6 Important Google analytics metrics to track (KPIs) (tips to improve)

Opening the Google Analytics dashboard for the first time can be intimidating for most of us. But let me talk about a few important Google Analytics metrics to track. These Key Performance Indicators or KPIs are a great place to begin with.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for measuring your website or blog’s performance and it also shows insights on how to improve it. Whatever may be your goal (improve traffic, get more leads and conversions, etc), installing Google Analytics could help you achieve it.

I know it has so many options and reports that it might overwhelm that you are putting off deep-diving into Google Analytics.

Important Google Analytics Metrics to track

But here I am to make things easy for you and help you get the best of this powerful tool. What are the Google Analytics metrics (KPIs) and numbers that you should watch out for on your dashboard, and why?

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Bounce rate

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of your visitors who leave your site without interacting with it. They bounce out of your site, get it?

A high bounce rate shows that the content was

• not relevant – You are attracting the wrong audience
• not convincing enough for the visitor to convert or interact. – Improve your writing skills or engage a content writer.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Audience> Overview

You can also view the bounce rates of an individual page at Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.

Benchmark:

• Blog/content sites – 65% to 90%
• Lead generation sites – 30% to 55%
• B2B sites – 25% to 55%
• Retail sites – 20% to 40%

Source: CXL

How can you improve it?

• Add more CTAs (call to actions) to your posts,
• Create more internal links to your other posts.

Average Session duration

This metric shows how much time a visitor spends per session (30 minutes of inactivity, usually) or visit, on your site on an average.

It is an aggregate time spent on multiple pages on your site. It includes the time they spend reading your content, leaving a comment, scrolling down, etc.

Obviously the longer they spend, the better it is. The higher average session duration indicates your content is engaging and holds attention.

This metric is very important if you are displaying ads on your site. It also shows the quality of the traffic you generate.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Audience> Overview

Benchmark:

2 – 3 min

Source: databox

How can you improve it?

• Long-form content that holds the attention
• Videos and infographics
• Interlinking relevant content pages

Pages per session

This metric shows the average number of pages a visitor clicks per visit.

The goal here is to keep the content engaging and relevant so that the visitor keeps clicking another page. The higher the number of pages per session, the higher the content writing quality is.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Behavior> Overview

Benchmark:

1 to 3

How can you improve it?

• Focus on your content pillar and link to relevant pages.
• Use a “related post” widget.
• Hub and spoke model of content marketing can be helpful

Source

This is one of my favorite metrics to look at. This report shows where your traffic comes in from. You can find not only which channel sends you traffic but also which sends good quality traffic (= convertible leads).

Knowing which channel brings you good quality traffic can help you make marketing decisions like where you can spend more ad budgets.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium

Benchmark:

None.
But it is always better to have diversified sources for your traffic.

How can you improve it?

• Focus on where you get good quality traffic, even if they are low in number.

Referrals

The referral report shows who links and sends traffic to your site. You know backlinks are great for sites, and this report will show where your quality backlinks are.

You can find out which guest post you wrote brings in the most traffic or find out which pin on Pinterest is most effective. Determine where your next collaboration should be by using this report.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals

How can you improve it?

• Collaborate with relevant and quality blogs and sites

Popular posts

This report shows what are your most popular pages. It is super interesting to look at because it helps you choose the type of content that works best for you.

Where to look for this KPI on Google Analytics?

Behavior > Site Content > All Pages

How can you improve it?

• Create topics related to the top-performing posts
• Add affiliate links on those posts
• Create an opt-in freebie on those pages

Bottom-line

Again, these may seem intimidating but once you get the hang of it these Google analytics metrics and KPIs are your best friends. It will help you understand your audience better and to tailor content to their tastes.

If you have any questions on how to understand any of these metrics, feel free to ask me in the comments or send me an email right away!

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Let’s talk

Do you know of these important Google Analytics metrics to track? What are some KPIs and numbers that you watch out for on your dashboard? Which is your favorite? Let us talk.