If you're running a business, you've probably heard people say you need to "keep an eye on the numbers" when it comes to your website. It's easy to nod along and think, yeah, that makes sense, but what does that actually mean? As a web designer, I can tell you, it’s not just about how many people visit your site. It’s about what they do when they get there and what those actions tell you about your site performance.
So, let's delve into the power of analytics. I’m not going to bombard you with technical jargon – just some real straight-up talk about how tracking what happens on your website can genuinely improve how well it works for your business.
What Is Website Analytics?
Now, when I talk about website analytics, I’m talking about tools like Google Analytics, HotJar, SemRush etc (or similar ones) that give you all sorts of data on what’s happening on your site. And I don’t just mean how many visitors you get. It’s deeper than that. You can see how long people are staying on your site, what pages they’re visiting, where they’re coming from, and what actions they’re taking – or not taking.
For example, let’s say you’ve got a contact form on your site that you really want people to fill out. Analytics can show you whether people are actually getting to that form or if they’re dropping off somewhere else. Knowing that, you can tweak things to make it easier for people to take that final step.
Key Metrics You Should Care About
Now, what should you actually be paying attention to? Well, there are a few metrics that really matter if you’re looking to improve your website’s performance.
- Traffic Sources: Where are people finding your site? Are they coming through social media, Google searches, or referrals from other sites? This helps you understand what’s working in terms of how you promote your business and where you might need to focus more effort.
- Bounce Rate: This tells you how many visitors are leaving after only seeing one page. If you’ve got a high bounce rate, it could mean your site isn’t grabbing people’s attention right away – or that they’re not finding what they came for.
- Average Session Duration: How long are visitors sticking around? If people are only spending a few seconds on your site, it might be worth taking a look at whether your content is engaging enough.
- Conversions: This is the big one. How many of your visitors are actually doing what you want them to do? Whether that’s buying something, filling out a form, or signing up for a newsletter, conversions are a clear sign of whether your website is doing its job.
Using Analytics to Make Improvements
Once you've got this data, the question is: what do you do with it? Well, the beauty of analytics is that it helps you spot patterns. For instance, if you notice that most of your traffic is coming from mobile users, but your bounce rate is sky-high for them, it’s a clear sign you need to optimise your site for mobile.
Similarly, if you see people are dropping off on a specific page, maybe that page needs some work. Is it loading too slowly? Is the content unclear or unappealing? Is the call to action buried under too much information? These are all things that you can adjust once you’ve got the data in front of you.
What’s nice is that you don’t have to guess. You’ve got solid evidence to guide your decisions. And when you make those changes, you can track the impact over time and see if things improve.
The Mistake Most Business Owners Make with Analytics
A lot of business owners I’ve worked with set up Google Analytics because they know they should. But after that, it just sits there collecting dust. The data is all there, but it’s not being used. I get it – analytics dashboards can look intimidating, and if you’re not sure what to look for, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and ignore it altogether.
But trust me, the numbers aren’t there to scare you. They’re there to give you clarity. Once you start looking at the data regularly, you’ll see how it can help you make small tweaks that lead to big improvements in how your website performs.
Don’t Forget About Those Regular Reviews
It’s not enough to check your analytics once and call it a day. Websites aren’t static – your business changes, trends shift, and user behaviour evolves. That’s why it’s important to make looking at your analytics a regular thing.
You don’t have to spend hours on it every week, but a quick monthly check-in can go a long way. Are your traffic sources still the same? Has your bounce rate improved after those changes you made last month? Are you seeing an uptick in conversions after that new landing page went live?
By keeping an eye on things regularly, you can catch issues before they become major problems and keep improving the user experience on your site.
Website analytics can feel like a foreign language at first, but once you get into the habit of checking the numbers, it starts to make sense. You don’t need to be a tech genius to make it work for you. It’s all about understanding what’s going on with your site, so you can make smart decisions to improve it. And once you start using that data, you’ll see how even small changes can have a big impact on your business.
At the end of the day, your website should work for you. Tracking and analysing its performance is one of the easiest ways to make sure it’s pulling its weight.