{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-articles-index-jsx","path":"/articles/website-metrics-to-track/","result":{"data":{"props":{"adsense":true,"adsenseMobile":null,"byLine":"","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/website-metrics-to-track/","content":"\n\n

Business owners in every industry use Google Analytics as a way to track the performance of their website. Google Analytics contains a wealth of information available to people who want to reach their target audience, improve sales and check the health of their site. Additionally, marketers can use this information to create personalized ads and content, which translates to more conversions and email subscribers. 

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There are countless reports and statistics you can pull from your Google Analytics report, but today we wanted to focus on five metrics that can help you grow your small business. We are going to look at reports that help you track blog engagement, user demographics, mobile statistics, and more. 

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1. Top posts/pages

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First, you should check your top posts if you want to learn about the kind of content consumers regularly view on your website. Understanding your blog traffic and most-viewed pages can help you make educated decisions when you're assessing whether your content marketing strategy is effective. 

\r\n

If you look at your top posts, and they all focus on one topic within your niche, you can decide to create more content around that category. For example, let's say you operate a marketing website and you see that all of your top posts focus on email marketing. There's a good chance that this subject will get you more traffic in the future. Knowing this, you can start thinking about topics you can cover for your blog that fit under the umbrella of email marketing. 

\r\n

Additionally, you can optimize your top posts and pages as a way to generate more leads to your website. Optimized landing pages generate 220% more leads when compared to popular pages that remain untouched after their creation. Data about your most popular content is pivotal to continued financial growth. 

\r\n

2. User demographics

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Once you understand which pages perform well, you can start looking at your user demographics to build useful customer personas. The demographics tab on your Google Analytics account lets you know the gender, age, location, the device used to view your site, and much more. 

\r\n

As your small business generates more traffic, you'll have more information about your demographics, which will help you grow. If you're thinking about launching a paid social media campaign, you should analyze your social and website analytics so you can create ads that appeal to your target audience. 

\r\n

Understanding your users is the key to growing your website. It's nearly impossible to create blog posts and engage with your users if you don't have detailed information on the people that visit your website. Understanding the demographics of your target audience can help you create customer personas for your site, which you need to scale your business successfully. 

\r\n

For example, if you know that a majority of your audience lives in the EU, but your website is based in the U.S., you may want to adjust your content and social media scheduling to accommodate your primary audience. 

\r\n

3. Google AMP statistics

\r\n

There are more mobile users worldwide than ever before. Research suggests that there are well over 3 billion mobile users, and that number is growing year over year. Google's Accelerated Mobile Project (AMP) is a relatively new statistic that allows business owners to review the behavior of mobile users on their website. 

\r\n

Why do you need this information? Mobile users are responsible for a majority of searches and overall website traffic. If you want people using their smartphones to stay on your site, you have to make sure you are using a mobile-responsive design. 

\r\n

You can take it a step further and analyze the kinds of devices used by consumers who visit your page. This data can help you build a website that works across all smartphones and tablets, especially the ones that are popular with your users. 

\r\n

4. Form engagement rate 

\r\n

Website forms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There's a good chance you have a contact page, the ability to subscribe to your email list, as well as frequent polls and surveys. These are all examples of forms, and they are a significant factor when determining user engagement and the general health of your website. 

\r\n

Your analytics data will reveal how many people are filling out your forms, who abandoned halfway through and how they responded. You can use all of this information to create a better user experience for your audience, as well as a way to determine customer pain points and goals. 

\r\n

If you notice that a marginal majority of consumers bounce from your form before completion, this is a sign that you should either shorten or simplify your questions. Extensive split-testing can help you create forms that provide a wealth of valuable information about your target audience and their browsing habits.

\r\n

The more information you have on your audience, the greater chance you have of creating a website that meets the needs of your customers. Consumers want to visit businesses where they feel like their opinion matters, and tracking your form engagement rate can help you make smart decisions for a better user experience. 

\r\n

5. Exit pages

\r\n

Exit page statistics are essential for measuring the weak points on your website. To create a well-rounded user experience, you should regularly check your analytics to see what page has the highest bounce rate and lowest traffic. 

\r\n

There's a chance this information could help you uncover hidden issues plaguing your website. Let's say you notice the bounce rate of your checkout page goes up 50% after a new update. Your analytics will reveal this information, and you can meet with your developers and try to pinpoint a cause. When you notice consumer behavior change drastically over a short period of time, there's a good chance that a glitch or bug is causing complications. 

\r\n

Exit pages also let you know what kind of content resonates with your audience. An abnormally high exit rate on your new experimental blog post could indicate that your target audience isn't as invested in that topic. 

\r\n

There are many other Google Analytics metrics that you should track if you're a small business owner. However, the five metrics we mentioned are all critical for ensuring the continued growth of your website. 

\r\n

You should review your analytics weekly, monthly and quarterly for breakthrough trends and statistics. The more time you spend with the baseline \"normal\" for your website, the better chance you have at conquering the positive and negative outliers. For instance, if you introduce a new blog subcategory that has a 200% traffic increase over previous posts, there's a good chance your website will benefit from more content about this topic. 

\r\n

As your business grows, you'll uncover more information about your target audience and what they expect from your site. Remember, it doesn't matter how much your business grows; analytics data is the best way to fine-tune your website.

\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_be6e6a76ccb777c7565586979962eed4","lastModified":"2019-11-26T14:00:00.000Z","published":"2019-11-26T14:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":"To understand how your business is performing, there are certain metrics you need to track.","template":"v1","title":"5 Website Metrics You Should Be Tracking","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"Hello, I'm Syed Balkhi, a 27 year old award-winning entrepreneur with a strong 8 figure online business. I was recognized as the top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by the United Nations.\r\n\r\nI was born in Karachi, Pakistan. At age 12, my family immigrated to the United States. Ever since I can remember, I have been extremely competitive which makes me hustle at everything that I do.","name":"Syed Balkhi","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/syedbalkhi/","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/syedbalkhi/","twitter":"https://twitter.com/syedbalkhi","website":"https://optinmonster.com/"},"status":"enabled","title":null,"type":"New BDC Member","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/uploads/user/profile/66b8e989f3cf40fb191706035467ef8c66bc4.jpg","profile":{"company":"OptinMonster, WPBeginner, WPForms, MonsterInsights, and List25","jobTitle":"CEO","website":"https://www.wpbeginner.com/"}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing"},"sub":{"name":"Business Intelligence","slug":"business-intelligence"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Here are five valuable analytics data points you should examine if you're a small business owner looking to grow your brand.","title":"The Key Website Metrics to Monitor Closely - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"toc":[{"id":"1-top-posts/pages","title":"1. Top posts/pages"},{"id":"2-user-demographics","title":"2. User demographics"},{"id":"3-google-amp-statistics","title":"3. Google AMP statistics"},{"id":"4-form-engagement-rate","title":"4. Form engagement rate "},{"id":"5-exit-pages","title":"5. Exit pages"}],"json":[{"component":"ul","children":[{"component":"li","children":[{"component":"p","children":["Google Analytics is used by bloggers, e-commerce storefronts and nonprofits as a way to judge website growth. "]}]},{"component":"li","children":[{"component":"p","children":["Learning about how your audience behaves when on your site helps you make smart marketing decisions. "]}]},{"component":"li","children":[{"component":"p","children":["Mobile users are at an all-time high, so a mobile-responsive site is crucial for success."]}]},{"component":"li","children":[{"component":"p","children":["Forms are an excellent way to judge engagement and the overall sentiment of your target audience."]}]}]},{"component":"p","children":["Business owners in every industry use Google Analytics as a way to track the performance of their website. Google Analytics contains a wealth of information available to people who want to reach their target audience, improve sales and check the health of their site. Additionally, marketers can use this information to create personalized ads and content, which translates to more conversions and email subscribers. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There are countless reports and statistics you can pull from your Google Analytics report, but today we wanted to focus on five metrics that can help you grow your small business. We are going to look at reports that help you track blog engagement, user demographics, mobile statistics, and more. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"1-top-posts/pages"},"children":["1. Top posts/pages"]},{"component":"p","children":["First, you should check your top posts if you want to learn about the kind of content consumers regularly view on your website. Understanding your blog traffic and most-viewed pages can help you make educated decisions when you're assessing whether your content marketing strategy is effective. "]},{"component":"p","children":["If you look at your top posts, and they all focus on one topic within your niche, you can decide to create more content around that category. For example, let's say you operate a marketing website and you see that all of your top posts focus on email marketing. There's a good chance that this subject will get you more traffic in the future. Knowing this, you can start thinking about topics you can cover for your blog that fit under the umbrella of email marketing. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Additionally, you can optimize your top posts and pages as a way to generate more leads to your website. Optimized landing pages ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.monsterinsights.com/conversion-rate-optimization-stats-show-what-youve-been-missing/","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow noopener external"},"children":["generate 220% more leads"]}," when compared to popular pages that remain untouched after their creation. Data about your most popular content is pivotal to continued financial growth. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"2-user-demographics"},"children":["2. User demographics"]},{"component":"p","children":["Once you understand which pages perform well, you can start looking at your user demographics to ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/create-accurate-customer-personas/"},"children":["build useful customer personas"]},". The demographics tab on your Google Analytics account lets you know the gender, age, location, the device used to view your site, and much more. "]},{"component":"p","children":["As your small business generates more traffic, you'll have more information about your demographics, which will help you grow. If you're thinking about launching a paid social media campaign, you should analyze your social and website analytics so you can create ads that appeal to your target audience. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Understanding your users is the key to growing your website. It's nearly impossible to create blog posts and engage with your users if you don't have detailed information on the people that visit your website. Understanding the demographics of your target audience can help you create customer personas for your site, which you need to scale your business successfully. "]},{"component":"p","children":["For example, if you know that a majority of your audience lives in the EU, but your website is based in the U.S., you may want to adjust your content and social media scheduling to accommodate your primary audience. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"3-google-amp-statistics"},"children":["3. Google AMP statistics"]},{"component":"p","children":["There are more mobile users worldwide than ever before. Research suggests that there are well ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.seedprod.com/verified-digital-marketing-statistics-and-trends/#Content-Marketing-Statistics","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow noopener external"},"children":["over 3 billion mobile users"]},", and that number is growing year over year. Google's Accelerated Mobile Project (AMP) is a relatively new statistic that allows business owners to review the behavior of mobile users on their website. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Why do you need this information? Mobile users are responsible for a majority of searches and overall website traffic. If you want people using their smartphones to stay on your site, you have to make sure you are using a mobile-responsive design. "]},{"component":"p","children":["You can take it a step further and analyze the kinds of devices used by consumers who visit your page. This data can help you build a website that works across all smartphones and tablets, especially the ones that are popular with your users. "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"4-form-engagement-rate"},"children":["4. Form engagement rate "]},{"component":"p","children":["Website forms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There's a good chance you have a contact page, the ability to subscribe to your email list, as well as frequent polls and surveys. These are all examples of forms, and they are a significant factor when determining user engagement and the general health of your website. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Your analytics data will reveal how many people are filling out your forms, who abandoned halfway through and how they responded. You can use all of this information to create a better user experience for your audience, as well as a way to determine customer pain points and goals. "]},{"component":"p","children":["If you notice that a marginal majority of consumers bounce from your form before completion, this is a sign that you should either shorten or simplify your questions. Extensive split-testing can help you create forms that provide a wealth of valuable information about your target audience and their browsing habits."]},{"component":"p","children":["The more information you have on your audience, the greater chance you have of creating a website that meets the needs of your customers. Consumers want to visit businesses where they feel like their opinion matters, and tracking your form engagement rate can help you make smart decisions for ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/4-tips-to-improve-website-ux/"},"children":["a better user experience"]},". "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"5-exit-pages"},"children":["5. Exit pages"]},{"component":"p","children":["Exit page statistics are essential for measuring the weak points on your website. To create a well-rounded user experience, you should regularly check your analytics to see what page has the highest bounce rate and lowest traffic. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There's a chance this information could help you uncover hidden issues plaguing your website. Let's say you notice the bounce rate of your checkout page goes up 50% after a new update. Your analytics will reveal this information, and you can meet with your developers and try to pinpoint a cause. When you notice consumer behavior change drastically over a short period of time, there's a good chance that a glitch or bug is causing complications. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Exit pages also let you know what kind of content resonates with your audience. An abnormally high exit rate on your new experimental blog post could indicate that your target audience isn't as invested in that topic. "]},{"component":"p","children":["There are many other Google Analytics metrics that you should track if you're a small business owner. However, the five metrics we mentioned are all critical for ensuring the continued growth of your website. "]},{"component":"p","children":["You should review your analytics weekly, monthly and quarterly for breakthrough trends and statistics. The more time you spend with the baseline \"normal\" for your website, the better chance you have at conquering the positive and negative outliers. For instance, if you introduce a new blog subcategory that has a 200% traffic increase over previous posts, there's a good chance your website will benefit from more content about this topic. "]},{"component":"p","children":["As your business grows, you'll uncover more information about your target audience and what they expect from your site. Remember, it doesn't matter how much your business grows; analytics data is the best way to fine-tune your website."]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":null,"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/5dd/b3dbb9c658a184e8b4568/1500-0-","caption":"NicoElNino / Getty Images","isBlurred":false},"bestPicks":null},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"4 Tips to Improve Your Website's UX","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/4-tips-to-improve-website-ux/","slug":"4-tips-to-improve-website-ux","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5da/7b5309c658a69608b457d/1500-0-","dek":"Your product, service or content won't be enough if customers have a frustrating experience on your website. 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Here’s what you’re doing wrong.","lastModified":"2019-08-19T20:00:00Z","published":"2019-08-19T20:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Use Customer Feedback to Your Advantage","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-use-customer-feedback/","slug":"how-to-use-customer-feedback","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5d5/32c8f5a215ebd318b4578/1500-0-","dek":"Here are four ways you can use customer feedback to improve your business.","lastModified":"2019-08-16T15:00:00Z","published":"2019-08-16T15:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"7 Questions to Ask Before Connecting With Your Audience on Social Media.","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/questions-before-connecting-audience-on-social-media/","slug":"questions-before-connecting-audience-on-social-media","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f3/2b6459c658add188b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Before competing with other businesses on social media, ask yourself these questions to help you craft a brand voice that sells.","lastModified":"2020-08-11T20:41:00Z","published":"2020-08-11T20:41:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Drive Business Growth With Analytics","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/drive-business-growth-with-analytics/","slug":"drive-business-growth-with-analytics","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5db/ce88f9c658af40b8b4584/1500-0-","dek":"One of the most powerful tools in a business's arsenal is analytics. 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