So, working with your digital marketing agency, you have your website up and running. Powered by WordPress it is attractive, functional, and SEO maximized to the hilt. You’re getting hits, you’re making sales, and you’re pretty happy with the overall results. Is this great, or what? … Well, not really. “Huh?” you say. The SEO copy is doing its job, the browsers are stopping by, and you’re making sales. Isn’t this what it’s all about? No! Why? Because you’re not utilizing your site to its full potential. You’re lacking one key element – Google Analytics – the program that is specifically geared for small and medium retail sites, to increase sales and offer marketing flexibility (although it has other uses as well).

Recommended reading: How to Add Google Analytics Tracking Code to your WordPress Blog without a Plugin

Remember Google Analytics?

Your digital agency probably told you about it in your very first meeting. (By the way, if they didn’t, you really should be looking for a new agency!) In any case, with all the excitement of getting the site up and running, Google Analytics may have gotten lost in the shuffle. But, let’s take a few moments to discuss Google Analytics – what it is, what it does, and how it can make your site a lot more productive!

What Google Analytics Is

As the name implies, Google Analytics is a program offered by Google. For base users, it’s free. For premium users, there’s a charge. Your SEO agency can discuss specific cost information, as well as what version would be best for your site.  The program can be used across all platforms, be they powered by Apple, Microsoft, Android or others, and can be used with computers, tablets, and mobile phones. Google Analytics also works with email. The service is statistically based, and its analytics work hand-in-hand to strengthen SEO and marketing functions. It is versatile, flexible, and ever evolving to become yet even more efficient. It is, in fact, one of the greatest marketing tools ever invented – and it works in real time.

What Google Analytics Does

Essentially, Google Analytics is a statistical tracking device that tells you who visited your website, the amount of time they spent, what pages they visited, and where they came from, including those visitors who were referred from other sites such as social media, search engines, email, and more. It also has the ability to display ads, and can be used for email marketing, pay-per-click networks, and digital collateral including PDF document links.

How Google Analytics Can Make Your Site More Productive

You’ve seen what Google Analytics is, and what it does. Now, it’s time to delve into what using Google Analytics can specifically do for you! Let’s take a look.

• Target your sites’ visitors … also known as, “know your customers”.  Google Analytics lets you target specific customers/potential customers who are interested in your products/services. It also gives you information on what keywords you can use to attract more customers who may be interested in buying. The more viable customers you attract, the better your sales. The more sales you pull in, the further you’ll be ahead of your competition. Now that’s a happy thought!
• Measure the success of your marketing program … Google Analytics can tell you what’s selling, what’s not selling, and more importantly – why. You can see what SEO words are working, and which are not. As well as what products are getting browsers’ attention and what are not. And you can review this data in real time, as well as over a cumulative period. If this was the only tool Google Analytics provided, it would be worth its weight in gold. Lucky for you, there are many more.
• Reconfigure your website to make it more effective … the analytics can tell you what works, and what’s not working as well. Seeing that, you can reconfigure your website to take advantage of this rich marketing information – slant copy to a different angle, change colors to make products/services look better, promote hot selling items, and spend less space on items which aren’t doing well. And again, the immediacy of the information provided by Google Analytics lets you make these changes in real time. No waiting! You get to strike while the proverbial iron is hot.

And there’s Much More

Since the first caveman sold a rock to another caveman, marketing has been evolving. Look around you. Printed advertising media such as newspapers, magazines, even direct mail, are receding into the background as digital media revolutionizes how selling and marketing is done. It’s not that it’s just a new way to market, it’s the only way to market. The old way of waiting a month for sales figure reports, is dead and buried. With Google Analytics, your marketing program is able to turn and adjust immediately to take advantage what the public wants, so you can supply it in real time – not a week from now. This is not the future of marketing, it is what marketing is today.

So, if you haven’t already done so, now would be an excellent time to get in touch with your digital marketing agency to see how adding Google Analytics to WordPress and your website can make a big impact on your bottom line. It’s time to get with the program!

Get the guide about Google Analytics: Your Guide to Google Analytics (ebook)

Author Bio:

At Shout Agency, they believe that SEO is essential to every businesses success. Priding themselves on being Australia’s leading digital marketing agency, they can help grow your business by delivering more targeted traffic to your website. For more information visit Shout Agency website.