Tracking Your Top Landing Pages in Google Analytics - Radd ...

The Landing Pages report in Google Analytics shows a list of all your highest traffic landing pages on your website. Google Analytics's landing page definition ... You'rereading: TrackingYourTopLandingPagesinGoogleAnalytics TrackingYourTopLandingPagesinGoogleAnalytics Landingpagesareanimportantconceptindigitalmarketing.Understandinghowpeoplefindyoursite,andwheretheyenterisimportanttobeingabletogrowyourtrafficandgetmoreoutofyourmarketing. Butwhatarelandingpages?AndhowcanbusinessesusetoolslikeGoogleAnalyticstounderstandhowpeoplearelandingontheirwebsite?TrackinglandingpagesinGoogleAnalyticsmeansbeingabletooptimizetherightpagesandbeingabletoinformyourpaidadvertisingandSEOmarketingefforts.Sincelandingpagesrepresentthewaythatpeoplefirstgettoyoursite,theirusefulnessforoptimizingamarketingcampaigncan’tbeoverstated. Businesswhohaveheartheterm“landingpage”andwonderedhowthatmightbeusefultothemcanreadthroughourguideontheLandingPagesreport.AllyouneedisaGoogleAnalyticsaccount.BeingabletoreadthisreportisabigpartofgettingthemostoutofanySEOorpay-per-click(PPC)strategy. Here’showtoidentifyandoptimizeyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics. WhatistheLandingPagesreport? TheLandingPagesreportinGoogleAnalyticsshowsalistofallyourhighesttrafficlandingpagesonyourwebsite.GoogleAnalytics’slandingpagedefinitionisfor:pagesthatarethefirstpageauserviewsinasession.Theentrypointtoyoursite. Thereportisorganizedbythenumberofvisitorsthathavelandedonyourpagesoveraspecifiedtimeperiod.TofindthisreportnavigatetoyourGoogleAnaltyicsaccountandfindthecorrectpropertyandview,thengotoBehaviorontheleftside,then>SiteContent>LandingPages. Thisreportisreallyusefulforsearchenginemarketingbecauseitshowsimportantdataincludingsessions,bouncerates,pagespersessionandmore.InfactitcanbeusedforbothSEOandsearchenginePPCsincethesestylesofmarketingbothrelyontrackinglandingpagesinGoogleAnalyticstounderstandperformance. Inadditiontohavingthisdatabrokendownbyindividualpages,youalsohaveagraphthatshowsyouroveralltrafficforaselecteddaterangeanddifferentsegmentsorfiltersyoucanusetoreallyfocusonthedatathat’simportanttoyou. IfyoualsosetupEcommerceTracking,youwillhaveadditionaldatayoucanviewliketransactions,revenueandconversionrate.YoucansetupgoalsaswellandtracktheirprogressintheLandingPagesReport.EcommercedatainGoogleAnalyticsprovidesextrainformationforthisacrossarangeofreportsandgivesmarketersextradetailedreports(underConversions>Ecommerce). Whyisthelandingpagesreportimportant? TheLandingPagesReportisimportantbecauseitallowsyoutoseewhichofyoursite’spagesearnthemosttraffic.Thefirst10orsolandingpageslistedareyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalyticsandthosearethepagesthatactastheintroductiontoyourwebsite–howeverthisreportcanshowupto5000URLsatatime,andthereportcanshowyoudataforalllandingpages. ThedataintheLandingPagesReportcanhelpyourbusinessansweranumberofquestionsabouttheperformanceofyoursite.Becauselandingpagesarethefirstexperienceavisitorhasonyoursite,payingattentiontothissectionisvitalforyourSEMefforts.Theyrepresentwherepeopleenteryoursiteandindicatepagesthatrepresentverygoodinboundmarketingvalue. Ifyoucanoptimizethesepagesforinboundmarketing–youcanusethemtoevenfurtherincreasetraffictoyoursite. TheLandingPagesReportcantellyouhowwellyourmarketingisdoing,whattheuserisinterestedin,wheretheycametoyoursitefrom(SERPs,socialmedia,internetads,etc.),andgiveyouinsightontheirbehavior.Itcanalsosupplementanydatayougetfrom3rdpartyPPCadnetworks. ThestartingpointforanydigitalmarketingshouldbetofirstidentifytoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics–andthenmoveonfromthere. HowtousetheLandingPagesreport ThereareanumberofsegmentandfilteroptionsyoucanusetofocusoncertaindatawhentrackinglandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics. UsingSegments SegmentsaresubsetsofyourAnalyticsdata.They’reessentiallyfiltersthatyoucanusethatdon’taltertheunderlyingdata.Therearedefaultsegmentsthatyoucanusetofilteryourdatalikeorganic,paid,andreferraltrafficaswellascustomsegmentoptions. Ifyouhavebothpaidandorganiccampaignsrunning,usingdefaultsegmentsforbothorganicandpaidtrafficallowsyoutolookatthedataseparately.Creatingsegmentsforindividualadcampaignscanhelpyoutrackprogressofeachcampaignseparatelyaswell.Youcanalsocreatesegmentsfordemographics,technology,behavior,trafficsourcesandmore. Ifyouwantedtofocusondesktoptrafficandmobiletrafficseparately,youcanusethedefaultsegmentsforthosedatasetsandcomparethemtoeachother.Ifyounoticeyourdesktoptrafficisdoingsignificantlybetterthanmobile,itmightbeasignyourmobileusabilitycouldusesomework. Ifyouwanttoviewtrafficfordifferentcities,agesandotherpersonaldatayouwouldcreatesegmentsusingdemographicsdataforwhateverinformationyouwouldliketofocuson.Forexample,ifmostofyourcustomersarepeoplebetweentheagesof25and44youcanselectthoseagerangesforanewsegment. (KeepinmindthatsomecustomcampaignmetricsmightrequirespecialcookieconsentforyourGoogleAnalytics.) Whateverthesegmentyoudecidetouseorcreatecanbeveryinsightfultoyouroverallsitehealthandperformance.Thereareatonofoptionsforyoutocreatedifferentsegmentsusingamixofdifferentcharacteristics.Usethisinformationtobemorestrategicwithyourmarketingeffortsandimproveonyoursite. SecondaryDimensions: Dimensionsaredescriptiveattributesorcharacteristicsofdata.Thereareanumberofdimensionsyoucanusetocomparedataincludingsource,campaign,devicecategory,andmore.Thesearen’texclusivetotheLandingPagesreport,butthey’reusefultoolthatcanbeusedtocomparedifferentmetrics. YoucansetthesesecondarydimensionstofurtherbreakdownyourdatawithintheLandingPagesReport.Forexample,addingasource/mediumdimensioncantellyouhowyourusersarefindingyourlandingpages.  Filters: Tofilterdataatthepagelevel,allyouneedtodoisusethesearchbartofilterbycertainwordsorphrasesinthepageURLsdependingonyourURLstructure.Forexample,ifyouwanttoseeonlyyourbloglandingpagesyoucantype“/blog”andhitsearch.Samewith“/products”or“/categories”pages.advancedfilteringoptionallowsyoutofilterdatasetsevenfurtherandadddimensionsormetrics. AdvancedFilterswhichcanbeaccessedtotherightofthesearchbarallowyoutodigdeeperforinformation.Youcanfilterdatatoincludeorexcludecertainwordsorphrasesandadddimensionsormetricsontopofthat. KeyMetrics: ThereareanumberofdefaultmetricsandnumbersthatyoucanviewviewingyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics,butwe’llfocusonafewoftheimportantonesthatcantellyoualotaboutyourpages. Firstaresessions,whichdescribestheperiodthatauseractivelyengagedwithyoursitewithinaspecifiedtimerange.Userscanopenmultiplesessionsinthesameday,overseveraldays,weeksormonthsbecauseonceasessionends,thereisopportunityforanewone. Sessionsareessentiallythefullperiodwheresomeonehasvisitedyoursite–theycanrepresentmultiplepageviews,andevenmultipleentrancesifsomeoneexitsandthencomesback. Sessionsendbasedontimeorbasedonacampaignchange.Usuallysessionswillexpireafter30minutesofinactivityoratmidnight.Ifauserarrivesviaonecampaign,leaves,andthenreturnsviaadifferentcampaign,theprevioussessionwillendandanewonewillbegin.Youcanalsochangetheexpirationtimefrom30minutestoamoreappropriatetimedependingonhowmuchtimeuserstypicallyneedtospendonyoursite. WithinthesesessionsalotofthingscanhappenthatgetrecordedbyGoogleAnalytics.Thisinformationisimportantbecauseyoucancomparethisdatatolookfortrendsorchangesinthenumberofsessions.Youcancomparesourcestoseewhichdrivesthemosttraffictoyoursite,howmanypagespersessioneachofthosesourceshasandmore. NextistheNewUsersmetric.Newusersaredefinedasthenumberoffirsttimesitevisitorsduringaspecifieddaterange.Ifyouarelookingtogrowyourwebsitetraffic,thisisanimportantmetrictopayattentionto.  Dependingonthemarketingeffortsyouusetoacquireusers,thismetrichelpsyoudeterminehowsuccessfulyouwereatgeneratingnewusers.Havingahighnumberofnewuserswhoengagewithyoursiteisgoodbuthavingalownumberisn’tnecessarilybadiftheyareengagingaswellorconverting. Althoughhavingahighnumberofnewuserswouldseemlikeagoodthing,thereareothermetricstopayattentiontothatwilltellyouhowvaluabletheseusersare.Forexample,bouncerateandconversions. BouncerateisdefinedinGoogleAnalyticsasthenumberofsinglepagesessionsinwhichtherewasnointeractionwiththepage.Essentiallyitmeansauserclickedonyourlinkandimmediatelyclickedoutbecausetheydidn’tfindwhattheyweresearchingfor.Thiscouldcorrelatetonewusersbecausealthoughyoumaybereachingmoreandmorenewuserseverymonth,ifthey’renotconvertingorinteractingwithyourwebsitethenitprobablymeansthey’renotfindingwhatthey’relooking. IfyouhavesetupEcommerceTracking,thenyoucanalsoviewdatalikerevenueandconversionrate.Conversionrateisimportanttotouchonbecauseagain,ahighnumberofuserswithalowconversionratemighttellyouthereisroomforimprovementforthosepages.Forothersites,therawnumberofconversionsmightbemorevaluable–ofcourseitalldependsoneachsite’spreferredKPIs. Comparinglandingpagesacrossdifferenttimeframes YoucanalsotakeadvantageoftimeperiodadjustmentsforyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics. Comparingthedatayou’vefoundwithdifferentdatescanprovideusefulinformation.Forexample,ifyouwanttotrackcampaignprogressfromdifferentperiodsoryears,youcandothatjustbychangingthedates.Youcancomparedatawiththepreviousperiodorsetcustomdates. Thereareoptionsforprevious-yearcomparisons,previous-period,andcustomtimeframes. Ifyounoticedyourlandingpagesareexperiencingadropintraffic,comparingtwodifferentdatesetscanhelpyouidentifywhichpageshavelostthemosttraffic.Usingthisinformation,youcanthencomeupwithanewstrategytooptimizethesepages.Timecomparisonshelpmarketersmeasurelong-termperformance. ComparingdatafromyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalyticsisagreatwaytomeasuresuccess.Makingnoteofthedateyoubeganyourcampaignandcomparingitwithnewerdatacantellyouwhetherornotyouarereachingmorepeopleasaresultofyourmarketingefforts. Howtooptimizelandingpages WiththeinformationintheGoogleAnalyticsLandinPagesreport,youcanidentifywhichpagesneedimprovement. Buthowdoyoubeginoptimizingthesepages? Forstarters,optimizingyourpagesforon-pageSEOfactorslikemetadataandcontentisagreatplacetostart.Beginbyfindingnewkeywordsforyourmetatitleandfocusonthetypesofwordsorphrasesthatuserswillbeusingtofindyou.Ifyourtitletagsaretoovagueit’sprobablyabigreasonwhyusersaren’tabletofindyou. (FollowSEObestpracticeswhenoptimizingtitletags.) Whenyouoptimizeyourmetadescriptionsbeaccurateandhonestaboutwhattheuserwillfindonthepage.Ifyoudon’talreadyhaveametadescriptionset,oftentimessearchengineswillcreateoneusingthecontentonyoursite,however,sometimesitdoesn’taccuratelyrepresenteverythingonthepage.Helpingusersunderstandwhattheyareabouttoviewisextremelyhelpfulwhentheyaredecidingwhetherornottoclickonyourlandingpage. Lastlyisyouroptimized-contentmarketingstrategy. First,ifyoudonothaveanycontentonyourpages,writesome!Themoreinformationyoucanprovidetheuseronyourproductorservicesthemorelikelytheyaretoconvert.Whateverinformationyoumighthavethatyouthinkwillhelptheuserdecidetopurchaseyourproductshouldbeincludedandonceyouhavethatinformationonthepageyoucanfinishitoffwithsomeofyourtitletagkeywordstoincreasekeyworddensity.Justbecarefulnottokeywordstuff. Ifyouaretryingtooptimizeforyourpaidads,youshouldalsobereviewingyourkeywordlist.Searchtrendsareconstantlychangingsoyoushouldbeadjustingandrefiningyourkeywordresearchstrategytoreflectthesechanges.IfyourselectedkeywordshavealowCTRafteryouoptimized,deletethem,andstartover. Afteryou’vedoneallthis¸reviewhowyouryousitehasrespondedbytrackingyourtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics.Andthenstartalloveragain! UtilizingtheLandingPagesReportisextremelyvaluabletoyoursearchenginemarketingefforts.Itcanhelpyouidentifywhichpagesneedtobeoptimizedsoyouknowwheretofocusyoureffortsanditallowsyoutotrackyourcampaignprogressovertime. ThereisalottolearnaboutyoursiteandoptimizationeffortswhentrackinglandingpagesinGoogleAnalytics,sotakethetimetodiveinandunderstanduserbehavioronyourlandingpages. GetMoreInfo ContactustolearnmoreabouttrackingtoplandingpagesinGoogleAnalyticsortolearnhowthesepagescanhelpyougrowyourbusiness.OurteamcanhelpyougrowyourSEOandPPCwithacompleterangeofSEMagencyservices. ShareBlog: Email Getnotifiedformoreblogslikethis. PreviousArticle HiringPPCManagementExperts(WhatYouNeedtoKnow) NextArticle Google’sIndexCoverageReport–CheckingASite’sIndexStatus