Google Analytics is a robust, free reporting software which measures a variety of user activity on your website. Installing the software is quite easy and the reporting data can be interpreted by most people.
Within Google Analytics, you have the ability to do ‘Goal Setting.’ Normally, a person would log into Google Analytics and toggle (or create) the level of report they need. For example, you can set date ranges within the report and it will automatically format the data to reflect your desires. An advanced, customizable feature of Google Analytics is Goal Setting. Think of a goal as a website business objective followed my a measurable action by a visitor. An indicative result (or goal) would be a “Thank You” page loading once somebody filled out your contact form.
In theory, a goal can be set up in the following manner: Your business objective is to “generate leads.” Your desired visitor action is to “complete your contact form.” And finally, your “success measure” is the destination URL of form_submitted.html (for example). Goals can be used to drive loyalty by signing up for your newsletter (subscription_confirmed.html), and used to increase revenue by completing a purchase (thankyou.html). As you can see, this is a simplistic system which is easy to understand.
In Google Analytics, goal setting can used to track purchases, video downloads, video plays, etc… in addition, Google Analytics provides an easy to use tutorial to assist you in the goal setting up process. For more information on how to set up Goal Setting, click here.
About the Author: Rhett DeMille, the owner of PalmettoSoft, is a leading search engine optimization consultant located in the Charlotte NC and Charleston SC areas.
