Google offers a powerful monitoring tool for websites that most small to medium size business know nothing about. This reporting tool is called Google Analytics, and it could provide your company with some of the most useful online website information yet. The tool is capable of monitoring numerous activities on your website, such as:
- How your visitors located your website.
- Identify which pages and links your visitors click the most.
- View a map overlay of visitors to your website.
- Track the type of browser, operating system, language, and network speed of incoming traffic.
- View top landing and exit pages.
- See your top search engine keywords.
Google Analytics offer these key statistics and more for free. But the key is how to actually set up this service.
- You will need a Google account, if you already have one great, if not then go through the process of signing up here
- Next visit Google Analytics and click “Sign up Now”
- Then precede though the Sign up process and enter your website URL as well as an Account Name that reflects your account.
- Fill in your First and Last Name as well as your Country
- Click to Accept the Google Analytic Terms of Service
- Finally you will need to copy the code provided, and then paste it onto every page you want to track immediately before the closing tag. (If you are unsure on how to do this or you have someone who manages your website for you then email them the code and ask them to place it in your website for you.)
Once finished Google will begin to monitor your incoming traffic. It will take a day or so before you start to see results, but feel free to browse around the many options that Google Analytics provides. Once you begin to see activity to your site the possibilities on how to edit and market your website are endless.
