What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is the most popular free tool for assessing your company’s digital marketing efforts. It provides a wealth of data which businesses can use to evaluate how their website is performing which enables them to plan an effective strategy and change tactics as necessary in order to achieve optimal results that meet customer expectations. Google Analytics is capable of providing essential data that can assist businesses evaluate their digital marketing strategies, so they can determine whether investing in social media or (PPC) pay-per-click campaigns will be worth it for them at all.
How Does Google Analytics Work?
Google Analytics works through a tag of javascript code placed on every web page a business is looking to measure. The code used to send data from Google Analytics is called an analytics tag. When a user visits your website, the analytics tag collects key data about how they navigated through your website. This includes information such as what pages were visited, browser type, and their route to the landing page. All of this data is collected through the analytics tag that has been put on every webpage looking to be measured. The data collected is crucial in providing insight into vital demographic trends such as language, age, gender and location which are important for planning an effective digital marketing strategy. The code sends this data to Google Analytics, which then structures the data into four levels:
- User Level (the actions of each user)
- Session Level (the individual visits)
- Pageview Level (the individual pages visited)
- Event Level (video views, button clicks and similar actions)
The analytics tag adds a layer of accessibility and insight for your company by collecting data from all pages on your website. This information can then be reviewed in reports, giving you more perspective about what’s going on with customer engagement across different areas as well as providing you with up to date numbers so that future decisions are informed. Data driven implementations have become the new norm as it influences sound decisions and with Google Analytics driving your advertising strategy you can be certain that your decisions are backed by proven data.
Benefits of Linking Google Ads and Google Analytics
Access to Engagement Metrics and Reports
Google Analytics is able to provide you with useful metrics for audience engagement such as:
- Bounce Rate
- Average Page views
- Average Time On Site
You can keep tabs on your ad campaign by accessing Google Analytics and viewing metrics such as how many people click through to the landing page or to your ads from each link. You’ll also be able to see which ad campaigns are working best for you within this report.
Increased Visual Analysis of Key Data
If you’re looking for a way to make your Google Ads campaign more engaging and effective, linking it with Google Analytics is an excellent idea. You can see how customers are interacting with your product or service through visualizations. Visualizations are becoming increasingly popular as they allow you to see key insights from a collection of data at a glance. One of the best benefits Google Analytics provides is access to effective visuals such as tree maps and sankey diagrams. These visuals make it easier for marketers to explore trends in keywords or user behaviours with clear colour coding that simplifies even the most complex sets of numbers. When you’re able to understand the data presented, as a marketer you will be able to make more informed decisions. Visuals provide you with that added benefit.
Understand the Customer Journey
Google Analytics provides valuable insights about the customer journey, focusing on key moments that help you tweak your advertising campaigns to create an enhanced user experience. With such a wealth of data available through Google Ads’ advanced reporting features it is easy for advertisers like yourself to get fixated solely with these metrics without fully taking into account other important aspects including ROI which will ultimately provide greater opportunities for optimization. It’s important to remember that this is not the be-all and end-all. When you open up Google Ads campaigns to deeper analysis, the wealth of data on other important advertising metrics can help identify opportunities for optimization.
Getting Started
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can be used to improve your advertising performance, increase customer loyalty and even generate leads. Google Analytics has become an integral part of any business marketing strategy. Advertising helps educate consumers about how your products or services can help them and what you stand for, which is why it’s important to include ads within your digital marketing strategy. Google Analytics offers a wealth of information about how you can connect with your audience, so it’s worth taking the time to learn all there is. We hope this blog has given clear insight into the capabilities of Google Analytics and why its data matters for advertisers!
Creating the right advertising campaign for your new customers starts with a chat. Topsite’s team of experts are happy to answer any questions or concerns that you may have about advertising! Connect with us today and let’s get started on this exciting new journey together!
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