Google Analytics Increases Conversion Goals
Google Analytics recently announced that they are increasing the amount of conversion goals one can set from four to twenty per account. This is huge news for Web masters as it provides them with more opportunities to set and track conversion goals. If you oversee your Web site’s performance, you know that assigning and measuring goals is vital to optimizing its effectiveness and ensuring that your site is operating at its maximized potential. This new increased functionality allows you to set up and track all of the success metrics that are important to your business. In order to take full advantage of this benefit, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, determine what the success metrics are for your Web site. Are you selling advertising on your site and therefore are only concerned with the amount of traffic that you can tell potential advertisers you have? Or are your goals more conventional, such as form submission or completing online purchases? Be sure to include all of your company’s key stakeholders in this process in order to capture each departments’ goals. For example, HR may want to track the submissions for various job postings whereas marketing may be focused on capturing the number of newsletter signups submitted. Knowing this information, and properly setting up the conversion goals enables you to measure the key performance indicators most important to your business, determine what is performing and what is not, and make appropriate changes.
Next, decide if your goals can be measured with concrete single metrics, or if you will need custom goals configured. If you’re only interested in standard statistics, such as the number of visitors to your site, bounce rates and traffic sources, you don’t need to customize your analytics as those metrics come standard in the package. However, if you’re looking to measure goals that are unique to your site, you will need to customize your Google Analytics account. Customizing the program takes analytics to the next level, providing the most relevant data to your business.
Also, when setting up your account remember to customize your reports as well. You want your Google Analytics package configured so that you can view/analyze the most important and relevant information in the easiest and fastest manner possible. Also, be sure to name any customized conversions in an easily understandable format so that reports can easily be interpreted by all stakeholders. Don’t hesitate to use the resources provided by Google to learn how to better use the program to its fullest. Though it takes time to get through the lessons and become an expert, it is well worth the investment. Watch Google’s tutorials available 24/7 online!
Finally, check reports frequently for insight into user activity and behavior that may not have been previously available or readily apparent. Most importantly, don’t only learn the program, but USE it. Before you know it, you’ll have the tools and information needed to ensure your site is performing at an optimum level.
