Google Analytics, when properly installed, is the best way for companies to measure traffic to their sites, the sources of that traffic and the behavior of visitors on their site.
Google Analytics operates by inserting a string of code into a site, for instance:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-XXXXXXXX-1’]);
_gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]);(function() {
var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true;
ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js‘;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();</script>
And that goes on every page of your site. (The XXXXXXX masks
the identity of the site for the purposes of this post).
Once installed and with a month’s worth of data, you can start to see patterns and trends such as:
- Where do your visitors come from? (Geographically and even down to states or cities.)
- What devices are they using?
- What browsers are they using?
- How long are they on the site or how long do they spend on an average page?
Even better, if you do things like send out newsletters or post stories on your site and then create links through social media, you can track the inbound traffic sources to learn which are the most valuable referral sources.
Finally, Google Analytics can also be linked to Google’s AdWords product, so if you are running pay per click (PPC), display or remarketing advertising campaigns, you can create goals and track progress towards them.
Logistics companies thrive on data and analytics to optimize their businesses and that of their clients. Why not do the same for your own marketing purposes?