Improving Your Website - Google Analytics

Over the last several months we have covered the basics of how to build your website. We could (and probably will) go into much greater detail on every aspect of web design - from usability to design, from actions to client types.

For now, let's leave design and cover another crucial but often overlooked tool in our box - measuring our progress.

We want to know how we are doing! And we do not want to wait until the sales numbers are in as the sales numbers may not be that good!

There are many metrics we can use to improve our sites. Among them are things like:

1. How many visitors?
2. Where are they coming from?
3. How did they find us?
4. How long are they staying on each page?
5. Where are they leaving the site?

And much more.

All this information can be found in one free tool. Google analytics also known as GA.

GA is easy to install on your site - a little more challenging to extract the information only because there is SO much information available it is sometimes hard to separate out what you need!

Install Google Analytics

If you do not have one yet (and you should) create a google email account at http://gmail.com. Then go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and set up an analytics account. Just follow the instructions. The hardest part will be to add the code GA gives you to your site.

Ask your webmaster or call us if you have trouble.

And learn to measure your progress!