In today’s age, an influential online presence is important for all companies, especially with the multitude of Internet users around the world. Developed in 2005, Google Analytics has helped companies understand and measure their online efforts and influence. More than 10 million websites, as of April, are utilizing the tools of Google Analytics to calculate the success of their web pages.
going beyond keywords
Although it is often seen as a program used to measure the success or failure of a website through statistics and keywords, the popular data-generating program can also be used in these four tactical ways:

  1. Content development. Use Google Analytics to determine what content works and what doesn’t. Look at what web pages or blogs received the most user engagement, shares or page views and use this data to your company’s advantage.  If your users connect with a certain blog topic or news update, expand on the topic or integrate the information into other areas of your website.
  2. Social media connections. Social media is a dominant force among Internet users today. As a result, your company’s social media presence is important. Google Analytics can be used to measure how social your company really is, determining what posts or links are driving the most social media users to your website. In addition, the data collected on Google Analytics can be used to decide whether your website’s social media buttons are actually being utilized or whether their placement invites users to share your content.
  3. Location, location, location. Where in the world are your website’s Internet visitors coming from? Use Google Analytics to answer this question. Figure out the areas where the highest concentration of users are coming from and their demographic information. Use the location-based data you collected to create a geographically targeted marketing campaign or adjust your current marketing strategy to specifically target the Internet users that are interested and engaged with your company and the products or services it offers.
  4. Website experiments. Use your website’s home or landing page as the basis for an online experiment. Google Analytics allows a company to create 6 variations of the same webpage to test what layout users engage with the most. Once the most successful variation is determined, use it and the information you collect as the foundation for the remainder of your website’s pages.  The result will be a successful website that achieves measurable results.