Understanding how a website performs is crucial to understanding the value of it’s audience, products, and brand reputation. Experienced salespeople want to understand the customers’ buying experience while respecting regulations and user privacy while those of us with fewer resources also want time freedom on a budget.
That’s where web analytics tools like Google Analytics come in. Knowing how many visitors you’re attracting each month and which pages are attracting the most visitors can mean the difference between the success and failure of any business.
How Brands Use Web Analytics to Drive Campaigns
A 2020 O’Reilly survey found only 48% of businesses use machine learning data analysis and AI tools. Few businesses had made the switch to event-based analytics like Google Analytics 4 then but today most of us use AI every day and typically without thinking about it. From unlocking cell phones to sending autocorrected or autocompleted text in emails. So it’s certainly time smaller brands and teams begin making the most of AI benefits.
Personalizing the Buyer Experience
Every point of contact a brand has with a customer – online and offline – is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with them. By expressing an interest in their full buying experience brands demonstrate dedication to the user and a commitment to internal improvement.
Collecting data to understand users’ buying and product experience is a great way to build trust and loyalty within any customer base.
Collecting Real-Time Customer Feedback
By inquiring about all aspects of a customer’s experience, both positive and negative, brands can increase their responsiveness and fine-tune their product and business strategy
A strategy is a customized process (or combination of proces... More in real-time. Negative customer feedback, while it can be hard to hear, is a great opportunity to enhance products or processes, and it lets the customer know they are being heard.
Collecting Product Data to Inform Development
A customer isn’t just purchasing a product or service; they are purchasing a solution to a problem Understanding why customers buy a product or service is important but equally critical is the opportunity to learn ways to improve that product or create new solutions for a customer base.
Monitoring More Purchasing Factors
Simply collecting basic information about customers won’t help us understand the full picture of a brand’s performance. If sales
Sales is any set of activities related to selling products a... More are falling (or increasing), we need to know why; maybe the buying experience isn’t smooth (or a new product is taking off). Every data point is critical to fine-tuning marketing
Marketing is a series of steps used to achieve a sales goal.... More strategyA strategy is a customized process (or combination of proces... More.
Why Google? Why Now? Google Analytics 4 Offers More
Google Analytics is an informative, simple and quick way to get started for free. There are currently 2 types of GA properties – Universal Analytics (UA) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). UA, however, is the old version of Google Analytics. Google Analytics stopped providing Universal Analytics support and switched to prioritize the new and improved Google Analytics 4. Google also ended access to UA (standard) on July 1, 2023. (Universal Analytics 360 has an additional year and ends on July 1, 2024.)
When compared to Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 is more than just a streamlined and user-friendly experience. It’s also built with machine learning (think AI) at its core, allowing for better insights and predictions about your website’s performance. The Havard Business Review recently found that AI “increases leads by 50%, reduces call times by 60%, and results in overall cost reductions of up to 60%.”
Google Analytics 4 also offers some key privacy benefits. With increased data privacy concerns and regulations, GA4 offers a more secure and privacy-focused approach to web analytics.
How To Integrate Your Data with Google Analytics 4
You can learn a lot about users just by regularly analyzing your website analytics. Learn which products or pages get more hits, how long are users staying on each page and which pages send users running the fastest. For example, if a lot of users visit your product page but leave once they scroll to your pricing you may need to adjust your pricing strategyA strategy is a customized process (or combination of proces... More.
You can learn even more, across all your marketingMarketing is a series of steps used to achieve a sales goal.... More platforms, by connecting other data sources. Google Analytics allows up to 10 million “hits” per month, per account from up to 50 data streams including:
Social Media Data
Vibrant, interactive social media accounts are critical for small businesses. Encourage reviews, feedback and user experience information on your social media pages. Consumers are increasingly using social media to interact with businesses, so be sure to monitor and update your social media sites frequently.
Email and CRM Data
Email campaigns remain a very effective communication, data collection and feedback tool for small businesses. You can collect consumer data through forms, landing pages, and client relationship managers to see what content/products are of most interest to users.
Product Rating and Review Data
We can better understand customers’ purchasing behaviors by offering product ratings and providing an opportunity to leave written feedback in a comment box. This allows us to adjust accordingly and follow up with an additional opportunity to connect with the user.
Survey Data
Polls and other surveys provide valuable customer data collection but use them wisely. Keep surveys short and to the point, and offer an incentive, like a coupon or promotion, to encourage participation.
How to Get Started with GA4 for Independent Executives
Switching to GA4 can be easy, but it’s important to set up each property correctly. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get started:
Step 1: Log in to Google Analytics and create a new GA4 property
To create a new GA4 property, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Google Analytics account.
- Click the “Admin” button.
- Select the account and the property you want to create a GA4 property for.
- Click “Create Property” and select “GA4.”
- Follow the prompts to complete the setup process.
Step 2: Add the GA4 tracking code to your website
Once you’ve created a GA4 property, you need to add the tracking code to your website. Here’s how:
- Copy the GA4 tracking code provided by Google Analytics.
- Paste the tracking code into your website’s header or footer section.
- Verify that the tracking code is installed correctly by checking your GA4 property’s “Realtime” reports.
Step 3: Configure your GA4 property
To configure your GA4 property, follow these steps:
- Click the “Admin” button.
- Select your GA4 property.
- Click “Data Streams” and select the data stream you want to configure.
- Follow the prompts to set up your data stream.
- Configure your property settings, including your data retention and conversion tracking preferences.
Step 4: Learn how to use GA4
To get the most out of GA4, it’s important to understand how to use its new features and capabilities. Here are some resources to help you get started:
- Google Analytics offers free online courses to help you learn how to use GA4 effectively.
- The Google Analytics Help Center provides documentation and tutorials to help you navigate GA4’s features and capabilities.
Hopefully, you now agree, switching to GA4 is a no-brainer for small business owners who want to gain better insights and make more informed decisions about their website’s performance. With its improved machine learning capabilities, more detailed data on user behavior and engagement, and enhanced privacy features, GA4 is the future of web analytics.
If you’re ready to get started with Google Analytics but need some help along the way, use the chatbox or button below to talk about it online or over the phone.
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