If you aren’t familiar with Google Analytics, it is a free tool you can use to track data. This helpful platform provides insight into the way visitors engage with your website. In particular, it is helpful in guiding your SEO optimize, whether for your blog or an e-commerce site. With a little time and effort, Google Analytics can help you vastly improve your return on investment (ROI) and help you grow your business. 

In regards to search engine optimization (SEO), this analytics platform can help to track your website’s performance regarding certain keywords. It will show you how much organic traffic your campaign brings to your site. In the right hands, Google Analytics opens a world of possibilities for your business. 

While user experience is an important part of your online presence, it’s important to utilize high-quality data collection. This will help you determine the strategy that will drive traffic to your website. Understanding how search engines work will also help you in building links and developing stronger ranking factors across your website.

What Are the Benefits of Google Analytics? 

When it comes to running a small business, Google Analytics and SEO are an excellent way to attain and drive organic traffic. Organic traffic is free because when your website is SEO-friendly, it appears higher when people search for terms relevant to your business. Having a fully optimized website is an essential part of business today. 

As you already know, when people need a product, service, or solution, they search online. Search engine optimization will help your small business connect with your target audience and bring in higher quality traffic. Simply enter the GA tracking code into your website, and you’ll learn a great deal of information about each page on your site.

Moreover, Google Analytics has a wide array of benefits. For those unfamiliar with the platform, we’ve laid out a few of those benefits below. 

Use It Free of Charge 

In its quest to drive and retain data, Google has made its analytics platform free to any and all users. After a quick set-up and a short period for it to collect data, you’ll have a plethora of information at your fingertips. While other platforms offer similar or more user-friendly versions of this program, free is often the most cost-effective solution for a small business owner. 

However, the sheer amount of data can quickly become overwhelming for those unfamiliar with SEO tactics. It can take some time to learn how to properly utilize the functions within Google Analytics. Give yourself the time you need to comprehend what you see. Focus on what seems to be working and try to implement a similar strategy on other parts of your website. 

See Which Pages and Links People Engage With 

With Google Analytics, you can see what pages work best on your website. The data will show you which pages and links people engage with the most. This is an important part of search engine optimization because you can analyze these pages. Ask yourself the following questions: 

  • How are people arriving on this page? 
  • What is different about the content? 
  • Is there something unique about this page? 
  • Is this a product or service, or is it an educational page? 
  • What are the keywords on this page? 

Ruminate on these questions until you reach a satisfying conclusion. Consider how you might be able to work a similar style into other pages. An important aspect of Houston SEO is to test out different tactics. Look at what’s working and see how you can adjust other pages accordingly. 

How Did Your Visitors Find You? 

Without a platform like Google Analytics, it’s difficult to know how people arrive at your website. Once you integrate the platform into your site, though, you’ll begin to see what your best source of traffic is. Typically, you’ll see a few different variations of the following: 

  • Social Media
  • Organic Search 
  • Paid Advertising or Google Ads 
  • Email Marketing 

With a good content marketing strategy, you can begin to weave all of these sources together to work holistically. However, while your content strategy is in development, you can use this information to determine what works best for you now. Are most people finding you through Instagram or Facebook? That means you’re doing well with your social media marketing! 

As time passes, you’ll begin to see more keywords in your organic search results. This will tell you what people search for when they find you. If there’s a good volume for those keywords, you can optimize your SEO strategy for them. 

Visitor Segmentation in Google Analytics 

With this aspect of the data that Google Analytics provides, you will be able to see the number of new visitors that your search engine optimization efforts bring to you. The platform will show you a broad spectrum of data, including new vs returning visitors and their demographics. 

This information can help you determine your strongest target audience. Who you connect with prior to your SEO efforts is an important indicator of your overall strategy. Once you understand who you need to target, you can begin to empathize with them and ask: 

  • Why are they searching for my product or service? 
  • What need does my business address for them? 
  • When they have that need, what do they search for? 

This type of analysis will help to guide the future of your SEO strategy. Find ways to appeal to your target audience by preemptively answering questions they might have. 

Fine Tune Your Website on A Regular Basis 

With its analytics reporting, Google Analytics offers an ongoing analysis of your business. This allows you to fine-tune your website regularly to make improvements or test out options. If a page isn’t performing well, there are several ways to consider optimizing it. 

  • Adjust the keyword density 
  • Update your keyword research
  • Ensure any media is optimized
  • Tweak the meta-data 
  • Balance the Headlines and edit the content

As you test out the different tweaks, you’ll begin to see a new level of growth in your business. Your audience may expand, allowing you to refocus your efforts on encouraging repeat customers. 

Get Help From Houston SEO Experts 

Whether you have experience with SEO or not, it is always okay to ask questions. At Chaos Theory, we believe that search engine optimization can be the great equalizer among businesses. With Google Analytics and an understanding of SEO, anyone has the potential to reach their target audience. In turn, they connect with their community and build a growing network of support. 

When you have questions about SEO or digital marketing, feel welcome to reach out to our team! We are happy to chat about SEO marketing strategies with business owners in Houston and across the country.