The Ten Critical Things Public Relations Students Must Know About Google Analytics

Knowing how your audience interacts with your website is crucial for your success. Google Analytics is free and relatively easy to use for tracking websites, blogs, Facebook pages and more.

 

1. Google Analytics provides information on who visits your site, where they come from, and who is most valuable to your organization, which allows you to better identify your key audiences.
2. The platform tracks the search terms people use to find your site and what they search within your site, which provides information on what your buyers are really looking for.
3. You can learn how people find your site, whether from search engines, direct links, or referral links on other sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
4. Google Analytics tracks how many people visit your site and when spikes in traffic occur to show you what content is most popular.
5. It tracks how much time people spend on your site and which pages retain users the longest so you can better tailor your content.
6. The platform shows how people interact with your site, whether they download your documents, play your videos, or click your call to action links to help you best position your content.
7. You can discover what keywords drive people to each page on your site and which keywords bring the most conversions.
8. Google Analytics tells you which browsers/OS your audience uses to help you make smarter decisions on your sites layout and design.
9. The platform shows which marketing initiatives and online ads of your campaign are most effective.
10. It also allows you to pinpoint where people leave your site. If you know what exactly drives people to leave, you know what to focus your efforts on improving.