Do you know how many people are visiting your social enterprise’s website? Are you tracking your website’s performance to see what’s working and what’s not?
If you’re not paying attention to your website metrics, you could be missing out on valuable insights that can help improve your online presence.
Google Analytics is the most popular website analytics service. It allows you to track and report website traffic, and it’s an essential tool for any business or nonprofit with a website. But there are about to be a number of changes coming soon to Google Analytics, which means it’s more important than ever for your social enterprise to pay attention to what people are doing on your website.
Let’s explore the changes that are about to happen in Google Analytics and why social enterprises need to pay attention to their website metrics. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your online presence, read on to discover why website metrics matter.
What are website metrics?
As a digital communications manager for social enterprises, I have seen firsthand the impact that a strong online presence can have for these organizations.
Website metrics refer to the collection, measurement and analysis of data related to your website’s usage and performance. This includes information such as the number of visitors, pageviews, bounce rate and other metrics that help businesses and nonprofits understand how their websites are performing.
It’s important to track website metrics because they provide valuable insights into the behavior and preferences of your website visitors.
By tracking your website metrics, you can identify areas where your website needs improvement. You can also measure the success of your marketing campaigns, and you can optimize your website to drive more traffic and revenue.
What’s changing with Google Analytics?
Now let’s talk about Google Analytics and the big changes that are coming.
The big news is that Google Analytics is doing away with Universal Analytics soon. The new version of Google Analytics, known as GA4, offers more capabilities and insights that everyone can leverage to improve their online presence and drive more conversions.
One of the reasons why GA4 is an improvement over Universal Analytics is because it offers a more holistic approach to tracking user behavior across devices and platforms.
For example, let’s say your social enterprise sells fair trade products.
With GA4, you can not only track the number of visits to your website. You can also track how many visitors clicked on a specific product page, added items to their cart and then completed a purchase.
In addition, GA4 can help your social enterprise understand where your website traffic is coming from, such as social media platforms, search engines or email campaigns. This information can help you optimize your marketing efforts and focus on the channels that are driving the most traffic and conversions.
Personally, I think GA4 will be too complicated for most social enterprises. But there are several good alternatives to Google Analytics out there that will still allow you to track your website’s metrics and get a more holistic view of how people are interacting with your organization online.
No matter which tool you choose to use, I want to take a moment to highlight the top website metrics that social enterprises should track in order to grow their impact.
Unique Visitors
One of the most important website metrics to track is unique visitors.
Unique visitors refer to the number of people who have visited your website over a certain period of time. By tracking this metric, social enterprises can see how many people are being exposed to their brand and mission.
Tracking unique visitors is important because it can help you identify trends in your website traffic.
For example, if a social enterprise sees a significant increase in unique visitors after launching a new campaign or petition, that’s a good sign that the effort was successful in attracting new visitors to their site.
Pageviews
Another important metric to track is pageviews.
Pageviews refer to the number of times a webpage has been viewed by visitors to your site. This metric is important because it can help you understand which pages on your site are the most popular.
By tracking pageviews, a social enterprise can identify which pages are driving the most traffic to their site.
This can help with optimizing these pages for conversions, such as encouraging visitors to sign up for a newsletter or make a donation.
Traffic Sources
Tracking traffic sources is another important website metric for social enterprises to monitor.
Traffic sources refer to where visitors to your site are coming from, such as search engines, social media or referral sites.
By tracking traffic sources, social enterprises can identify which channels are driving the most traffic to their site. For example, if a social enterprise sees that the majority of their traffic is coming from social media, they may want to invest more resources into their social media marketing efforts.
Top Pages
In addition to tracking overall pageviews, you should also monitor which specific pages on your site are the most popular. This can help with understanding which pages are resonating with your audience and driving engagement—all good indicators that your social impact is growing.
By identifying the top pages on your site, you can optimize these pages for conversions and ensure that they are providing visitors with the information they are looking for.
Bounce Rate
Finally, every social enterprise should track their bounce rate.
Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that visitors are not finding what they are looking for on your site.
By monitoring bounce rate, you can identify which pages on your site are causing visitors to leave.
You can then take steps to improve these pages, such as by providing more information or making the page more visually engaging.
Conclusion
There are more analytics that would be good to track. But the whole point is that tracking your website metrics is essential for your social enterprise if you’re looking to grow your impact online.
By monitoring unique visitors, pageviews, traffic sources, top pages and bounce rate, your social enterprise can gain valuable insights into your online performance so that, ultimately, you can use your website to change people’s hearts and minds.
By investing in website analytics tools and regularly monitoring these metrics, you’ll have more success with making the most of your social enterprise’s online presence and getting more people engaged with your justice-motivated mission.