Common Data to Collect and Monitor with Web Analytics

Web analytics is the process of collecting and analyzing data about your website to determine its performance. This is helpful because you will know exactly what your current standing is, and what specific areas you need to improve on. With the right information, and statistics, you can create a better strategy on how to enhance how your site is doing, and to achieve your goals.

There is web analytics software and tools that you can use to make this happen. Some of them are free, while others are available for a cost.  You may need to use more than one application, depending on the data you wish to monitor. These programs are designed for various purposes, but the most common are the following.

Website traffic

One of your main goals as a site owner is to increase the traffic on your website. The more traffic you have, the more chances of converting these visitors into actual clients. Although not all of these visits turn to conversions, it’s a good indication that you are doing well with your SEO. However, the quality of these visitors also matter. There are web analytics tools that let you see both the number of visitors and the conversion rate.

Device used

Users can access your site either using their computers or mobile devices. Determining the number of visitors on these devices will help you see if you need to improve your campaign or strategy on a specific platform. For instance, if you have a lower number of visits on mobile users, you need to find ways how to improve their mobile experience. For example, making your site mobile-friendly is one way to do that. 

Sources of traffic

There are different ways on how users may find about your site. Some of them are search engines, email links, social media links, or links they found from other websites. Knowing where your traffic is coming from will help you find a better plan to increase traffic from other sources. For instance, if you are getting lower traffic from search engines, you need to improve your SEO to increase your search engine ranking.  It will help increase your visibility to clients who use search engines and have better chances of getting more traffic through that method.

Bounce rate

Another metric that a web analytic tool show is the bounce rate. It refers to the percentage of visitors that leave your site immediately. A high bounce rate can hurt your chances of ranking high on search engines because the latter will think that there is a problem with your site or the clients don’t find what they are looking for. If you see that you have a high bounce rate, you can work to make this lower by ensuring your site loads fast, making the interface user-friendly, and providing top-quality content.

Time spent on pages

You will also find the time your visitors spend on the pages of your website. If they spend more time on a specific page, it means that they find something valuable that is worth reading. Improve the content of the lower-ranking pages so clients will be engaged in checking them too.

Use web analytics to ensure that your website is at its top performance. However, it’s not enough that you analyze and monitor the statistics. You also must do something to achieve your goal.