6 Secret Google Analytics tips for bloggers

The fact is that there are not really any secrets to Google Analytics; there are just things that most people do not know or care to find out. It sounds a bit silly, but it is the same as people learning to fly a plane without bothering to ask what all the buttons and knobs are for. Here are a few tips regarding Google Analytics that for some reason most people don’t know.

1. Watch out for anomalies
Do not react to them right away, and certainly do not start creating campaigns based on anomalies. But, do be aware of them. There may be a good reason for them, and knowing the reason means regaining the power to affect your anomalies.

2. Movement Analysis will show you more than you think
How your traffic moves from landing pages to other pages is very telling. You may actually have very successful content on one page that is pushing people down a certain funnel. They may subsequently be being lost on another page. Your goal is to watch how they convert and move so you can determine what works and what does not.

3. Use the advanced segments
|It is not that people do not know how to use the advanced segments. Most of the time it is that people overlook them. It allows you to isolate data segments. It pulls the information out from the whole and puts it on its own. This data on its own may actually be more telling than when it is nestled besides its brothers and sisters.

4. Geographic analysis
You can use these functions on Google Analytics to see how well you are doing in one city compared to another. If you discover that a certain part of the country is visiting you more than any other then you are duty bound to find out why so that you may capitalize on it a little more and apply its principles to other areas so that they may get more traffic.


5. Blog bounce traffic is important
If you have a large bounce rate then it means that your off-page work is askew. It may also mean that your SEO is making you appear in the results when you really shouldn’t be in there. If you do notice a lot of bounce traffic then it is time to start making some really big changes after you have figured out why it is happening.


6. Google Analytics isn’t always right
There are very few (if any) that are going to be completely right. However, there are people that will build their entire campaign on the idea that their metrics are being honest. That is why it is better to keep an eye out for long term changes and alterations that fit patterns. Look for anomalies but beware that they do not always mean anything, and the reason for that may be that Google Analytics has it wrong.

- Tips from myself and Sonia ( Contributor ) at Letskickstart.com

What say ? Anything else to add upon ?

 

7. Make conclusions only based on comparison of your data.
Data sets for a specific period of time are dead if not compared. If you compare the same data set within two separate periods, watch out for changes and trending. Try to find the cause for any spikes and changes and, then, capitalize on the learnings.

 

I would add that you should also consider bot traffic while looking at your analytics. Non-human traffic could skew numbers and lead to making the wrong conclusions about your site.

 

These are some good points. So I have a question in return. My bounce rate went from 85 to the mid teens in two days on analytics back in late March and has stayed there ever since. How can I tell if my bounce rate is accurate? That seems like a monstrous change without me having made any major changes to my site.

 

Jake,
How do I determine in analytics how much of my traffic is from bots and how much from people?

 

If you have an increase in traffic with no changes to your site, can you see where they are coming from?

 

My site fluctuates in traffic each month. There is no easy way to measure the bounce rate by simply looking at the increase in traffic. Do you have any other recommendations that might help?

 

I've read that as much as 40 percent (!) of internet traffic is bot traffic these days. Sounds high, but I wouldn't doubt it. Not sure how to determine what kind of traffic you're getting by looking at analytics.

 

Jake,
Any idea why Google or anyone else would count bot traffic as a real visitor to a site? Wouldn't that completely taint the numbers?

 

Do you have cPanel? In your cPanel select AWstats and there you can see a break down of your traffic with diagrams and all. It's really cool. I use it all the time. You can see how many came in from what keywords, via links and which links, a break down by countries etc... including the bounce rate.

Google may not break down the traffic in Analytics as it is in AWstats but, believe you me - they know the numbers even if they do not display it. If you send bot traffic to a site with adsense your adsense account is in risk of being closed. I sell traffic but it is not bot and is adsense safe.

 

Publishers look the other way when it comes to bot traffic because it boosts their numbers and advertisers don't care because it looks like ads are being served to visitors. Brands know about bot traffic and factor that into their ad buys. Add in the fact that fighting bot traffic costs money - and at the end of the day there's little incentive for anyone to do anything about it.

 

If I create my own blog at free blog host then can i also have "Google Analytic" for the same.