Google Analytics and Turning Readers into Customers
Tracking data with Google Analytics and how you transform blog readers into customers
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 How to set up Google Analytics - beginners guide
I really can’t highlight the importance of installing (then analysing) Google analytics enough. Without this you won’t be able to get an insight into what’s working with your SEO content marketing, and what’s not.
Luckily, getting Google analytics set up and connecting your analytics account with Shopify and other ecommerce platform, is pretty easy.
Watch this below video to get a started.
Now once you've got set up with Google analytics, the next step is to integrate that within Shopify so you can track all the activity that happens within your Shopify store directly within analytics.
Top Tip: Google analytics can be very overwhelming when you first get started. Don't let this put you off, and don't feel that you have to work everything out all at once. Get clear about what metrics you want to track first, and then learn those areas of GA.
5.2 How to integrate Google analytics with Shopify
It’s important to remember that although you should set up analytics tracking early on, until you actually have some traffic coming to your website you won’t have any data to analyse.
This means your primary focus should be on driving traffic to your website, but once you’ve started to see that traffic coming in, make sure you visit your analytics at least once per week.
I like to do this as a weekly appointment and this is made much easier if you schedule this into my diary or calendar.
Once you've set up Google analytics and integrated with Shopify, I encourage you to check out these related resources (especially the first one).
In this article I share what you need to do to get Google to index your website, this is equally as important as setting analytics up. Trust me!
And if you want to level up your analytics skills, I'd suggest that you follow Measure School on Youtube as they have some of the best training I've found on the topic.
Related Resources:
5.3 What metrics to track in Analytics & how this data helps you increase sales
- Bounce rate: This metric measures how long your web visitor stays on your website, and it's one of the few data points on your website that you want to be low. A high bounce rate indicates that visitors are not staying on your website, and if that's the case, the next step is to start investigating why? Is your pop up over popping up too soon? Is your website too slow to load? Is your navigation cluttered or difficult to understand?
- Frequency: This is one of the strongest indicators of whether or not a web visitors will go on to become a customer or not. Why? Well the more times a persons comes to your website, the more likely they are to become a customer.
- Recency: This links with frequency, as someone who has come to your site three times in the last 48hrs is far more likely to become a customer than someone who has come to your site three times in the last year. This is why one of your jobs as a marketer is to get your web visitors to your site as many times as possible within the shortest time possible.
- Page views: This is another powerful metric to measure, as the more page views your website has, the stronger an indicator it is that firstly, you're attracting the right type of traffic. And secondly, that those visitors are interested in your website and are reviewing what you have to offer.
- Landing page: This allows you to see the entrance points to your site, i.e what pages visitors land on first. The reality is, most of the traffic to your website is going to come in sideways, via a product page or post, and this will let you know which pages are drawing the most traffic.
**This video is a little older, but luckily not much has changed on the platform, and the segments I show you still deliver as much insights and they always did.
5.4 How to track campaigns using UTM codes
Whether you're using free or paid traffic method, one of the biggest struggles marketers have is analysing the effectiveness of the channel or method because they are not able to track what's going on.
This is where UTM codes come into their own.
What are UTM codes you ask? Well great question....
A UTM code is a snippet of simple code that you can add to the end of a URL to track the performance of campaigns and content.
There are 5 variants of URL parameters you can track - source, medium, campaign, term and content.
The great thing about this is, the dimensions you track via UTM codes show up in your analytics report to give you a clearer insight into marketing performance.
UTM stands for "Urchin Traffic Monitor". This name comes from Urchin Tracker, a web analytics software that served as the base for Google Analytics.
Okay, so now we've got the complicated part out of the way, you'll be glad to know that UTM codes are actually not all that complex to create or track, so let's look at how to do both.
How to create a UTM code/tags
Two ways to create and track your UTM links - with Free tool
Top Tip: Get into the habit of creating UTM codes early on, as this will serve you well when you start driving more traffic and running more campaigns. Check the [campaign] feature in Google analytics to see the results of your utm codes
Whether you're running a specific marketing campaign or simply just mailing your latest post to your email list. I highly recommend that you get into the habit on using UTM codes as this has been one of the most reliable methods in my experience to help you track your marketing efforts.
And don't forget to download your free UTM builder via the link below.
5.5 The importance of Google webmaster tools and how to set it up
We're on the home run of this chapter and also this course, and we're going to wrap up with introducing you to Google webmaster tools.
First let's look at what Google webmaster tools are, then watch the video below and it will show you how to set it up.
What is Google webmaster tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a free service that helps you evaluate and maintain your website's performance in search results and offer insights into how it sees your website. It will also help you uncover issues that need fixing.
You do not need to use GWT for your website to appear in search results, but it can offer you valuable information that can help with your marketing efforts.
How GWT can help monitor your website's performance
1. It verifies that Google can access the content on your website.
2. GWT makes it possible to submit new pages and posts for Google to crawl and remove content you don't want search engine users to discover.
3. It helps you deliver and evaluate content that offers users a more visual experience.
4. You can maintain your website without disrupting its presence in search results.
5. It allows you to discover and eliminate malware or spam problems that may not be easily found through other means.
How GWT helps you understand how Google search views your website
1. It tells you the most popular queries causing your website to appear in search results.
2. It tells you which queries are driving the most traffic.
3. You can see which websites are linking to yours.
4. You can evaluate how well your mobile website is performing for people searching on tablets and phones.
5.6 From blog post reader... to boutique customer
Okay, so you are on the last leg of the Blog your brand course, and we're about to cover one of the most important elements: How to drive readers from your blog over to your product page (so they can buy what you sell)
1. Make sure to keep your content relevant
Make sure you have content that speaks to the needs, wants, and challenges of your audience. This way when they find your content it will be relevant to their lifestyle.
Think about your content as a marketing asset which you use to share the voice of your brand.
2. Use the Shopify shop now button
This button has been around for a while now, but far too few sellers take advantage of it. The Shopify 'buy now' buttons allows you to make the sale directly within your content rather than on the sales page.
The secret to making sales like that is to become a content provider your ideal customer know, loves and trusts, and keep your present consistent.
This way when they want what you sell, if they're on your content, they'll feel safe to make a purchase.
3. Don't forget to link internally
Internal linking is the primary way that you're going to get people who come in sideways via your content over onto your sales page.
Internal links should be highlighted a different colour. Try linking using your SEO keyword and using other anchor text.
Try to link to at least one product within each post. Make sure there's a link within the first two paragraphs, in the body copy, and in the footer.
4. Test link size and link placement
It's always a good idea to have a link in a much larger size than the text on the rest of the page, as you want it to stand out.
5. Optimise your images
Don't forget that you can use your images to link over to your products. The images that you select for your content should be relevant to what the potential customer is reading
6. Include banners within your content
Banners are another great way for you to get the click. Banners are a bit different to pictures as they tend to have more sales oriented messages on them, and are in different sizes.
You can always create your own banners for your products and place them within your content.
7. Don't forget to include a 'call to action'
Remember to include a 'call to action' within your content, tell your readers what you want them to do and why.
Calls to action tend to work better when they are placed half way through the content.
8. Set up retargeting as soon as possible
Remember, most of the visitors to your website will not buy the first time round. So if you're writing content designed to drive traffic, and you're not using any retargeting pixels you're missing out.
Having this tracking in place is what will allow you to redirect those warm customers back to your website again.
Top tips: Before you get deep into your SEO content marketing strategy, don't forget to set up your tracking and retargeting pixels.
9. Focus on growing your email subscribers
I've said it a few times now, but I'll say it again as it's that important. Every new email subscriber is a potential customer, especially if you're building your list in the right places, so make list building an ongoing priority in your business.
10. Work on improving your copywriting skills
A lot of times people feel uncomfortable about introducing a product and sales conversations, that's why copywriting is your friend.
Using core copywriting skills, which we've discussed in this chapter, you can use your words and story telling skills to lead your potential customers down your sales funnel.
Try and find a natural way to introduce your product, and get comfortable with the fact that not everyone's is going to be interested in what you have to sell.
List posts are one of my all time favourite ways to do that.
ACTION TASKS
Get your Google analytics set up then get it integrated in Shopify. Next, get your Google webmaster tools set up, this is different than Google analytics and will help you track your SEO efforts, alongside alerting you to any search engines issues your website might have.
Lastly, go through all your current posts and make sure you've added three links to a product page, have a call to action, and at least one image that links back to your product.
Key takeaways from chapter #5
Download your UTM builder tool
DO NOT TRY AND FILL IN THIS VERSION. Make a copy and save it.
Well done you've just completed BYB. Congratulations
If you're reading this and haven't skimmed or even skipped chapters, not only will you know the exact strategy I use to create search engine optimised content that ranks in search engines and drives traffic & sales to both my physical and digital product businesses.
You'll also know more about content marketing and how it can become a powerful asset for your business, the only thing left to do is to take drastic action. Let's get it!