A couple of weeks ago, I suggested to my wife that we watch the movie Moneyball. She asked me what it was about? I said it had Brad Pitt in it. She said that’s great, so didn’t Seven Years in Tibet, again, what’s it about? I told her it was the true story about how the Oakland A’s used analytics to go against the traditional, archaic ways of constructing a baseball team and ended up revolutionizing the game. She then said, so, it’s about baseball. And I said it’s about the numbers. And she asked, “what story do the numbers tell?”
I had no answer. But, I ask, what story do the numbers for your website tell?
In this blog, we’re going to, well, the first thing is tell you how awesome Moneyball is! So good. Great book, too. Then we’re going to define website analytics and touch upon their importance. And after that, we’ll provide JEG DESIGN INC’s three web analytics you need to focus on and why. They are:
- Bounce Rate
- Keyword Rank
- And Interactions Per Visit
So, as Brad Pitt famously said once, “Being married means, I can break wind and eat ice cream in bed.”
Let’s go.
What is web analytics, and why is it important?
Whether you call it anthropology, psychology, or biology — humans researching humans have existed for many of our lifetimes. And web analytics is no different.
Web analytics measures and analyzes the user’s behavior on your website. Or in simpler terms, web analytics answers questions:
- How many people are visiting my site?
- What pages are they visiting?
- How long are they staying on these pages?
- And how did they get to my website?
Web analytics is essential because, please, I’m not trying to be condescending, but it’s pretty obvious. The information supplied is precious. It allows you to focus on what’s working and modify what isn’t. And since a website is easily malleable, unlike, let’s say, a 25,000 sq ft space in the local mall — these adjustments can take seconds!
However, interpreting web analytics can be as pleasurable as watching your friend’s favorite foreign art film. Even worse, there’s so much; you don’t know what exactly you need to translate.
No worries, home skillet – that’s why we got GICE at JEG DESIGN INC.
JEG DESIGN INC’s three web analytics that matter most to your website
1. Bounce Rate
Before we understand what bounce rate means, we need to grasp what it means to “bounce.” First, it’s not like bouncing a ball. Or like bouncing a payroll check because drugs and hookers aren’t free. But it’s more like you going into a nightclub and realizing, ya, no.
To bounce is to visit a page and not do another damn thing other than leave. And the bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit your site and bounce. Simply put, they enter and leave the same way they came in.
You calculate the bounce rate by dividing the single-page sessions (the bouncers, and by bouncers, we mean those who bounce, not beefy guys named Thad with rolled-up t-shirt sleeves) and the total sessions on the site.
So, say you had 100 sessions on your site, 15 people confused your URL, www.youhorn.com, with something else, so they bounced. Your bounce rate would be 15%. I’m a little shocked it isn’t higher.
2. Keyword Rank
How many of you follow professional boxing? Okay, none of you. That’s fine. If you’ve seen the movies Creed or Rocky, you may have seen something like, “Ranked as the #3 Contender for the Middleweight Championship of the World.” This means there’s the champion, the #1 contender, the # 2 contender, and then our guy.
The exact same deal with keyword ranking — this tells you where your site ranks for specific keywords within the world of search engines.
But understand this, don’t just Google the keyword you’re looking to rank high with and assume your company will show up. There are a variety of variables at play when you do a Google search, such as:
- Geographic location
- Search history
- And the type of device you’re using
Plus, are you really the sexiest ice cream man in the northeast? Really? But if you want to find out your keyword ranking, you can use tools such as Wordstream or SEM Rush.
3. Interactions Per Visit
Do you have a member of the family or friend that shows up, usually uninvited, crushes all the food, drinks all your booze, leaves last, and doesn’t even leave 20 bucks for your daughter’s birthday whose party they just crashed? Ya, that’s not precisely what we mean by Interactions Per Visit, but it’s close.
Interactions per visit are the good-guy wrestler to the bad-guy Mr. Bounce Rate. You see, IPV (not an STD) measures the users who spend a little time on your site and what they do.
- What are they clicking on?
- What pages did they visit?
- Did they comment on a blog that has way too many sexual innuendos?
Understanding this is how you audible and make changes on the fly. This provides data outlining what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be hit harder or softer.
Summary
Moneyball showed you how you could take the smallest of budgets and compete against the biggest of companies. They had a next-level comprehension and perspective of the numbers. Then, and only then, they figured out a way for the numbers to work for them instead of daunting them.
We get it. You’ve got so many things on your plate; how could you be expected to know not only what all these numbers mean, but more so, how can you change them?
That’s again why we have Gice. Contact Jonathan Gicewicz at JEG DESIGN INC for Vermont websites development and inquire about his free evaluation.
And then let us know what your favorite Brad Pitt movie is…Just kidding. But mines Once Upon Time…In Hollywood!
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Written by Keith Hannigan. Keith is the co-owner and Chief Writer at SBI Content Creation LLC. SBI Content Creation is a content writing company just outside of Atlanta, Georgia
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Post Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash