Google Analytics is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. It monitors every aspect of SEO performance. Yet thousands of web owners refrain from using the program. At first glance, it looks complicated, but by using these simple functions you can gain a deeper insight into how you’re performing in the search engines.
Here are seven cool hacks you can use to better understand your SEO performance.
1. Data Ranges
Did you know you can narrow down your SEO results to a specific period of the month, or even just a few days? Click the data range dropdown selection and a calendar will appear. Highlight as much or as little of the calendar as you want to select where you want to see data from.
2. Overview Comparison Report
Look at the overview and you have all your data from this month. You can also compare it with data from a previous month and export it as a PDF. SEO consultants will find this particularly useful as they can show their clients any improvements for this month. It’s also handy for web owners implementing a new marketing campaign.
3. Export More
Normally, you can only export 500 rows of analytics data at a time. For larger websites, this is nothing but a pain. But if you simply add ‘&limit=’ to the end of the URL you will actually download every row on your site. It still only shows 500 rows, but what you download is everything you have.
4. Traffic Source Level
Don’t just look at how many people have visited your site this month. Drill deeper and see where they’ve came from. You want to know your dedicated SEO links have worked well. It’s also handy for showing you what’s clicking and what isn’t. Use this data to guide your campaign going forward.
5. Landing Page Report
It’s a common mistake to ignore the influence of a landing page report. It’s actually one of the most important parts of Google Analytics. It tells you which door your customers are using to visit you. If they’re all coming through the homepage, you know you’re going to have to change your campaign to market a certain product.
6. Keyword Levels
Searching for keywords has become a great deal trickier since Google removed some of the organic data webmasters use to determine which keywords work best for them. A standard keyword report isn’t particularly useful for delving down into the value of specific keywords. Instead, inspect the keyword data from the landing page report. It groups the keywords and shows exactly how effective they really are using real results.
7. Target Market
Examine your ‘extreme’ users by configuring your Google Analytics results for users outside of your target market. This can help you to understand how you appear to people who perhaps aren’t as interested in your content. It can help with expanding your market, or refine your SEO to bring in more of your target market.