Business Website Performance: Your 4 Most Important Statistics In Google Analytics

A business website is one of an entrepreneur’s most powerful weapons. Around 90% of prospects visit your website before they call your office. In other words, your website better be well-designed and performing up to its potential if you want to maximize its marketing results for your company. Google Analytics is a great online tool that can help you analyze your website’s performance on a range of different metrics.

Let’s break down the 4 most important performance statistics when it comes to your business website…

1. Unique Visits:

This statistic is your baseline, telling you how much traffic your website is generating in general. How many people visit your website? Knowing how many prospects you are attracting helps you set conversion goals and judge your brand awareness. This statistic is a count of every visit that comes from a unique internet connection. So Unique Visits tries, as accurately as possible, to show you how many PROSPECTS you are attracting, not just how many VIEWS your site is getting. With Google Analytics, you can track statistics like “return vs. new visitors” if you do want that information.

2. Average Duration of Visit:

This metric gives you great insight into the quality of your website’s DESIGN and its CONTENT. If the statistic says that most visitors are hitting the “Back” button within a few seconds of viewing your site, your website probably lacks engaging content and design. At best, your website simply isn’t communicating your message efficiently and visitors are unsure of what you are offering. Worst case scenario, your site appears chaotic and unprofessional and the visitor is unlikely to return. A well designed site captures a visitor’s attention and conveys the message of your company clearly and concisely, right on the homepage.

3. Bounce Rate:

Your site’s “bounce rate” is shown as a percentage. It tracks the percentage of people who enter your website on any given page, but leave before exploring any other pages. In other words, they land on your site and bounce right off like a trampoline. You don’t want your site to be a trampoline — you want it to be a net. If your bounce rate is high, your navigation may be confusing, or your content may not be engaging your visitors and sparking their interest. Improving your navigation design and including more engaging content will capture prospects’ attention and drive them to explore your site further.

4. Visits with Transactions/Conversion Rate

This metric is huge. It’s the one every entrepreneur wants to jump to, because it shows you what your website is worth (literally!). Did a visitor fill out your contact form? Did they set up an appointment or consultation? Did they make a purchase or download a free report? The ultimate way to tell if your website is effective is to find out if it’s bringing your company leads and revenue. This metric answers each of these questions. Generating leads is how a business grows, and your website can be an enormous resource for lead generation. Having this information is absolutely critical to maximizing your website’s potential. If your conversion rate is low, you can run promotions or tweak design elements to prompt visitors to take that next step.

Google Analytics tracks all 4 of these statistics AND SO MANY MORE. It tracks your website’s performance across dozens of metrics, synthesizes the information, and presents it in graphs that you can quickly browse and understand. I use it for my own company, because it gives me all the information I need to get the most out of my website. Your website is too important these days to neglect its performance.

Author: Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania, the postcard marketing experts.