Many of the people reading this article will most likely know what google analytics is, but do they know that it provides Key Performance Indicators, also known as KPI’s, that offer great insight towards their businesses success?  Probably not.  Most of these people simply look at the stats and either a) don’t understand them, or b) don't do anything with them.  So this blog is going to tell you how to utilize Google Analytics and use their reporting tools towards your KPI analysis.

One of the first and foremost important aspects of any website is looking at who your visitors are.  By monitoring your visitors you can gain insight towards who your target audience is and why they are coming to your website.  You can analyse this is by checking your bounce rates.  Bounce rates will show you how many people landed on your website and either stayed or left immediately.  For instance, If your website has low bounce rates, then you are occupying your visitors appropriately with proper web design. But if you have high bounce rates then your website is either offering stale content or you are simply attracting the wrong crowd due to poor keywords. So switch up your keywords, or beef up your content and monitor your bounce rates for any changes.

The next section you should look at is your conversion rates. This section will show you how many visitors completed an activity such as signing up for a newsletter or completing a transaction for an e-commerce website.  The great part about this is that you can also set goals; for example, how many leads you would like to get in x amount of time from people filling out your contact form.  Both of these aspects are very important to your KPI’s and will help you understand the traffic your website is bringing in.

Lastly, monitor your users behaviour.  Google Analytics offers exceptional reports that will not only show you what pages your users are visiting, but it will also show you how much time they are spending there, and what they are engaging in.  This aspect alone is huge as you can then gear your content towards what your visitors want and keep them coming back for more.