Understanding Google Analytics to Get the Most Out of It
Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing professional, fully comprehending Google Analytics’ terms is a necessity. It will allow you to better understand and evaluate your website’s performance, enabling you to make strategic decisions and optimise your website. Outsource2 Us has compiled a Google Analytics Glossary to help you get the most out of your time on Google Analytics.
1. Acquisition
Is a top-tier tab within Google Analytics. The data available in this tab shows how visitors arrive at your website and can be broken down into the following subcategories.
- All Traffic
Where all users to your website come from:- Referrals
Where users visit a third-party website and arrive at your website via a hyperlink. - Paid
Where users arrive at your website via a Google AdWords display or search ad. - Social
Where users arrive at your website from your social media pages – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc. - Organic
Where users arrive at your website by using a search engine – Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. from optimised content - Direct
Where users arrive at your website by typing in your website URL directly in their browser
- Referrals
- AdWords
Words selected in Google AdWords campaigns which users are most likely to search for when looking for your business, and the resulting digital AD campaigns we put into place to drive those users to your website.
2. Attribution
Refers to the variety of different digital channels by which your customers are able to arrive at your website. These include Paid Search, Direct, Social Media, Email, Affiliate, Organic Search, or Referral.
3. Bounce/Bounce Rate
Bounce refers to when a user comes to your website and then leaves after only viewing one page. Bounce Rate refers to the percentage of these individuals with a single page view.
4. CPC (Cost-per-click)
The cost-per-click is the amount it will cost your business, through a Google AdWords campaign, every time a user visits your website from a paid Google Ad.
5. Goal Completion
When a particular goal is set, like submitting a form, calling a business or downloading an eBook and a user on your website meets this goal, thereby converting to a lead.
6. Keywords
Within in Google Analytics, there are two types of keywords: Paid Keywords and Organic Keywords. Paid Keywords are the words you have selected and paid for, that prospective customers would search when looking to fill a need that your business provides. Organic Keywords are the terms seeded through your content, that people use to find your website when clicking on a search result from a search engine.
7. Landing Page
The landing page is the first page viewed during a session, or in other words, the entrance page. It can be useful to review your landing pages to understand the most popular pages people view as they navigate to your website. It is not always the homepage.
8. Pages per Session
A metric that is used to show user engagement. The average number of pages a visitor on your website as clicked on to, throughout the duration of their time on your website.
9. Average Session Duration
This metric refers to the total time users spend on your company’s website (in seconds or minutes) divided by the number of sessions.
These are only some of the terms our clients see in our reports and hear us talking about at meetings. At Outsource2Us, we empower our clients, taking the time to educate them throughout the process of managing their marketing. We work as a team to review our campaigns and improve results, driving return on investment.