How to use Google Analytics to analyse website traffic

1. Subscribe to Google Analytics

If you don't already have a Google Analytics account, the first step, of course, is to sign up. Go to Google Analytics and create a free account. All you need is a Google account. After creating your account, add your website by creating a new 'property'. In doing so, you generate a tracking code to place on your website. This may sound technical, but with most website builders like WordPress, Squarespace or Shopify, the process is pretty straightforward.

Once the tracking code is set up properly, Google Analytics starts collecting data about your website traffic. Give it a few hours to store data, and you're ready to go.

2. Overview of your dashboard

When you log into Google Analytics, you will be taken to the main dashboard. Here you get a quick overview of your website performance. The first data you see is often:

• Number of active users on your site (real-time)
• The number of visitors in recent days
• Bounce rate
• Session duration
• Traffic channels (such as organic, direct, referral, etc.)

This dashboard gives you a good overview of key metrics at a glance. But for deeper insights, dive deeper into the various reports Google Analytics offers.

3. Using real-time reports

Want to know what's happening on your website right now? You can do that with the real-time report in Google Analytics. This report shows you how many people are currently visiting your website, which pages they are viewing, and even where they are.

Real-time data can be especially useful during campaigns, product launches or important updates. For example, if you have just sent out a newsletter, you can instantly see here how many people click through to your website and which pages they visit.

4. Interpreting target data

One of the most important sections in Google Analytics is the audience report. This report gives you detailed information about who your visitors are. Among other things, you can see:

• Age and gender of your visitors
• Their location (country or city)
• The devices they use (mobile, tablet, desktop)
• Returning vs. new visitors

With this information, you can better address the needs of your audience. For example, if you see that a large proportion of your visitors are mobile-friendly, it is crucial that your website is mobile-friendly.

5. Analyse traffic sources

Under the 'Acquisition' section, you will find information about where your visitors come from. Did they come via Google (organic), via a direct link (direct), via social media (social) or via another website (referral)?

Knowing your traffic sources helps you understand which marketing channels are effective and which are not. For example, if you get a lot of traffic from organic search traffic, that means your SEO strategy is working well. Are you seeing a lot of traffic from social media? Then it may make sense to invest more in social media marketing.

6. Behavioural reports for page performance

The 'Behaviour' section in Google Analytics shows you how visitors behave on your website. For example, you can see here which pages are viewed the most, which pages generate the most traffic and how long people stay on a page on average.

An important part of this report is the 'Destination Pages' (Landing Pages). This shows you which pages visitors enter your website on. This can be immensely useful for understanding which pages rank well and which do not. For example, if visitors enter your homepage but leave quickly, this could be a sign that this page needs improvement.

7. Set and track conversions

The ultimate goal of your website is probably for visitors to take an action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling in a form. In Google Analytics, you can set so-called goals to measure this behaviour.

Go to the 'Administrator' section and click on 'Goals'. Here you can set different conversion goals, such as:

• Order completed
• Contact form completed
• Download white paper

By tracking conversions, you get a clear picture of how many visitors reach your ultimate goals, and which traffic sources contribute the most to these goals.

8. Using segments and filters

Google Analytics also allows you to set segments and filters. These allow you to further refine the data you collect. For example: you can create segments to view only mobile users, or only visitors from a specific country.

For example, filters help you exclude internal traffic (such as your own visits to your site), making your data more reliable.

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows you to gain important insights about your website traffic. By using the various reports and features, such as real-time data, traffic sources and conversion goals, you get a clear picture of how visitors behave on your website. This enables you to make data-driven decisions and further optimise your website.

So, dive into the world of Google Analytics and start analysing your website traffic today!

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