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Last time I looked at why you need to know what visitors are doing on your website. In this post I'll look at how to know what visitors are doing. Here's a whistlestop tour of Google Analytics ...

First things first, if you haven't already got it installed, go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ to get it up and running. Remember: it can provide you with more information than you thought possible. It can also be a bit overwhelming. But unless you're a marketing wizard, the basics are probably enough for most people, so don't worry!

This is the dashboard - the first page you see when you log in. It shows you the “headline” figures of your site. You can customise it so it shows you the headlines that you're interested in.

This is the Visitors section (you'll find it under the Standard Reporting tab, just like all the other sections in this post). It tells you about the people who visited your site. You can drill down to get more info using the options on the left. Consider: are people spending long enough on my site? Are they exploring enough pages? Is the ratio of new vs returning customers OK?

This is the Traffic Sources section. It tells you how people are finding you. Using this section tells you if the advert you paid for was worthwhile; whether the guest blog post you wrote got a good response etc etc.

The Content section tells you which pages people have been visiting, where they came into your site and where they left it. Consider: are people leaving on the “right” page? Are the pages you want people to read being read?

Staying in the Content section, this is the In-Page Analytics screen - it's good fun! It's your website in Google Analytics. Click from page to page to see where people are clicking. Are they doing what you want? Is there a clear structure that people are following or not?

You can also set up goals so you know exactly how successful your newsletter sign-up / free download / call to action was. You'll find this in the Conversions section.

Next time, we'll look at a few tips and tricks of Google Analytics. Want more guidance in the meantime? Ask Ben or me - we'll be happy to help.

Catherine Every at EveryWord
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