If your business has a website (and we sure hope you do), are you using Google Analytics? Or do you have Google Analytics and aren't sure what it does or how it helps you?

Have no fear - we have you covered with examples of how to use it for its full potential and why this free service can benefit you as a business owner while at the same time helping grow sales.

Discover how people find you:  For example, Google Analytics can determine if people find you organically through search engines. Or are you seeing more traffic from paid ads and social media posts?

Track user behavior: See which pages of your website people visit the most, how long they stay on your website, and how many pages they visit before they leave. This useful feature helps you course-correct with newly revised content or upgrade your marketing mix.

Goal tracking: What are your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each visit to your website? For example, did the user make a purchase, fill out a form, subscribe, or play a video? Events and goals will vary between websites and can be set up manually. 

User demographics: Knowing your user demographics is precious data. If the user has opted in, you can collect their data to gather beneficial information. Examples include user location, time zone, gender, the device they're on, and their browser.

Content creation: It's more efficient to create content when you know what your audience wants to see. Using Google Analytics, learn which posts performed the best on your website. And determine which posts aren't doing so well and if you need to update them. This allows you to generate more ideas to create new content around specific topics.

Internal site search: If you have search functionality on your website, you can link up the feature Site Search to track the searches users are performing on your website. By seeing the most popular searches, you can prompt many new ideas for your marketing and content.

Find problems: Stay on top of problem areas before they become an issue. One key area to look at is bounce rate, showing how many people leave your website before visiting any other pages. You'll also want to look at the exit page, the last page a visitor was on when they left your site.

It's free: A huge benefit of Google Analytics is that it's free. You can gain valuable information for absolutely nothing! All companies can avail of its features without an additional cost to them.

We know all of this is a lot to consider, and if you feel overwhelmed, we are here to help!