Look over Last Year's Google Analytics to Plan This Year's Website

The Sprocket Report

As you are setting business goals for the rest of the year, don’t forget to set goals for your website. Pull up your Analytics and social media stats to get a feel for what worked in 2019 and what you can improve in the coming months. Here are some suggestions to open the discussion:

Website Goal #1: Be Connected

It’s a social world these days and your business needs to be at the party. Being indexed by search engines is the first step and the next is building links from other websites. Look at the Google Analytics All Traffic – Referrals report under the Acquisition tab. Change the Date Range to include all of 2019 and you will see a list of websites that sent traffic to your website. 

Our top referrers are Facebook, LinkedIn, the Chambers of Commerce to which we belong and several of our clients’ websites because they link to us. Your list may look similar. Use this information to help plan your marketing. For instance, which social media platform is underperforming? Should you put more effort there or drop it entirely? Why isn’t your industry directory sending any leads? (Hint: Check to be sure your website is listed with them!)

Website Goal #2: Be Relevant

Your clients are looking for you, so make it easy for them to find you. What do visitors want and what are the words they are using to look for it? Those are the words that should be in your web page titles and in your content. It's no use insisting you're a "consultant" if your clients are looking for a "coach." Paragraphs about your quality and service will never be read if prospective clients never arrive at your website. 

The Queries report under the Performance tab in Google Search Console shows you the search words and phrases visitors used to find and visit your website. Our main search terms have to do with Facebook strategy, so the discussion at the next marketing meeting will be whether this focus makes sense for our business. 

Website Goal #3: Be Proactive

"My website doesn’t work!" is a common complaint, but few people have thought through exactly what they expect from their site. If you want a purchase made, you need "Buy Now!" buttons and supporting content. If you may want folks to sign up for an event or schedule an appointment, you need to make it easy to do so. Think through what you expect and how best to encourage that response.

If what you want is for people to come to your bricks-and-mortar store, check how many times your address-and-map page is viewed. You may be more successful than you think, but are missing the data. Try incorporating a special coupon code to track visitors from the website into your shop.

Every website can be improved, but don't think you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Spend a few minutes looking at your website analytics to get a feel for last year’s strengths and weaknesses. Your old site may just need some tweaking. If you do decide to build a new one, that same research will help you make the decisions for a more successful year. We want to be a partner in that success, so contact us today to discuss the possibilities.

This is an update to "4 Goals for your Website” dated 8/20/2012.
 

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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