Posts Tagged ‘links’

This entry is part of VOCO Creative’s occasional series on using Google Analytics for marketing and branding.

So…you’ve set up Google Analytics and started learning more about the terms and concepts that make GA go.  Now it’s time to make actual use of the site with my five favorite Google Analytics tools.

• So-Cool Site Overlay:  This tool offers you an incredible amount of information on actual user behavior.  Located under the Content section, the Site Overlay tool shows you where clicks land on a page.  What a great way to find out that nobody cares about your “free widget discount” button or that your users are surprisingly curious about your portfolio.  Use the site overlay tool often and with a sense of strategy:  In order to take full advantage, you should be willing to change in response to the information it yields.
• Real Keyword Insight:  This is an SEO-oriented marketer’s best friend.  Located under the Traffic section, the Keywords tool shows you the searches people use to get to your site.  You may discover some strange surprises here…but you also may get extremely valuable information that allows you to tailor content to popular searches.  By optimizing to popular keywords, you ensure higher rankings across a variety of searches that reflect real user behavior, not wishful thinking.
• Fabulous Filters:  Sick of Ukranian spambots hitting your blog?  Want to see real results that don’t reflect your checking for comments 23523523235325 times a day?  Filters are your friend.  To install a filter, you’ll need to know the IP address of anyone you want to exclude from Google Analytics stats.  Create a filter by going to Analytics Settings>Filter Manager>Add New Filter, then follow the steps.  Here’s a Google guide to creating a filter if you need more help.
• Mindboggling Link Ninja Action: Ever wonder just how many people download your PDFs or podcasts?  Wonder no more with file tracking via Google Analytics.  By adding a tiny slice of code to your tags for links, you’ll be able to see download results among the slew of information Google Analytics serves up by default.
• Robotic Automated Traffic Emails:  Harness the power of Google Analytics and take advantage of their option to send scheduled e-mail reports.  Just go to the report you want to receive, click Email beneath its title, and edit the schedule settings.  Google will email to you when you want it in the format you like (currently, PDF, CSV, Excel, and XML are all represented).  This is a great way to make sure that traffic stays at the top of your radar.

Photo via kalandrakas