will give you an overview of the traffic that is being directed to your website. The metrics we have our clients focus on from this report are as follows:

• Users: This will include the number of visitors to your site during a selected time period. If you notice a downward trend after monitoring this number and paying close attention, that may mean it’s time to step up your marketing game.
• New Users: The number of new visitors during a specific time period. You are definitely looking for a steady increase on a regular basis.
• Sessions: The number of visits to your website within a time period. Sessions time out after 30 minutes. If someone has been on your page longer than that time frame or they are refreshing their browser, it will count as another session for your page. When evaluating this number, keep in mind that there may be a few sessions that are inaccurate.
• Pageviews: This means the number of pages that have been viewed during a specified amount of time. This number really only confirms whether or not viewers are looking at your content.
• Bounce Rate: Of all the metrics reported, we have found that this is one of the most misunderstood. It represents the percentage of sessions that consist of only a one-page view. We recommend not basing the analytics of your website entirely on bounce rate, but be sure to pay attention if you find that the bounce rate is consistently much higher on mobile but lower on desktop. It could let you know what improvements may be beneficial to make.

Although we only dove into one report, it is good to keep in mind that all the analytics reports in the world will not do your business any good if you don’t know how to read them. Once you’re able to understand them, you can turn them into actionable improvements. If you are ready to learn more or have help understanding other reports from people who are trained and know the language of Google Analytics reports, give Spot On Solutions a call today.