The first thing I do when I start working with a client to optimize their website, increase traffic rankings, and compel clients to take the desired call to action, I install web analytics tagging.
A good web analytics program will acurately track
the following key metrics:
1. Number of Unique Visitors to the Site
2. Bounce Rate (% Who Click the Back Button)
3. Keywords Used to Find Site
4. Referring Sources (Where They Came From)
5. Browser, Operating System, Screen Resolution
6. What Pages They View
7. How Long Visitors Stay on the Site
8. How Far Into the Checkout Process before Quitting
9.What Keywords they Search Within the Site
10. Time of Day and Days of Week they Visit
Of course, there are plenty more variables to measure,
but these are probably my top 10 things I look for.
I also have certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
that I monitor to determine if website visitors are
behaving as I would have expected them to behave.
The most important thing to take away from the study
of website analytics are trends, abandonment rates,
abandonment points, areas of interest, and keywords
used to find the site. From an SEO perspective (as
well as studying ROI on advertising), I also like to
see what website are directing traffic to me.
Please refer to our WikiCafé on Web
Analytics to learn more.
