Though many of us use analytics to track how well a particular website or blog is doing, this data rarely gets the attention it deserves. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your analytics:
Educate Yourself
Most analytics reports use their own terminology to get across the same idea. The first step is to understand exactly what these terms means – so you can truly understand the data.
Check Frequently
Checking your analytics often will allow you to see when something has changed drastically, and allow you to adapt more quickly. Even if you don’t understand the “why”, you will begin to see when something is going well (or poorly). If you don’t like the idea of having to check the site everyday, send a report to your email instead.
Recognize Patterns
The most important factor in reading analytics is to look for patterns in the data. Once you have figured out the patterns you can begin to decipher meaning. For example, you have an album review blog that sees a huge influx of traffic on Tuesdays – because major labels always release new albums on Tuesday. This is a simple example, but demonstrates the power of recognizing patterns.
Evolve Constantly
This is the step that most people fail to achieve with analytics. How do you take data and convert it into strategy? Let’s take the example above one step further. If you figure out that everyone is coming to the site on Tuesday – you should probably try to release content on Tuesdays. It may sound like a simple solution, but that one small change can drastically improve your traffic. Any successful website will continue to evolve long after it has been created.
How else do YOU use analytics?
Photo Credit: CLUC
About TJ O'Connor