Google Analytics In An Hour A Week Part 4: Content and Campaign Reports

Up to this point – through the Dashboard and traffic, intelligence and other detailed reports – you’ve gotten some solid insight into: (1) where your site visitors are coming from, plus (2) when and how they show up, along with (3) some technical information. In this post, we’re going to drill down a little deeper and dig up some of the most actionable information that Google Analytics can reveal. We’re going to start with data that you can use to improve the performance of specific campaigns…

Campaign Reports

This is one of my favorite reports: it houses data from all online marketing campaigns, but you have to make sure to tag the links that are being used within the campaigns. Here we can see AdWords data, email marketing data and banner/link advertising data.

AdWords

Location in old GA: Traffic Sources >> AdWords
Location in new GA: My Sites >> Reports >> Advertising >> AdWords

If you are running an AdWords campaign, make sure that your Analytics account is linked to your AdWords account. This is not done automatically. There are a few steps that you need to follow.

These reports are very valuable from a keyword standpoint. Since you are paying for these clicks, you definitely want to know which keywords are producing the most sales/leads and have the highest engagement levels.

Keywords with bounce rates over 45% should be carefully reviewed. More importantly, if the keywords are directly related to your service/product offering (ex. “jacksonville resort hotel”) and your bounce rate is north of 45% – 50%, then you need to review the landing page that is being used for that particular keyword: review the design, the headline and page copy.

Content Reports

Content reports in GA give you fantastic insight into how well content on your site is actually working. This is the data that should underscore your content strategy: what pages need to change, what pages are your most successful, etc.

Location in old GA: Content (in the sidebar)
Location in new GA: My Sites >> Reports >> Content

Top Landing Pages

Location in old GA: Content >> Top Landing Pages
Location in new GA: My Sites >> Reports >> Content >> Site Content >> Landing Pages

These are your top entrance pages, meaning these are the pages that your incoming traffic/visitors land on first. They are the first impression that you are giving to prospective customers, so it is important to know how these pages perform. Pay very close attention to bounce rates: if your bounce rate is above 40% on your top landing pages (even if your Home Page acts as your top landing page), then you need to take a serious look at the images, headlines and content on that page.

Content Drilldown:

Location in old GA: Content >> Content Drilldown
Location in new GA: My Sites >> Reports >> Content >> Site Content >> Content Drilldown

This report shows engagement levels for website pages, i.e., how “sticky” were these pages in capturing visitors. Pay close attention to Bounce Rates and Average Time On Page.

Content Drilldown KPIs: High Bounce Rates on sales/content/conversion pages indicate that you need to alter the page in some way. Additionally, if the Average Time on Page metric is low while bounce/exit rate is high, then you need to alter the text/offer/design. On the other hand, if Average Time on Page is good, then you might need to move that page to the front of your website.

Exit Pages

Location in old GA: Content >> Top Exit Pages
Location in new GA: My Sites >> Reports >> Content >> Site Content >> Exit Pages

This report shows the pages from which people are exiting your site. The significance of Exits varies according to each page.

For example, it may be common for visitors to exit your site from a contact or “thank you” page because they have completed some type of conversion activity. In contrast, a large number of Exits from a non-conversion page (ex. Rooms page) may indicate that the page is confusing or that it generates user errors.

In Conclusion

We have now reviewed each of the most important elements of Google Analytics. You may not be a “power user” after this simple series, but we guarantee you now have greater understanding and knowledge of Google Analytics than most of your peers. Analytics is data-dense and frequently confusing; by honing your focus on a handful of key reports, you’ll still be able to make solid, data-driven marketing decisions.

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