In the right hands, website data can transform a business almost overnight. The insight and knowledge that one can gain from such a venture is truly invaluable. Despite this, few businesses choose to fully-utilise this transformative information, and this is primarily just down to a lack of proficiency/knowledge.
However, contrary to popular belief, analysing website traffic is not all too difficult when armed with the right know-how. In fact, even absolute beginners can make full-use of website data when adhering to a few key pieces of advice, and this is exactly what we are going to be letting you in on within this article. Let’s jump straight into it.
Conducting Analysis is a Key Skill
The notion of learning how to analyse website data entails much more than most people realise, and figuring out what to actually look for when conducting analysis is what allows you to differentiate the useful information from the unimportant.
Unfortunately, there are no “set” components you should be looking out for when conducting analysis, and every individual website is going to have different statistics that matter for them. This makes explaining what you should be looking for extremely difficult – but the core components are always the same.
There are a few key statistics that every website needs to pay attention to, and this is where any traffic is coming from and which of your products/services are the most popular (if you happen to be selling something). These two vital pieces of data are the bread and butter of conducting analysis; they allow you to learn which areas you excel in and which areas need some work.
For example, if you find that all of your traffic comes from google; first of all, this is great news. You have mastered the art of SEO, and this is a true strong point for your website. However, if you also see that the traffic levels coming from Youtube or email outreach are abysmal, then this could be a good indicator that something isn’t working quite right.
Learning what information is going to have the most importance for your website is crucial when conducting analysis, and once you get a grip on this, everything else will fall into place shortly after.
Learn How To Read Between the Lines
There is only so much that website data can tell you. At a certain point, you need to know how to read between the lines if you want to maximise your website’s potential. Keeping a tight grip on statistics and numbers is all well and good when just looking to conduct basic analysis, but if you are really looking to dive in deep and take a look at the specifics, this is where a little deduction can be a god-send.
To give an example, let’s say that you are trying to hone in on one specific product that isn’t performing too well and want to see what’s going on. Website data can give you all the information you need to decipher this problem, but it is not going to solve it for you.
No, in order to do that you are going to have to break things down into bite size chunks and analyse every component. Perhaps you can tell that it’s not the product in itself that’s the problem – it seems to get enough clicks and views. From here, you could deduce that there is something wrong in the following steps of the buying process that makes people turn away, and whether it be bad copy, sparse information, or abysmal photos – all of these could be potential things you need to look at.
This process will allow you to truly optimise your website to the fullest extent, and this kind of analysis is superb for fixing individual issues that cannot be seen on a broader scale.
Put Your Findings To Work
You can look at all of the website data in the world, but if you don’t put your findings to use, then this entire venture would have been entirely pointless. This last step is integral to ensuring your website grows instead of stagnates, and if you know there is an issue but choose not to fix it, you can almost guarantee your website is not going to do well in the long-run.
Sure, fixing minor problems may seem a little tedious, and there is no doubt that there is more exciting work to be done. However, all of these minor improvements add up, and in the end, you will come out with a website that is better than 99.9% of your competitors. This alone is well worth the effort.
All-in-all, learning how to use data strategically is a key skill that should be developed and perfected for years on end. However, that’s not to say that you cannot get the benefits from market data without years of practice, and in reality, prospective businesses can put this vital knowledge to use almost immediately.
Do not make the detrimental mistake that can be seen with most other businesses by neglecting to conduct market research on a regular basis. This one task has the potential to outright revolutionise a business if used correctly, and if you follow the tips in this article, you should have no problems with utilising website data to the best of your capabilities. Good luck.
