Web analytics allows you to know the active users of a site.
Web analytics is a discipline that specializes in recording, measuring and analyzing data linked to a website . This allows you to gain in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of web traffic.
Web analytics is considered essential for carrying out content analysis , developing a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy and exploiting online advertising. There are various resources and tools that make the collection and processing of information feasible.
Introduction to web analytics
Web analytics is a concept that refers to different processes and actions that are developed to understand the performance of an online publication . Thanks to trackers and cookies, everything that visitors to a site do is recorded and thus the so-called web metrics arise.
These metrics are quantitative data: number of unique users, pages viewed, average session duration, CTR (click-through rate), etc. The most important variables are called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) .
Web analytics is therefore used to collect and analyse data . Customised reports are also generated according to the needs of the website owner.
This data is vital for the design and implementation of advertising campaigns . Based on the relevant analysis, decisions can be made regarding paid ads, programmatic advertising, and other issues.
It is interesting to note that many platforms offer their own web analytics and advertising resources. Google Ads (formerly AdWords ), Facebook Pixel (now Meta ) and LinkedIn Insights (or LinkedIn Talent Insights ) are all used to develop this type of tasks.
There are data visualization tools that capture web analytics records.
Your link to SEO
It is common to link web analytics to SEO . It should be noted that the idea of SEO refers to the optimization of a website so that it is well positioned in a search engine (that is, so that the site appears at the top of the results pages when a user performs a search related to the content offered).
Web analytics, in this context, helps to carry out a technical SEO analysis . The data obtained makes it possible to design a content strategy so that the site is well positioned, whether in organic searches or paid searches .
By researching traffic sources and performing trend analysis, to name two, you can discover how to boost your site and make the most of your SEO tools .
Knowing interaction metrics is possible thanks to web analytics.
Examples of web analytics
Let's say a company that sells tires wants to boost e-commerce . Its executives therefore set a series of objectives and goals that they want to achieve with their website.
By doing a keyword analysis with Google Analytics , they discover that most visitors come to the site searching for “tire sales in San Jorge” and “car tires in San Jorge” . Given this behavior of the average user, they begin to develop content that includes these keywords and, in turn, contains sales links in said texts.
Web analytics also helps them study interactions per visit, segment audiences and carry out other research. They use all this knowledge to promote online sales .
Let's take the case of a digital sports newspaper. Its managers use web analytics to gain insight into the origin of the traffic they receive. They find that visitors tend to arrive via Google rather than social media, and that football articles are the most popular.
Given this situation, they have decided to maintain their SEO strategy and focus on more intensive work on Facebook , X (formerly Twitter ), Instagram and TikTok : The aim is to increase traffic from the networks. They also plan to increase the number of football articles they publish each month by 25%.
The advantages
The advantages of web analytics, as we have already seen, are numerous and varied. In summary, we can say that web analytics:
- It allows you to understand the visitors of a website : The metrics indicate everything from how many unique users access it per day to the number of pages per session they visit, the time they spend on the site and other data.
- Helps to optimize the site : Knowledge of visitors leads to the implementation of actions to improve the UX (User Experience) .
- It is useful for making forecasts : Trend analysis helps to anticipate how users will behave in the future.
- Optimize your marketing investment : Your data is very important to accurately guide how to invest in marketing campaigns.
Importance of web analytics
Web analytics is important in various aspects of online marketing and advertising . It can be said that its tools and resources are useful for achieving four major goals:
- Attraction : The analysis and proper interpretation of metrics is essential to attract visitors.
- Activation : Knowing user behavior can encourage certain actions.
- Conversion : Web analytics also helps to encourage website users to complete the steps that constitute a business for the company (making a purchase, subscribing to a service, etc.).
- Retention : It is important to remember that once you have attracted, activated and converted a user, it is essential to retain them. Web analytics allows you to know if the effort devoted to loyalty is bearing fruit.