Top 5 reasons to master Google Analytics
Google Analytics. Or, for those of us in the know, GA. It tells you how your site is performing, right? It sure does. But it tells you a lot more than that. In fact, over the past few years, technical capabilities have advanced so much that the list of insights GA can provide is practically endless.
Where visitors come from, what they do on your site, end-to-end funnels, top performing content, top supporting content, missed trend opportunities… I could go on.
Yes, Google Analytics is a free tool. But this is one instance where “you get what you pay for” just doesn’t hold up. Instead, this is a case of “you get what you put in.”
Learn it. Master it. Put in the ongoing work. What you will get out of it is invaluable. If you need convincing, here are just five reasons to master GA:
- Your competitors will
The insights you can get out of GA are invaluable. It can identify untapped market demographics, off season trends to capitalize on, upcoming search trends and more. Whether you decide to jump on that massive advantage or not, your competitors will (if they haven’t already). Once they do, you don’t want to be scrambling to catch up. Invest in mastery now, learn how to use the insights to strengthen your presence, and you will be well placed to get, or stay, on top.
- Turn your off season into your hustle season
Virtually every business has an off or low season. Even Amazon sees dips outside of peak shopping times. But there are always opportunities to jump on, even if your product or service is seasonal. Whether it’s branding or partnership opportunities to keep your name top-of-mind, or search rankings to strengthen so you’re well positioned to absolutely nail your peak seasons, off season is only “off” if you allow it. When you master GA, off season quickly becomes hustle season.
- It makes you desirable and hireable!
If you’re a student, looking to change careers, or want to go for that big promotion, being a master of data and analytics is currently, and will continue to be, one of the most in-demand job market skills. At higher levels, mastering GA means you have the skillset to make data-driven decisions and design strategies based on hard data. At the entry level, being a GA master means businesses will want you for your ability to build, generate and read an array of reports. That can be tedious work, which is why it’s great for interns and entry level employees, but because you learn so much about a business by studying reports, you are in the perfect position to get ahead.
- Become EXACTLY what your target market wants
You can conduct as many surveys and focus groups as your resources will allow, but nothing tells you what people truly want better than their actual, real world behaviour. Now, let’s be clear. GA doesn’t give you personally identifiable information about any specific person. But, it can give you incredibly granular insights into specific groups, allowing you to understand how different demographic groups, traffic sources, device users, etc. actually behave online. What type of content they interact with and when. What they share, click, buy, search for. What grabs their attention, what loses their attention and so much more. It empowers you in a way no technology or strategy in the past ever has.
- Create a data-driven marketing calendar
Like most businesses, you probably have a calendar of key holidays, seasons and events for creating targeted marketing campaigns. Great. But, do you know for sure that you’re capitalizing on every potential event? Do you know exactly what terms people are using to search for products, services and other content around those events? Do you know without a doubt which of your content items has the highest conversion rate and how it performs best? GA will tell you that, and more, so you can build a strong, data-driven marketing calendar, modify it as needed to address changing market trends, and consistently stay ahead of the pack.
Need more reasons to master Google Analytics? Here’s one more: there’s an incredibly accessible workshop coming up, right here at Concordia Continuing Education, designed to help people of all levels - from student to c-suite - master Google Analytics and get a very necessary edge in today’s market.