August 23, 2011

Google Analytics Explained

August 23, 2011

Google Analytics Explained

Google Analytics Explained

It may seem like Google sometime has its very own language, so here is a glossary of some of the terms you may come across while using Google Analytics.Bounce RateBounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page. Use this metric to measure visit quality - a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors. The more compelling your landing pages, the more visitors will stay on your site and convert.Goal A goal is a website page that serves as conversions for your site. Some examples of good conversion goals are: A 'thank you' page after a user has submitted information through a form. This can track newsletter signups, email list subscriptions, job application forms, or contact forms.Goal CompletionsIf goals are configured, the total number of visitors who have completed all elements defined for this particular goal.MediumIn the context of campaign tracking, medium indicates the means by which a visitor to a site received the link to that site. Examples of mediums are "organic" and "cost-per-click" in the case of search engine links, and "email" and "print" in the case of newslettersNew VisitsThe number of new visits by people who have never been to the site before.OrganicAn organic traffic is a web traffic that is coming from search engines to your website as the result of keyword based search query that your website give results to.ReferralIn Google Analytics, a site that refers traffic to the site you are tracking. A referral occurs when any hyperlink is clicked that takes a user to a new page of file in any website - the originating site is the referrer. When a user arrives at your site, referral information is captured, which includes the referrer URL if available, any search terms that were used, time and date information and more.Time on SiteThe time a visitor spends on your site.VisitorA user that visits your site. The initial session by a user during any given date range is considered to be an additional visit and an additional visitor. Any future sessions from the same user during the selected time period are counted as additional visits, but not as additional visitors.VisitsThe number of times your visitors has been to your site (unique sessions initiated by all your visitors). If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity will be attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes will be counted as part of the original session.We hope this helps with your understanding of the Google reports you are reviewing. Don’t forget to call the Bang Team if you need an understanding of what these results mean to your individual business.