I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re using Google Analytics for site data and audience insights, if you’re not, we should talk, soon. Seriously, I’d love to hear why you’re not using Google Analytics, send me an email and let me know!) I’m also going to assume that you’re ready to take your content marketing to the next level, and Google Analytics has some really great features to help you do just that. Here are some of our content team’s favorite reports in Google Analytics that help us craft better editorial calendars for our clients!
- On-site Search: If you use a search bar on your website (and you probably should be), you can customize your Google Analytics profile to track what people are searching for on your site. We use this data a lot, for everything from better site structuring to finetuning our SEO, but one of the most impactful ways to use this data is in your editorial calendar. When you know what people are looking for on your site, you can find (and fill!) any gaps in your content and craft better content to meet your audience’s needs. You can also take it a step further and start developing the content that addresses whatever motivated that search. Are directions to your store a popular search? Add a Google Map with driving directions to your home page or from your main nav! Once you know what people are coming to your site for, you can write better content to get them there directly and attract them earlier on in their buyer’s journey!
- Where to find it: Behavior > Site Search > Overview
- Audience Interests: We’re all about keeping the focus on your customers, from building great brand personas to targeting the right people at the right times with your marketing efforts. Google Analytics uses the same audience targeting data from Google Ads, to give you a better understanding of the people visiting your website. The Affinity Categories represent your audience at the start of their buying journey, while your In-Market Segments are those visitors who are farther along, and closer to purchasing. When you’re brainstorming for content topics, take a good look at both of those reports and craft stage-appropriate content with those categories in mind. If you were looking at your Affinity Categories, and your top two categories were 30 Minute Chefs and Travel Buffs, some awareness-stage, attention-grabbing articles like At-Home Recipes Inspired By Your Favorite Street Foods or The Most Useful Kitchen Gadgets From Around the World. If you were looking at your In-Market Segments and saw Home Decor and Real Estate categories at the top, you could write some consideration-stage pieces like Our Favorite Tips for Packing Every Room In Your House or Expert Tips for Decorating Your New Home. These reports not only help you understand your audiences better, but they also help you map out your content to the right buying stage!
- Where to find it: Audience > Interests > Affinity Categories and In-Market Segments
- Audience Behavior: There are actually a few different reports we use to help us better understand Audience Behavior in Google Analytics…
- New vs. Returning Visitors – Both of these audiences are important, but how you write to them should be different. If your site is primarily attracting new visitors, congrats! Use your content to educate and convert them! If your site is primarily drawing people back, that’s awesome too! Your content can be used to introduce them to new products, complimentary services as upsells, show them how to take care of and make the most of current products, etc. Understanding this mix of new vs. returning visitors also helps you write better content to whichever category is in the minority as well to help diversify your traffic.
Where to find it: Audience > Behavior > New vs. Returning - Mobile Use – Having a mobile-friendly site is vital to all aspects of your digital marketing strategy, but understanding how visitors are accessing your site is especially important to your content team. When we’re putting together an editorial calendar for clients, we want to know how most people are accessing the site, so we can tailor our content formats. Even if the site is responsive, there is a lot we can do in the strategy and development process to make content even more mobile-friendly. If the majority of your site traffic is still coming from desktops, we may focus on more long-form or downloadable resources, whereas a more mobile audience is probably going to be more receptive to infographics, slideshows, and shorter content in general. Be sure to test all of your content on a mobile device and write to your audiences’ preferences!
Where to find it: Audience > Mobile > Overview
- New vs. Returning Visitors – Both of these audiences are important, but how you write to them should be different. If your site is primarily attracting new visitors, congrats! Use your content to educate and convert them! If your site is primarily drawing people back, that’s awesome too! Your content can be used to introduce them to new products, complimentary services as upsells, show them how to take care of and make the most of current products, etc. Understanding this mix of new vs. returning visitors also helps you write better content to whichever category is in the minority as well to help diversify your traffic.
- Users and Behavior Flows: When we start a piece of content, we have the purpose statement for the piece and the call to action outlined before we even begin writing. Content should be purposeful and knowing what you want a reader to do after they’re through with your content is so important. Following up on those intentions and understanding how visitors are working their way through your site can be a game-changer for your content marketing! There are two really cool reports in Google Analytics that walk you through your visitors’ journeys:
- Users Flow: Take a good look at how users navigate your site from the source, through your site pages all the way until they exit. This is a helpful report for comparing volumes of traffic from different sources and better understand traffic patterns. Are some of your content pieces performing better with audiences from specific sources, why or why not?
Where to find it: Audience > Users Flow - Behavior Flow: Get a better understanding of how visitors traveled from one page to the next on your site. Which content is keeping users the most engaged? Are they taking the actions you want them to from page to page?
Where to find it: Behavior > Behavior Flow
- Users Flow: Take a good look at how users navigate your site from the source, through your site pages all the way until they exit. This is a helpful report for comparing volumes of traffic from different sources and better understand traffic patterns. Are some of your content pieces performing better with audiences from specific sources, why or why not?
How do you use your website’s data to improve your digital marketing strategies? What data do you find most helpful when you’re setting up or optimizing a campaign? Send me an email to talk through the details, claim your free digital marketing opportunity assessment to get our team’s fresh perspective on your digital marketing, or just set up a time to talk!
