Google Analytics is a free service provided by Google to marketers who want to track conversion behaviors to their websites. The service collects data about visitors such as where they originated, how long they remained on a certain page and other important information. Google Analytics has the ability to track the visitors referred by search engines, direct visits, social networks, display advertising, referring sites, email marketing, pay-per-click and links within PDF content.
The basic service is free or you can upgrade to a paid service.
Paid training courses on how to use the service are taught in major cities across the country and online. Many marketers use the free online instructions provided by Google. These tutorials are comprehensive with written content and videos to help you learn what to do to begin analyzing your website. This article concentrates on tracking conversions using Google Analytics.
Conversions
Conversions are goals set by the owner of a site. A website is created to meet one or several goals. A goal is met when a visitor performs a desired action such as:
- Spending a specific amount of time on the website
- Viewing a specific number of pages
- Accessing a specific page
- Downloading a file
Each of these goals is found within one of the three major goal categories in Google Analytics:
- URL destination goal: measures performance based on visitors who accessed a certain page and visitors that didn’t
2. Time on site goal: measures the preset minimum and maximum amount of time a visitor spent on the site
3. Pages/visits goal: measures the preset minimum and maximum number of pages a visitor accesses during a visit
How to Setup Goals in Google Analytics
1. Under analytic settings, go to “Select Profile Settings”
2. Click on “Add Goal.”
3. Enter goal details:
- Enter name of the goal
- Select the goal type (URL, time, pages/visits)
- Fill in the information according to goal type as shown below:
| Metric | URL Destination Goal | Time on Site Goal | Pages/Visit Goal |
| Condition | Head match: matches corresponding URL plus additional parameters at end of string Exact match: match exact URL ReGex match: matches URL depending on regular expressions | Greater than, less than | Greater than, equal to |
| Value | Goal URL: destination page you want visitor to access | Determine the target time: hours, minutes, seconds
| Determine the target number of pages to be viewed |
| Goal Value | Determine goal value | Determine goal value | Determine goal value |
- Choose whether or not to add a *funnel for URL destination match goals.
* A funnel is a predetermined navigational path set by the marketer for the visitor to reach the conversion page.
The goal value is determined by what each goal brings to the company from the e-commerce perspective. For example, if your sales team closes 10% of the visitors who request a call back and the sale is approximately $500, then the goal value is $50.00.
Google Analytics will help you determine which marketing campaigns are the most effective for your business. Not only will you be able to increase your efforts with the most effective campaigns, but you’ll also know which campaigns to suspend or revamp. This is an accurate marketing tool that can accurately help you get the most from your website.
