Wondering Which Web Analytics You Should Worry About?

The Sprocket Report

Your website and the marketing support for your website have costs in both money and time. Measuring your ROI is logical, but how can you know which analytic reports to watch and act on?

Number-crunching is available for every aspect of your online marketing and it can be overwhelming. First you have to figure out how to get the reports, then you have to figure out what the heck you’re looking at and finally you have to figure out how the numbers relate to your business objectives so you can plan strategy.

Most folks put off this chore indefinitely and miss the opportunities for improvement that web analytics provide. Others take a look at the reports and panic, prompting expensive “fixes” that don’t really help much. Instead, it makes sense to get a basic understanding of which measurements are important to keep an eye on so you can plan reasonable corrections.

Organizations typically have a website and they support the website with online marketing such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and similar platforms. You can get reports on your performance from nearly any platform you use. You can also use online tools to measure your website’s rank in comparison to other websites.

All reports will provide data on how many people see you. “See” is a subjective term since while your post or listing may have shown up on their screen, that doesn’t mean they actually noticed it. Other reports try to show whether someone intentionally interacted with your brand, for instance, by clicking on some link.

When people worry, it’s usually due to seeing a decline in a report. But before you panic, do a little research and revisit your marketing objectives.

The whole point of analytics is to give you a heads up on what is or isn’t working so you can catch mistakes or take advantage of trends. One bad report doesn’t mean you should make wholesale changes. In fact, you’ll learn more by making one smaller change and measuring the results.

2018 has been a volatile year with Facebook algorithm changes, the GDPR mandate, SSL implementation and other issues that affect digital marketing, but look closer before fretting. For example: Your Facebook Reach may have dropped considerably due to new restrictions in the News Feed. Yes, these days you may need to “pay to play” if you want to increase your Facebook engagement, but before you do, compare your Facebook report to your website report.

You may find that traffic to your website has not dropped off at all. It’s entirely possible that the former Facebook Reach numbers didn’t accurately reflect your core audience. The current audience may be smaller, but more targeted and therefore contributing to your website traffic at the same pace.

Looking at your digital marketing reports requires commitment. Doing the research to know how to interpret your reports is time-consuming. Analyzing the data to compare against your past performance, your marketing goals and your competition takes some serious effort. It’s no wonder that many businesses just don’t get around to it.

Which is why you should start now – before they do.

Sprocket offers social media marketing plans that include performance reports and you can also engage us for a one-on-one consultation to understand, analyze and plan your next steps. Just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

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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