Companies that don’t use Google’s free analytics platform to automate the collection of key data from their websites and apps are missing out on invaluable insights into the performance of their business online. Of course, while the information found in GA reports can help marketers create highly effective campaigns, simply knowing what to do with the mountains of data a single organization generates is a great challenge in itself.
Thankfully, a company’s agency partners will have a good idea of where to focus their efforts when it comes to digging into and leveraging a new client’s GA data. Below, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council share the top data points they review in clients’ Google Analytics reports to assess clients’ real needs, inform creative strategies and build powerful campaigns.
1. Conversion Path
The conversion path report is one of the most valuable datasets when developing new client strategies. Even with data-driven attribution, it is often unclear how each channel truly influences a conversion when running multichannel campaigns. These reports provide a more detailed look at customer journeys, and we utilize these to influence strategic direction and investment allocation. – Jonathan Schwartz, Bullseye Strategy
2. User Behavior In Context
GA4 provides access to a key piece of data: user behavior in context. This includes pageviews, bounce rate, average session duration and user flow, all in a compelling story. Analyzing these metrics helps agencies and brands understand how visitors interact with a website to identify engaging content and potential improvement areas. – Honza Borysek, advertia digital
3. Website Conversion Rate
First and foremost of data to review is the website conversion rate. It’s a primary gauge used to understand the quality of the Web traffic and the website’s effectiveness at driving desired outcomes, and it should be used to inform subsequent campaign strategies. – Kurt Kaufer, Ad Results Media
4. Users From Different Platforms
One valuable insight GA offers is the ability to identify users from different platforms, which allows us to create strategies to improve site performance. This data allows us to identify the top-performing channels and provide insights into where people are actively converting. The data shows us the strengths and weaknesses of the site, which is a critical element of building a site strategy. – Seth Price, BluShark Digital
5. Customer Behavior Flow
One valuable data point we derive from Google Analytics is customer behavior flow. Understanding how users navigate a client’s site reveals key engagement points and drop-off areas. This insight shapes our campaign strategies, ensuring we target efforts where they’ll have the most impact. – Daniyal Zafar, Zap Media.
6. Audience Demographics
I find Google Analytics invaluable, particularly for determining audience demographics such as age and interests. This helps me understand who is really interested in our clients’ products. By delving into these demographics, I gain insights into specific interests and preferences. This allows me to craft campaigns that resonate more deeply with the intended audience. – Mohamed Elhawary, BeUniqueness
7. Location Of Visitors
An invaluable piece of data generated from Google Analytics to assist in the local SEO journey is the location of visitors, especially when trying to measure foot traffic to brick-and-mortar businesses. Large numbers of visitors to a website mean nothing if they are not location-based. It’s important to dial right down to the city location to measure the efficacy of any traffic campaign. – Lisa Montenegro, Digital Marketing Experts – DMX Marketing
8. Bounce Rate
One crucial piece of data we leverage from Google Analytics is the bounce rate. A high bounce rate may indicate issues with landing page relevance or the user experience. Addressing this insight enables us to refine our campaign strategies, focusing on improving engagement and retaining visitors for better overall performance. – Fadi Agour, RPM: REAL PERFORMANCE MARKETING
9. Visitor Acquisition
Visitor acquisition reports are extremely important when assessing the effectiveness of campaigns and getting a 360-degree view of client lead-generation strategies. These reports show how visitors got to your client’s website, whether it was through Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or email marketing. They also show how much time visitors spent on the site—a valuable insight! – T. Maxwell, eMaximize
10. Site Speed
One often-overlooked gem in Google Analytics is the site speed data. A website that loads swiftly enhances user satisfaction, reduces bounce rates and boosts conversions. By analyzing site speed data, agencies can pinpoint areas for improvement, ensuring clients’ websites deliver a seamless experience, enhancing the effectiveness of their campaigns and improving organic search rankings. – Lars Voedisch, PRecious Communications
11. The Origin Of Leads
GA is valuable for determining the origin of leads for campaigns that are being set up and run through the platform. Checking pageviews and time on site is also important. All of this data provides insight into how your content is resonating with your audience. One word of advice: Don’t rely on GA alone for analysis. For a complete picture, use multiple tools to A/B test one campaign against the other. – Paula Chiocchi, Outward Media, Inc.
12. Spikes Around News
We analyze Google Analytics spikes around specific news announcements and campaigns. That way we know what’s resonating—and what’s not—and can quickly amplify or pivot as needed. – Jodi Amendola, Amendola Communications
13. Clickthrough Rate
One important metric that can be tracked through Google Analytics is the clickthrough rate, which counts those who initially clicked on the ad or website and then clicked to the next page. This can help show how high engagement is from the initial ad. If the clickthrough rate is low, you can make adjustments to the copy or imagery to make it more engaging. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
14. The User Journey
One valuable insight from Google Analytics is the analysis of user journeys. We track visitor behavior, prioritizing popular pages for optimization and ensuring an enhanced user experience for those specific pages. This helps us inform our campaign strategies effectively. – Ajay Prasad, GMR Web Team
15. Missing User Engagement Data
What do we not see taking place as anticipated? One critical insight we often anticipate but don’t always see in Google Analytics is user engagement with key conversion points. We expect users to interact with specific features or call-to-action areas. When they don’t, it signals a need to reevaluate and optimize these elements for better conversion rates in our clients’ campaign strategies. – George Arabian, NVISION
Source: 15 Important Data Points Agencies Need To Build Effective Campaigns
