BEGINNERS
GUIDE TO
10 THINGS
YOU NEED
TO KNOW
Google Analytics is an
incredible tool that helps
you make your site great.
Here are 10 interesting little
tidbits that will make your
site even more great.
@AmberHorsburgh
1

Bounce rate: the amount of people that
leave your site after only viewing 1 page
A high bounce rate is not always a bad thing
A Healthy Bounce Rate varies from 10% - 98%
Website type

Example

Ave bounce rate

Service

Task Rabbit or Rdio

10 - 30%

Retail

Amazon or ASOS

20 - 40%

Lead Generation

National LGBT Museum or
Dadaab Stories

30 - 50%

Content

VICE or Huffington Post

40 - 60%

Landing Page

Every site

70 - 90%

Blog

The Sartorialist or Humans of
New York

70 - 98%

Source: Google Analytics
2

Unique Visitors show the number of
distinct individuals that come to a site
BUT beware! Unique Visitors are not always people
This metric counts the cookies
dropped in a browser. Unique visitors
does not equal unique browsers,
people or computers.
3

Average Visit Duration is thought to
show how long people spend on
your site on average
But, it is grossly inaccurate.
The way it is calculated underestimates the real length of
time. It does not count the time a visitor spends on the
last page they see.

Page #1

Page #2

10:00:00am
(T1)

10:00:30am
(T2)

Enters site

Page #3
Exits site

10:00:50am
(T3)

Time spent on Page 1 = (T2 - T1) = 30 seconds
Time spent on Page 2 = (T3 - T2) = 20 seconds
Time Spent on Page 3 = (unknown) = 0 Seconds
Time on site = 50 seconds
4

‘Direct’ Traffic is usually assumed to be
people typing a site’s URL directly into
the address bar
There are more sources of ‘direct traffic’ than
meets the eye
9 common sources:
1. Visitor came through from bookmarks bar
2. Hyperlink from a Word or Powerpoint doc
3. Link was in Skype, G-Chat or AIM
4. Click-throughs from Mobile apps like Twitter
5. Link was in Javascript - this is a problem with
banners
6. Link was in a flash application
7. Link was on an intranet
8. Redirect pages
9. Site was set as the users homepage or pinned
tab
5

Referral traffic shows the visits to your
site from those that came from site
sources other than a search engine
Referral traffic helps track
improvements in SEO
Referral traffic shows number of
backlinks exist to your site. Backlinks
help you gain trust and reputation in
the eyes of Google search engine.
This helps SEO ranking.
6

Site Search shows the most common
things people look for in the search field
on your website

** Obviously my site could do better with search
Site Search makes for great content ideas
This metric is a great indicator of what
people organically want out of your site. Use
these themes and keywords to create
content for your site. This will be interesting
to your audience
7

When measuring loyalty, most people look
at New vs. Returning users. But frequency
& recency reports give a better snapshot.
Frequency & recency reports are valuable to
content sites, which exist to build long term
readership and loyalty.
8

To find the best type of content your
site has look to your top Landing
Pages from social traffic report
The top landing pages via social referral show
the content that is organically interesting to
social audience.
Repackage this type of content to get more use.
9

The maximum session time
= 30 mins.
Users will be timed out after 30 mins.
This is important to note if your site
demands the attention of users for
longer than 30 mins.
E.g.: educational training sites and
audio/video streaming.
10

Google Analytics
is not 100%
accurate
It does not catch data if:
The Analytics ID
tracking code is not
pasted on every single
page on your website.

People disable
nd Javascript or disallow
a
cookies.
Sign-Up on
to learn more about Google
Analytics for beginners.

http://skl.sh/
1bsUbR9
Use the discount code
‘riffraff’ to get 25% off.
Tweet to download.
@AmberHorsburgh
https://www.paywithatweet.com/
pay/?
id=e1ef33247a81f8c3880cf6691899f
318

Google Analytics: 10 Game-Changers You Need To Know

  • 1.
  • 2.
    Google Analytics isan incredible tool that helps you make your site great. Here are 10 interesting little tidbits that will make your site even more great. @AmberHorsburgh
  • 3.
    1 Bounce rate: theamount of people that leave your site after only viewing 1 page A high bounce rate is not always a bad thing
  • 4.
    A Healthy BounceRate varies from 10% - 98% Website type Example Ave bounce rate Service Task Rabbit or Rdio 10 - 30% Retail Amazon or ASOS 20 - 40% Lead Generation National LGBT Museum or Dadaab Stories 30 - 50% Content VICE or Huffington Post 40 - 60% Landing Page Every site 70 - 90% Blog The Sartorialist or Humans of New York 70 - 98% Source: Google Analytics
  • 5.
    2 Unique Visitors showthe number of distinct individuals that come to a site
  • 6.
    BUT beware! UniqueVisitors are not always people This metric counts the cookies dropped in a browser. Unique visitors does not equal unique browsers, people or computers.
  • 7.
    3 Average Visit Durationis thought to show how long people spend on your site on average
  • 8.
    But, it isgrossly inaccurate. The way it is calculated underestimates the real length of time. It does not count the time a visitor spends on the last page they see. Page #1 Page #2 10:00:00am (T1) 10:00:30am (T2) Enters site Page #3 Exits site 10:00:50am (T3) Time spent on Page 1 = (T2 - T1) = 30 seconds Time spent on Page 2 = (T3 - T2) = 20 seconds Time Spent on Page 3 = (unknown) = 0 Seconds Time on site = 50 seconds
  • 9.
    4 ‘Direct’ Traffic isusually assumed to be people typing a site’s URL directly into the address bar
  • 10.
    There are moresources of ‘direct traffic’ than meets the eye 9 common sources: 1. Visitor came through from bookmarks bar 2. Hyperlink from a Word or Powerpoint doc 3. Link was in Skype, G-Chat or AIM 4. Click-throughs from Mobile apps like Twitter 5. Link was in Javascript - this is a problem with banners 6. Link was in a flash application 7. Link was on an intranet 8. Redirect pages 9. Site was set as the users homepage or pinned tab
  • 11.
    5 Referral traffic showsthe visits to your site from those that came from site sources other than a search engine
  • 12.
    Referral traffic helpstrack improvements in SEO Referral traffic shows number of backlinks exist to your site. Backlinks help you gain trust and reputation in the eyes of Google search engine. This helps SEO ranking.
  • 13.
    6 Site Search showsthe most common things people look for in the search field on your website ** Obviously my site could do better with search
  • 14.
    Site Search makesfor great content ideas This metric is a great indicator of what people organically want out of your site. Use these themes and keywords to create content for your site. This will be interesting to your audience
  • 15.
    7 When measuring loyalty,most people look at New vs. Returning users. But frequency & recency reports give a better snapshot.
  • 16.
    Frequency & recencyreports are valuable to content sites, which exist to build long term readership and loyalty.
  • 17.
    8 To find thebest type of content your site has look to your top Landing Pages from social traffic report
  • 18.
    The top landingpages via social referral show the content that is organically interesting to social audience. Repackage this type of content to get more use.
  • 19.
    9 The maximum sessiontime = 30 mins. Users will be timed out after 30 mins.
  • 20.
    This is importantto note if your site demands the attention of users for longer than 30 mins. E.g.: educational training sites and audio/video streaming.
  • 21.
  • 22.
    It does notcatch data if: The Analytics ID tracking code is not pasted on every single page on your website. People disable nd Javascript or disallow a cookies.
  • 23.
    Sign-Up on to learnmore about Google Analytics for beginners. http://skl.sh/ 1bsUbR9 Use the discount code ‘riffraff’ to get 25% off.
  • 24.