Google Analytics metrics you need to keep a close eye on

We have a saying at Growth Room.

“You can't perform what you can't measure.”

And that's still true today.

Monitoring is essential because it shows you where you are and if you are achieving your goals.

Without it, you could easily waste resources, go in the wrong direction, and be inefficient in growing.

In today's guide, we look at what Google Analytics metrics you should track on a regular basis and why they're important for your campaigns.

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Metric number 1 on Google Analytics: sessions

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If you're relatively new to Google Analytics, it may be tempting to think of page views as your main growth metric, but it's only a secondary metric. Sessions give you a picture of how many people are actually viewing the pages on your site.

A session is an interactive exchange between a user and your website. It may result from viewing multiple pages, from the fact that the user clicked on a contact form while on the site, or from the fact that they spent time with your content.

It is generally measured in 30-minute intervals. So as soon as a user visits your website, Google Analytics starts tracking their activities.

Let's say a user stumbles across your site by chance, browses it for a few minutes, gets distracted, but leaves their tab open. If he comes back to it in less than 30 minutes, say 29, his activity will still be counted as a particular session.

But sessions aren't limited to 30-minute intervals. There are also time-based sessions, where the start of a new day can trigger a new session on behalf of the user. If a session lasts after midnight, it is counted as two sessions since it triggers a new count for the following day. It depends on your time zone.

There are also sessions based on separate campaigns that you run.

You should always set reasonable key performance indicators to track an increasing number of sessions as you progress through your various campaigns.

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Metric number 2 on Google Analytics: bounce rate

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“Rebound” is a common term in Growth Marketing. In the field of email marketing, it refers to an email that does not reach its recipient, but with Google Analytics, it is defined as a session on a single page on your site.

If a person is taken to your website but does not interact with your site, for example by clicking on another link on the page they landed on, and if they only trigger one request from the GA server, it is counted as a bounce.

The bounce rate is calculated by the total number of unique page sessions divided by the number of regular sessions.

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Is it a bad sign to have a high bounce rate?

You might think that a high bounce rate implies a problem with your campaign, but there's another way to look at it.

A high bounce rate, in general, can be considered harmful because it indicates that a user who lands on your website may not be interested in browsing it or looking at other types of content that you offer. This may only suggest that you have a bad user interface or UX in place, preventing users from enjoying your site.

This is especially true if the success of your website depends heavily on the experience of visitors across multiple pages on your site. For example, a lead generation campaign that relies heavily on exploring your website.

However, if your only goal is to attract new visitors to your site and you are confident that they don't need to interact with the entire site to be successful with your marketing campaign, a slightly high bounce rate isn't really a problem.

There are still plenty of ways to lower your bounce rate.

• Optimize your content
• Create incentives for users to stay on your website.
• Improving UX by improving UI

Correcting your bounce rate is a long-term task, which requires numerous tests to be carried out successfully.

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Metric number 3 on Google Analytics: pages per session

This number shows how many pages people view on average when they arrive at your site. Try to increase it as much as possible by offering your visitors several links or ways to explore.

You can also improve this figure by improving the user interface design.

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Metric number 4 on Google Analytics: page views

A page view is measured when a page is loaded or reloaded.

In the Google Analytics hierarchy of metrics, sessions take priority over page views. However, both are important in determining whether people are coming to the pages of your site and if they are converting.

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Metric number 5 on Google Analytics: new and returning visitors

This particular metric is interesting because it shows how much of your traffic comes from new sources.

In general, you're going to want a stable number of new visitors compared to your frequent visitors.

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Metric number 6 on Google Analytics: average time on page

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The average time spent on a page is one of the easiest metrics to look at because its name and purpose are self-explanatory. It measures how long a visitor spent on a given page, and the longer it is, the better that page performs compared to the other pages on your site.

It may sound simple, but it comes with a lot of caveats.

• The time spent on the page depends on the content

Don't feel bad if your average time on a page is low; this metric always depends heavily on how much consumable content you have on that page. A page can serve its purpose even if it only contains 100 words if it is used, for example, as a landing page or as a magnet for prospects.

• Your other pages are for comparison

Unless you're doing something the same as your competitors, the other pages on your site are your main point of comparison. How does one page compare to another? Are you creating better content? These are all questions you need to look at when analyzing this metric.

• You can improve the time spent on the page over time!

Growth Hackers should also know that you can improve the time spent viewing any page through new design features, changes to the general user interface, and more.

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Metric number 7 on Google Analytics (and the most important one): conversion

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The final goal of your website is to convert (sales on the B2C side, and to generate appointments/demos on the B2B side).

Prioritize tracking to measure sales that are made by source. This will show you:

1/ The most efficient acquisition channels: the ones on which your sales depend. You can therefore put more budget, resources and/or optimize them.

2/ Understand the differences in performance by channel.

3/ Conclude on the target acquisition cost you can aim for (in the best of scenarios)

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The key takeaways from Google Analytics metrics

There are a lot of Google Analytics metrics that you can track. However, these are the most important in determining if your website is making a difference in your digital marketing campaigns.

But here's the problem: you can't take these indicators alone.

They should always be combined with other indicators to give an accurate picture of your performance.

For example, there has always been a long discussion about how a high bounce rate can be perceived as bad, but some organizations have had high bounce rates while maintaining a good balance of visitors.

Examine everything when you follow up.

It's the right way to do things.

At Growth Room, all our consultants are precisely trained on tracking and analytics issues. If you want to promote the implementation of measured and effective marketing campaigns, Let's talk !