Skip to main content

Google Analytics Jargon Busters

Today I'm going to do something a little bit different, which is Google Analytics...

There's a lot of metrics and analytics, and this is why people don't want to even look at the dashboard. It's like looking in under the bonnet. I mean, especially for me when I open up the bonnet, I don't have a clue, what's what other than where to put the oil or the screen wash, but what all I care about is the numbers on that dashboard, in the car when I'm driving and that's what we're going to go through as to what are the basic numbers and the important numbers, which you need to keep an eye on and to be able to understand when you look at them. This is kind of like a jargon busters session for Google Analytics.

Okay, I'm going to start the presentation. Some of the metrics are pretty much self-explanatory so something like 'Users.' These are the number of visitors. The visitors or the users are the same; who visit a website. 'Sessions' obviously are not visitors. A session is - when I go to a website, my session will start at that point in time. A session is a group of user interactions with your website within a given timeframe. This is... the yellow bit is all your session and within that, you can see a person can visit page one, page two. I want to talk about the event in a bit. They can interact on your website with event one, event two, click on a social media interaction, like a button or share button, or may make a purchase on your website.

All of these interactions are within that session. A session is usually for 30 minutes and it obviously resets at midnight because it's the next day. Well, let's have a look over here. Someone was at some website at 1401, but that session will expire at 1431. Then after a minute of viewing that page, they go and visit another page on 1402 but then that session will then push forward to 1432 and then show an event... or when that session is going to expire at 1433 and whatever that time is over here, it will just add 30 minutes to it. Now, quite often we open up a web page and then walk away for lunch or get busy in a meeting or something like that. If there's no activity for 30 minutes and the session is going to expire. The sessions only last for 30 minutes.

This again is pretty much self-explanatory, the number of sessions per user - you want this to be as high as possible because this shows that the visitor or the user on your website is pretty much interested and engaged in the content of your website. They liked the content and you want this to improve or go up month on month. 'Pageviews' - again, it's self-explanatory. Somebody views an important page. It could be any page. It could be a blog page. It could be a thank you page. It could be any page on your website. A single user or visitor can or may, obviously have multiple pageviews on that session and then we've got pages per session, which is the number of pages visited by a person in a session.

Again, we want visitors to our website to visit multiple pages rather than just a single page because that also indicates to us that that person is interested and all these metrics, which I'm talking about right now and showing you on the screen, they will point to something that the person who's visiting your website is interested or not interested because if these metrics are not happening, that means there's something wrong, you are either driving the wrong traffic to your website, or there's something wrong with the website itself. Things like very slow loading pages. People get fed up if they click on a link or on the navigation bar at the top, and the pages don't load up, and then they've got fed up, they go to some other website. Average session duration - again, you want to increase this and how you can increase your session duration is by putting out high quality, great quality content. It could be a video.

It could be a podcast. It could be an infographic. It could be a 2000-word blog post. To read that blog post or even part of it is going to take quite a bit of time for someone to read even half of it. Your average session duration will always go up. You'll find that on our website, we aim or try to have a video on each and every page of our site first of all and secondly on each and every blog post because even if somebody clicked on a video, they are going to have watched that video for let's say, 30 seconds or something like that, and then pause it and then they continue to read the rest of the blog post and if you've got another video at the bottom of that blog post, they may click again and spend a bit more time on it.

This is quite important in Google's eyes because it will also help you with your organic rankings. Google looks at everybody's website. When this person comes to your site, they spend let's say every session duration is four minutes and when somebody comes to my site and they spend less than two minutes, and both of us are directly competing or are competitors to each other. Google knows that your website has got better quality content because when somebody comes to your site, they're spending more time or they're visiting more pages per visit.

They are taking more actions or events: clicking on videos, social media shares, downloading a white paper or a PDF straight away. Google knows your site is better than mine so you are going to get higher rankings because Google will always try to give the most relevant and the best possible content to someone searching for a problem to their solution. It's extremely important that you put up good quality content because it's going to help you overall in your organic rankings, as well as conversions on your site because it builds up that trust in your video and your brand. This is where a lot of confusion happens with regards to the bounce rate. What is a bounce rate? What it should be high or low? First of all, the percentage of visitors who land on one page and then leave without going to any other on your website.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:

Join in YouTube Live stream every weekday at 1600 hrs. Set your reminder here.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fastest Way To Scale Your Google Ads Campaigns (Without Losing Money)

Google Ads can feel like a high-stakes casino. You’re trying to win big, but one wrong move and your budget vanishes faster than a free pizza at a tech conference. The dream is to scale your campaigns, reach more people, and see those conversions roll in. But the nightmare? Spending more and getting less. So, how do you put your  Google Ads campaigns  into hyper-growth mode without burning a hole in your wallet? It’s not about magic tricks or secret algorithms. It’s about smart, calculated steps that build on what’s already working. Stop Chasing Shiny Objects – Look at Your Data Before you even think about adding new keywords or expanding to  new audiences , take a deep breath and look at what you already have. Your existing campaigns are a goldmine of information, if only you bother to dig. Which keywords are bringing in conversions?  I’m not talking about clicks here. I’m talking about actual sales, leads, sign-ups – whatever your goal is. If a ke...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Is A Key Benefit Of Smart Display Campaigns?

You’ve probably heard about  Smart Display campaigns  if you’re running online ads. They are one of the easiest ways to get your ads in front of the right audience without spending hours tweaking settings. Simplicity At Its Best One of the biggest benefits of Smart Display campaigns is how simple they are to set up. Unlike traditional display campaigns, where you have to choose targeting, bids, and ad placements manually, Smart Display campaigns do all the hard work for you. Automation That Works For You Google’s machine learning takes over and ensures your ads are shown to the right people at the right time. It automatically adjusts bids, selects the best placements, and optimises your campaign for better performance. This means you can focus on your overall marketing strategy while the system fine-tunes your ads in the background. No Technical Expertise Needed Not everyone is an expert in digital advertising, and that’s okay! With Smart Display campaigns...
Post a Comment
Read more

Google Ads Hacks: What The Pros Don’t Want You To Know

Ever felt like Google Ads is a hack club with a bouncer named “Algorithm” and you’re stuck outside, peering through the velvet rope? You’re not alone. Many businesses, big and small, grapple with the complexities of Google Ads, often feeling like they’re pouring money into a black hole. The “pros” – those agencies and consultants who manage huge budgets – often talk a good game, but some of their “hacks” aren’t hacks at all, just common-sense practices they’ve refined. But what if I told you there are some things the pros might not explicitly tell you, not because they’re malicious, but because it challenges the mystique they’ve built around their expertise? These aren’t shady tricks, mind you, but rather fundamental insights that can shift your perspective and empower you to take back control of your ad spend. Let’s pull back the curtain a bit. Hack #1: Your “Quality Score” Isn’t Just About Your Keywords You’ve probably heard about  Quality Score . Google tell...
Post a Comment
Read more