I’m not a tool lover — I have a total of six apps installed on my phone, I usually assess keyword competition by eye, and I’m generally skeptical of all SEO tools. That said, there are a few tools I use daily. Today, let’s talk about Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for measuring traffic on your website, and it doesn’t cost a penny. You can see which pages your visitors view before signing up for your newsletter (so you know which pages to promote when you want more sign-ups). You can see which keywords in your AdWords campaign perform the best (so you can invest more there), and you can see which pages make your visitors leave (so you can improve them).
Last week I gave a lecture in Sundsvall, and when I asked the audience, only 4 out of 22 people said they used Google Analytics. If it had been a hockey course, I might have accepted that number — but this was about online marketing. Sure, I understand that not everyone loves data, but your analytics account is the heart of your business if you’re trying to sell anything online. It’s not complicated to use, and you have access to loads of valuable information. Just the simple fact that you can see with one click which channels generate customers — don’t you want to know that?
In search engine optimization or AdWords, Analytics (it doesn’t have to be Google Analytics, though I see no reason to use anything else) is so important that I spend time in the analytics data every single day. If you’re not doing that already, set aside some time — at least once a week — to understand what’s happening on your site.
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.