Exploring Google Analytics - A Beginners Guide!

A Beginners Guide to Google Analytics

How to get the most out of Google Analytics...

Google Analytics is arguably one of the most powerful web based analytical tools available - not to mention that it is free as well! Analytics is a powerful tool which allows the admin to monitor and track key traffic patterns on their website. The fact that it’s an entirely free program, and can be used with a number of other Google programs, such as AdSense and AdWords makes it essential for any keen blogger. By tracking the traffic your website, you can monitor the demographics and behaviour and use it to aid marketing.

Like many of Googles products, Google Analytics has a simple, sleek and elegant design. This design allows uses to navigate quickly through the site, allowing them to access and analyse the data efficiently. Apple and Facebook are the masters of dashboard optimisation and for future preference I will be using this as inspiration when designing my dashboard.





The screen shot above shows how you can tailor your dashboard to suit the user needs. By dragging and dropping selected widgets the user can create an effective dashboard that displays all relevant metrics at once. One useful widget is the display of visits per location, this allows the user to pin point the specific locations of where the majority of site visits are coming from, meaning the user can tailor their blogs in order to suit the relevant demographics.

One of my favourite analytical tools is the 'Visits by Device' metric. This metric shows the user what devices the user is using the view their site. In this instance the site has received two views, one being from a desktop device such as a laptop or computer, and the other begin from a mobile device such as a tablet or smart phone. By tracking this form of metric the user is able to tailor their blogs to suit the devices use. For instance, if the majority of visits come from a mobile device, the user must ensure that they do not attach any media which isn't enabled for smart phones or tablets.

There are plenty more great tools and widgets which Google Analytic's provides, to find out the full list of tools available follow the link provided here.