Most marketers know that Google Analytics is a useful tool for monitoring your website traffic and understanding the behavior of your site visitors. But if you're not looking at any other reports, you're barely scratching the surface on the insights Google Analytics can provide.
One crucial report that can influence your marketing decisions is the Acquisitions report. This report provides all sorts of insights into your digital marketing campaigns, helping you attribute specific site behavior to individual marketing channels. While each section of the Acquisitions report is useful, some will provide learnings that are immediately actionable.
Overview
Just as it sounds, this first subsection of the Acquisitions report will give you an overview of how people reach your site and how they interact with your content. You'll see multiple tables indicating where the majority of your site traffic originates, such as social channels, email marketing, and other sources. Monitoring this report is necessary for understanding your audiences and attributing performance to each channel. For example, if you see a surge in site traffic the week two new marketing initiatives launch, this report can help you attribute that increase to one campaign or the other.
Channels
Within the All Traffic subsection, you'll find the Channels report. For attribution purposes, this is one of the most important reports in Google Analytics. It will show you in greater detail how site visitors behave based on the marketing channel they used to enter your site. This can help you attribute changes in your site metrics, such as bounce rate or time on page, to specific marketing efforts. If you have an e-commerce website, this report will also tell you which marketing channels are driving the most sales. Click into individual channels to filter into specific campaigns and ads.
Landing Pages
This report, found under the Search Console subsection, will help you understand how your landing pages are performing. You'll see an overview of site visitor behavior based on the landing page they encounter, which can help you attribute performance increases to specific pages. It can also help you identify any landing pages that may need content revisions or other updates - if one page has a bounce rate above 70%, for example, you may want to consider updating the page.
Google Analytics is full of many useful reports that can help you understand your website, your marketing initiatives, and your customers on a deeper level. If you're ready to dive into your Analytics account and start learning more about your website, contact the Informatics team today!
