Planning an online marketing campaign or crafting blog posts requires knowing the target audience. Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can provide insight on what content your customers prefer and help you understand what kind of demographics your site is reaching. The kind of data Analytics collects includes how many people visit your site, which keywords they used, and which links brought them to your site. The following methods and tools are designed to help you adequately tailor your content.
Google Analytics Experiments
Skillful use of SEO and proper ad placement will bring visitors to your site, but the real challenge lies in keeping their attention. Consumers need to easily find the information they are looking for; if they can’t, they will switch to another site. Google Analytics Experiments (GAE) increases newsletter signups and conversions by providing three, essential functions:
- It collects data on random samples of users and contrasts different websites’ performances.
- It allows you to set goals, so you can manually “stress test” keywords and landing pages.
- It lets you set the scope of the experiment.
GAE allows you to create multiple versions of the same landing page at the same destination URL. When a user enters your site using a clickable ad, you can then directly compare the viability of similar content.
Overview Analytics
This tool is an easy-to-read set of data that graphs usage over time. It will tell you how many users have visited your site, the number of page views and sessions, the average number of pages visited by each person, how many new users and repeat customers you receive, and the average length of each session.
This is a nice splash of data that gives a brief overview of site performance. As this data is tracked over time, it allows you to quantify the effectiveness of newly-implemented ads or the impact of viral content.
Demographics
Who converts to your site? How old are they? Which groups tend to stay the longest? Who makes purchases? All of this information is covered by the Demographics tool. With it, you receive category reports on the conversion rates of your customers. This tool is most effective at monitoring the efficacy of ads.
Interests Overview
This tool breaks down users into a variety of categories. Companies can collect data in general categories like “TV & Video” or “News and Weather”, or more in categories based on self-defining interest traits like “movie lovers” or “post-secondary education professionals.” Interests are broken down into three, main categories:
- In-Market Segments. These users are usually close to making purchase decisions. They are heavily swayed by strong, quick product knowledge and effective CTAs.
- Affinity. Customers listed in the affinity category are starting to scope out information to make purchases. They typically bookmark sites and return later with their credit cards. Affinity customers are looking for industry experts that build trust. Trust that your knowledge is sound, your products are strong, and your prices are competitive.
- Other. These are users that may visit your site by accident or with unclear intentions.
This data is also effective for reaching your demographic. It will tell you which group converts most often, and may also be clear about why. In turn, you can learn which ads and marketing strategies are not paying off, allowing you to further improve your strategy or axe sunk-cost investments.
Geo
The Geo tool provides location information, which is incredibly useful for businesses that provide location-based services. Contractors, real-estate companies, and lawyers need to know if their blogs are attracting the correct customers. For instance, a pest control company based in Atlanta will find no use in web traffic from Cleveland or Chicago.
Matthew is the President of Infront Webworks and is a New England native now calling Colorado Springs home. Matt attended The University of NH where he pursued a BS in Natural Resource Economics & Business Administration. Aside from Infront; Matthew has owned and managed two other online agencies based on the seacoast of New Hampshire and been a key player in multiple technology mergers & acquisitions. When he’s not bathing in technology, online marketing & business; he’s probably spending time with his wife and daughter, boating, skiing the trees, hiking or cooking..he is a foodie for sure!
