Hannah Omoye There are hundreds of Google Analytics metrics available on the Google Analytics platform, and it can become increasingly difficult to keep track of the ones that truly matter or get distracted by the various data being displayed.
Regardless of what specific goals you are targeting, there are some Google Analytics metrics that every blogger should track. These particular metrics showcase data that reflects how well your website is doing.
DISCLAIMER: To use Google Analytics, you need to have a functioning website.
Google knows fully well that the site goals of every blogger vary, so there is an option of customizing your analytics dashboard, which focuses on specific metrics based on your goals.
Get more information on the Google Analytics dashboard here.
Every blogger should have a specific site goal they are targeting either weekly, monthly, or yearly. These goals could be clicks, sales, or engagement.
However, there are goals that every blogger should have because no matter what specific goals you hope to accomplish, you still need your audience to find you easily through search engines.
But first, what are blog metrics?
What are blog metrics?
Blog metrics are data used to analyze and track site performance over a specific period. They include measurements, statistics, and numbers used to measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign or in comparison with a marketing goal.
These metrics reflect how well a website is doing, what marketing campaigns were effective, and which ones weren’t.
Every blogger should intentionally analyze their blog metrics monthly.
What is Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free SEO tool by Google that provides website owners with insight to analyze the performance of their website.
This insight lets you understand your audience experience on your site and track marketing campaigns and site goals.
Sections on Google Analytics
1. Audience
All the data in this section gives you an insight into ‘who’ your audience or customers are. It includes metrics such as location, age range, device, etc.
2. Acquisition
This shows how your customers get to your website through direct, social media, or organic traffic. It shows the most-used channel and lets you know if your SEO efforts are effective.
3. Behavior
Have you ever wondered what your audience does when they’re on your site? This section shows data related to the time each user spends on your site, bounce rates, sessions per user, etc.
4. Conversions
This has to do with your Call-To-Actions (CTAs). It shows data that reflects if the users pick up on the offers you set for them or otherwise. These offers can be purchases, signing up for newsletters, or registering for a course.
RELATED: Check out our Instagram reels on Blog metrics below
Now that you know more about google analytics, let’s talk about the google analytics metrics you must track in 2022.
Google Analytics metrics to track in 2022
1. Organic traffic
Every blogger who keeps in touch with current SEO trends is probably aware that organic traffic can cover up to 90% of the overall traffic.
The organic traffic metric shows the users that come from unpaid sources, usually search engines, and it is important because it reflects the effectiveness of your SEO strategies.
The Overall traffic report differs from organic traffic as it shows the total number of incoming traffic, excluding the traffic source. In contrast, organic traffic showcases only the number of visits from search engines.
2. Top viewed posts
This shows your highest-performing blog posts in terms of clicks, and it lets you know which of your posts people open more.
This can be due to keyword choice, post length, title, etc. Based on this data, you know which of your posts you need to study, what to improve, and what strategies to replicate.
3. Bounce rates
Bounce rates refer to the number of users that visit your site and how well they interact with your content.
There are many reasons why you might have an increased bounce rate, ranging from low site loading speed, inconsistent content, and overload of Ads.
Although, a high bounce rate doesn’t always mean you have bad content. Sometimes, it means that site visitors find answers to their questions quickly on your website hence little to no need to say on your site longer.
But, ensure your content is top notch always and always fix any technical SEO error on your website that could contribute to a high bounce rate.
Bounce rates are more appropriate metrics for discovering users’ interests than traffic metrics.
4. Conversion rates
How often do users follow through with an offers you present to them on your site? How often is your CTA clicked on?
The conversion rates for each of your posts are displayed, and you can analyze what kind of offer, content, and every other on-page feature of the post performs best.
5. Dwell time
Also known as the average time on page. Dwell time refers to the amount of time a user spends on your website. It lets you know if people read your posts.
For instance, if you have a post that takes approximately 5 minutes to read and users spend an average of 1-2 minutes, it could mean that your contents have low readability, the page doesn’t load properly, or other on-page errors.
6. Returning visitors
Are your first-time users coming back to your site? This metric gives you an insight into this data.
This can help you analyze the overall user experience, although it might not be entirely accurate as there might be several reasons users come back to a site or choose not to come back.
7. Landing pages
This refers to the first website page that leads a user to your website or the first page a user sees when they log into your website.
You might want to know which landing pages are more popular with users and include the important CTAs in the most popular landing pages.
8. Exit pages
This refers to the last page a user views before exiting your website. If you can pinpoint the most exited page, you will be able to know which of your pages need optimization.
9. Devices
This data shows the devices your users use mostly to open your site, and it lets you know which device you need to optimize your website.
If most of your users log in via a desktop, you might want to consider optimizing your website for desktops. However, most users generally access the internet via their mobile devices.
10. Unique page views
Unique page views show you the number of new visits, i.e., new visitors that click on your website.
This is important because you get to gain insight into the effectiveness of your campaigns. It lets you know if your strategies bring in new visitors and if it is easy for new users to find you on search engines.
11. Average pages per session
A session is the series of interactions that a user does on your site from the time they land to the time they exit. The average number of pages per session refers to the total number of pages viewed by a user during a single visit.
A user can initiate multiple sessions during a single visit.
To gain insight into the user experience, you should know what additional pages the user goes to from the landing page.
12. Search Queries
The best hack for every blogger is knowing which exact keywords to use for created content. MonsterInsight, a good WordPress SEO plugin, allows you to know what specific keywords users use to find the contents on your page.
This lets you know which of the keywords will probably rank higher on search engines.
I will round off this blog post by listing the importance of analyzing your website.
Importance of analytics
- It shows points of weakness
- It shows how each content is faring
- It provides insight into user experience
- It shows the content that resonates more with the audience
- It reflects blog growth or what needs improvement
- It shows which marketing campaign is effective and otherwise.
- It shows your strengths and lets you know what to leverage on
- It enables you to be a better blogger.
I hope these benefits convince you to be more intentional about checking your blog metrics now and then. This can make the difference between you and that successful blogger who motivates you.
READ ALSO: BLOG SEO: 8 free tips to optimize your blog posts for consistent SEO ranking
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