How to use Google Analytics is a mystery to many of our clients; they look at the reports but feel like they’re trying to read tea leaves. They often need some guidance in interpreting what they see. At a recent round-table that I moderated, participants found the below examples helpful. They remarked how they gave them a clearer understanding of how Google Analytics (or a similar tool) can help them make decisions that impact their bottom line and move their mission forward.
Example 1
A client (a nonprofit camp) had done some paid advertising through various local magazines. When asked about rerunning their ads, they asked “Is it worth it”?
The client’s gut was telling him the ad wasn’t worth the investment. However, the data suggested otherwise. We looked at the visitor flow on his website and saw that at least one new camper had registered after following a link from one of the advertisers. Knowing that most campers return for multiple years, we were able to clearly identify this channel as being worthwhile, as even if the camper only came for two years the cost of the ad was covered.
Conversely, the other ad was not producing results. There were only a few clicks coming through from that site and none converted into paid campers.
With this information in hand, the client was able to confidently renew one ad and discontinue the other.
Example 2
Another client paid to be listed as a Professional on a popular social media site with a focus on their target audience. It was a big investment and she was unsure if she should continue to pay the fee each month.
We looked at the sources of traffic coming to her website for the three months leading up to her “Pro” listing and the three months after. The data showed that she was getting 50% more traffic from the site with her profile being highlighted as a Pro. Knowing that if one of those new visits turned into a paying client, that would more than pay for the advertising for the year.
She not only continued her Pro listing, she added a new category based on the data.
The Takeaway
Reading your analytics doesn’t have to be like reading tea leaves; but it does help when you know what data is relevant and how to drill down to get it.
If your organization is interested in learning more, schedule a free consultation using our online calendar.