Google Analytics can be very overwhelming. I mean, how can you just find simple stats like visits, keywords used, and where people came from? Let me help simply things!
Let me simplify the Google Analytics experience. I have some really easy instructions on how to find visit counts, traffic sources, and keywords.
Google Analytics Simplified
Check out my step-by-step instructions for each key metric.
How Many Visits (Users and Sessions)
- Go to: Reports > Audience > Overview
- What to Look For: In this overview, you’ll see the Users metric (the number of unique visitors) and Sessions (total visits, including repeat visits).
Pageviews are also shown here, which represent the total number of pages viewed.
Where People Came From (Traffic Sources)
- Go to: Reports > Acquisition > Overview
- What to Look For: Here, you’ll see a breakdown of traffic sources, such as Organic Search, Direct, Referral, and Social.
- For more details, click on Channels to see the specific breakdown and percentages of each source.
To drill down further into traffic from specific sources or channels, click on each one to explore which websites or platforms are bringing in visitors.
Keywords Used (Organic Search Terms)
Since Google Analytics often shows “(not provided)” for organic keywords due to privacy reasons, this data is limited in GA. To access available keyword data:
- Go to: Acquisition > Campaigns > Organic Keywords
- What to Look For: This will display any keywords for which Google has passed data.
For a more comprehensive view, you can use Google Search Console in tandem with Google Analytics:
- In GA, go to Acquisition > Search Console > Queries. (Make sure Google Search Console is linked to GA for this report to appear.)
- What to Look For: This will show the actual search terms used, click-through rates, and average position data from Google.
Simple Google Analytics Dashboard Customization
For easy access to just the metrics your client cares about, you can set up a custom dashboard with only the most relevant widgets.
- Go to Customization > Dashboards and click Create to set up a new dashboard.
- Add widgets for Users, Sessions, Top Traffic Sources, and Organic Keywords so that everything they need is in one simple view.
Automate Google Analytics Reports for Easy Access
Set up an automated email report so they can receive key metrics without logging in.
- Go to Customization > Saved Reports, select the metrics they need, and set a schedule for email delivery.
- This reduces the need for you to navigate Google Analytics and makes it more convenient.
Simple Terms and Metrics to Focus On
If you find Google Analytics to be overwhelming, let me simplify some key metrics.
- Users: Total unique visitors in a period.
- Sessions: Total visits (including repeats) within a period.
- Traffic Sources: Where users come from (e.g., search engines, social media, other websites).
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave the site after viewing only one page.
- Pages/Sessions: How many pages, on average, each visitor views per session.
These simplified steps and customized reports can help you easily track essential information without getting lost in the details. You can quickly view the core stats that matter and build confidence using Google Analytics over time.
I hope you found these Google Analytics tips super helpful!
