Five Useful Features of Google Analytics

One of the best things about working online is that it’s easy to measure success. In just about every other business, decisions are based on assumptions or gut feelings. Not so the interwebs. Huzzah!

There are hundreds of analytical tools on the web, with more pretty graphs and shiny stats than your blog will ever need. The best of the bunch? It’s got to be Google Analytics. Here’s why:

Custom Reports

Custom Reports is cool. It lets you see a myriad of different perspectives and data. Even better, you can save each report and head back to it anytime you want. That’s pretty nifty.

Scheduled Reports

The fact is, looking at reports is nowhere near as fun as the business of actually running your blog. However, analytics procrastination is not your friend. So why not set up scheduled reports? Pick which reports you want emailed to you and they’ll be sitting in your inbox right on time.

Navigational Summary

Don’t worry, it sounds more complicated than it is. In fact, the Navigational Summary makes life a lot easier. It covers the essential details for each page view, including where the user came from, where they went to and everything in between. It’s pretty essential if you want to understand the browsing behavior of your site’s visitors.

eCommerce

Setting up ecommerce tracking on Google Analytics can open your eyes to a whole new world of insights. Not only can you see reports on the products you’re selling, and how much money they’re putting in your pocket, but you can also track them back to other pages in your site. You might find that particular posts generate dollars—then you can get on with posting more of them.

Goals and Funnels

Don’t get stuck in analytics quicksand. Yes, they’re a great tool, but keep it simple or you might find yourself getting sucked under the surface. Get to know your   analytics dashboard  ; take it slow and you’ll see the results.