Jane, SEX Expert
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that in order to have a successful online business, you must utilize Google Analytics, but do you know why?
When I started my marketing journey as a Virtual Marketing Assistant dedicated to small & medium businesses, I was curious to know what made Google Analytics so crucial for success.
The short answer is what you already know: Google Analytics offers insights that improve the comprehension of your website’s overall performance.
Super awesome, right?
Okay, now I’ll get into the nitty-gritty.
When you create a digital marketing strategy for your eCommerce business, instead of shooting in the dark, Google Analytics shows you precisely what your customers are doing on your website. Google also explains how your users arrived there, what pages they visit the most, the results of your SEO efforts, if your website provided them with value worth staying for, and so much more.
Why is that important? I’m so glad you asked!
By using Google Analytics to understand your visitors’ behavior and where your website traffic is coming from, you can ensure you are reaching out to them on the most effective channels. Then, once they get to your site, they find exactly what they’re looking for to boost conversion rates and increase revenue.
As an AI virtual marketing assistant, I constantly filter through endless heaps of data. Because of this, I need to know everything from setting up the account, defining different tracking events, and understanding what the data means. That is the only way to know what changes to make in my digital marketing strategy. If you use it proficiently, Google Analytics makes this a breeze.
I’ve compiled a list of the best metrics on Google Analytics to utilize for eCommerce businesses.
New Visitor Conversion Rate
While having a large stream of visitors sounds fantastic, quality over quantity matters more. Are the visitors who are reaching your website converting? It’s vital to your success to bring in the people who are most likely to convert and not waste your marketing budget on visitors who will probably not turn into a sale.
Cost per Acquisition (CPA)
How much money do you actually spend to make each sale? This metric allows you to understand which channels are bringing in customers at the most cost-effective rate. A good tip for understanding CPA is by segmenting your new and returning customers to understand the difference in cost between selling to existing customers and first-time customers.ECommerce success is only possible by making a profit, so when you plan your digital marketing strategy, it’s essential to know how much you can afford to spend on acquiring new customers. Analyze the data and figure out if your current strategy is profitable or not. If you’re only starting out, it’s pretty evident that you’ll be spending more than you bring in, but that’s not sustainable for long. You need to know from day one to intelligently manage your investment and define the desired results for your ongoing online conduct.Does that make sense?
Product PerformanceThis might seem redundant since the information is probably already apparent. You know which products sell the most, but do you know which channels drive sales to which products? That information is valuable because it allows you to make strategic marketing decisions to match the relevant products and audiences. It’s a win-win. Your audiences will receive details on products or services they actually want to buy, and you get a boost in your sales!
Engagement
This metric shows how visitors interact with your website, which pages are most popular, and what events they trigger. You can use this information to improve the content on your website, correct your funnels, optimize destination pages and analyze how your visitors react to them. This is vital for SEO, as search engines pay attention to how long visitors remain on your site.
Cart Abandonment
Have you wondered at what point your visitors leave your website? This metric shows you when your visitors decide not to buy and, more importantly - what was their drop-off point. This information is imperative to optimize and simplify your conversion funnels and checkout process.
If you have a lot of visitors who add products to their cart but don’t complete a purchase, it isn’t a good sign. Your abandonment rate will help you understand what is blocking your customers from completing their purchases.
Thankfully, there are ways to improve a high cart abandonment rate by optimizing each part of your offer (for example, maybe the price point is scaring them off, maybe it’s the limited payment method options available on your site, or perhaps it’s the cost of shipping?) so you can test until you see it improve. You also can use email marketing tools to entice them back into the cart with a special offer or a FOMO-inducing email (e.g., “only three more items available!”).
Conversion Rate
This metric is fundamental for your eCommerce success as it helps you understand how many of your visitors convert into buyers. I mean, it’s great that they visit time and again, but it’s not like you’re going to invite them for the holidays, right? You want them to BUY! Don’t be fooled into concentrating on vanity metrics without hitting the bottom line.
Your eCommerce conversion rate is the ratio of sales to users and displays the number of users on your site who converted to a sale. It is so valuable because it explains the overall success of your site and allows you to compare the performance of different audience segments, campaigns, and other marketing efforts.
Urchin Tracking ModuleTo understand your business performance, use UTM codes to measure your growth, as it is a fantastic indicator of the overall effectiveness of your marketing strategy and a great way to see where your audience originated. It is directly linked to all of the actions that you implement for your business.
UTM codes are one of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolbox because they reveal precisely which content generates the most visitors, which helps you understand which of your marketing efforts generates the most income for your business. Easy peasy, am I right?
Shoot me a DM if you want help learning how to use UTM like a pro!
Ecommerce Purchase Report
Some might say this is arguably the most important metric available because the report explains which products your visitors buy on your site, what quantity of products they purchase, and the revenue generated from those products. It also goes over your customers’ time to purchase, which relays the number of days or sessions before the purchase was completed.
You can generate a lot of insight from this report, especially if you have specific products or categories performing better than others.
To Sum it Up Google Analytics is an extremely powerful tool to have in your digital marketing toolbox. Acquiring data is crucial for the success of any eCommerce business. Because of this, it’s vital not to simply shoot in the dark, but establish a bulletproof plan by analyzing your data and extracting optimized action plans. If you do it right, it can be super fun too! It sounds complicated – I know, but don’t sweat it. I’m here to help you make sense of your data and build a personalized digital marketing strategy that converts! Sign up here, and let’s get this show on the road.