So, we are at the end of 2010. I thought I would share my Google Analytics (GA) Results and what it means to me in hopes that you will share yours and we can try to figure out with each other where we need to focus in 2011. I am no GA expert. (Feel free to correct me if at any point I spew misinformation!)
From what I believe, GA is a trend analysis tool. I would not put much stock in the face value of the figures, but I would put stock in the trend analysis - meaning, relationships between figures and also how figures change over time. (See, even for figures that are wrong, if they are consistently wrong in the same way all the time, then the trend of change over time can still be valuable.)
So, here's what I'm looking at and I will compare this to 2011's results as 2011 progresses to see if I am improving my analytics or not.
First, on the dashboard of your iCraft store report, there is a date range in the top right corner. That date range is a drop down. Choose the drop down and type in the calendar year range for 2010 and hit apply.
Now you are seeing your stats for 2010. Here are mine and what they mean to me:
VISITSVisits: 4,005
Page Views: 8,424
Bounce Rate: 66.62% (people who landed on your shop and immediately left)
Ew - that's an ugly bounce rate. I can see from my referring traffic that my Project Wonderful ads are definitely bringing me traffic. However, since my bounce rate is high, maybe it's not the right traffic. Maybe I'm not reaching the right demographic.
What does this mean? In 2011, I must bring my bounce rate down by:
- refining my ads - maybe they are not representative of my shop
- changing my ads - maybe they are not targetted enough. Maybe I should make an ad for bookmark cards that is different from my ad for wedding cards that is different from... you get the picture and then put each ad on a correspondingly more targetting site.
- continue replacementing for new blogs to advertise on - maybe I'm not not reaching the right audience
TRAFFICNew Visits: 72.78% - I expected this. iCraft as a whole is still trying to build web presence.
Referring Sites: 30.93%
Search Engines: 55.40%
Direct Traffic: 13.52%
Other: 0.15%
Ok, maybe my high bounce rate is from replacement engines. I seem to be getting decent traffic from Search Engines, but my shop isn't holding that interest once the person clicks and I'm not gaining the sale.
What does this mean? In 2011, I must bring my bounce rate down by:
- improving my pictures - maybe my shop is "ugly" once they click here from a google replacement
- finding a way to better organize my shop - maybe they can't find what they were looking for because my listings are organized in no particular order (iCraft, some help here would be nice)
TRENDSSales on iCraft: 8 orders (these I counted from my iCraft account)
Visits to sales ratio: 4,005/8 = 501
This is the number I want to watch over time. That's A LOT of visits to get a sale. Looking at my trend of daily visits, I get about 10 visits a day per GA (4,005/365). To get 501 visits, that's 50 days. 50 days for 1 sale.
Items listed in 2010: 74 (I had to guestimate this one. I'm going to keep a monthly total in 2011)
Listed to Sold ratio: 74/8 = 9
This is another one for me to watch. I have to list roughly 9 things to get 1 sale. Being as I list 1 or 2 things a week (yes, I'm slooOOOooOooW), that's about 1 sale every other month. Yicky.
So, in 2011, I have to LIST MORE.
SUMMARY - MY ACTION PLAN- refine ads
- find more targetted advertising
- improve photos
- improve shop organization
- try to list more
If I do these things, my bounce rate should come down and my visits to sales ratio should improve.
What are your results??? What are you going to do about it?