One of the primary goals of every blogger out there is to keep improving their blogs to garner new and retain existing audiences. For bloggers, this entails increased visibility and consistent blog strategy updates.

But first, you should gauge your blog’s performance to know the best strategy to implement. Thus, the need for robust tools like Google Analytics. With the help of this tool, you can better understand your audience and identify better ways to develop and expand your blog.

However, for first-time users, Google Analytics use might appear complicated. Fortunately for you, this article will help you better understand how best to use it for your blog. By the end of this guide, you will also be able to understand what google analytics is and the data you can get from it as a blogger.

What is Google Analytics?

Provided by Google, Google Analytics or GA is a tool that collects beneficial information about how people find and interact with blogs or websites. Then presents these data in a way that blog or website owners can easily understand. Today, it is a must-have tool for savvy bloggers and website managers.

With Google Analytics, you can access a plethora of vital data about your blog and visitors. And this enables you to evaluate your blog’s performance and develop strategies to improve as you go.

Data that Google Analytics Can Provide

As mentioned earlier, Google Analytics is a robust tool that allows you to access a wealth of information regarding your blog and visitors. Here are some of the data you can get from Google Analytics as a blogger:

#1. How Much Traffic your Blog Gets

Knowing how much traffic your blog gets is one of the easiest ways to gauge a blog’s success. And this is one of the data Google Analytics provides. Using this tool, you can see how much traffic your blog gets and how it trends over time.

Google Analytics further reveals how much of this traffic comes from first-time visitors. It also shows those that come from returning visitors (visitors who like your blog well enough to visit more than once).

#2. The Blog Posts Visitors are Checking Out

On a blog, there will always be some blog posts that are more popular and well-liked than others. Understanding what topics your blog’s readers are most interested in depends on knowing which posts are getting the most views or traffic.

Google Analytics also provides such data. The tool breaks down traffic data page by page. And this is to enable you to see the pages gaining the most traction.

#3. Whether your Visitors Read the Posts they Click on and if they Stick around to View Other Posts

It is nice to get traffic, but it is not very valuable if a visitor clicks on a blog post but leaves the page before reading it. Technically, Google Analytics cannot directly say whether or not a visitor reads your blog post. However, it can provide data on how long visitors stay on your page, which is somehow a reliable indication of whether they stuck around long enough to read the content.

A Behavior Flow chart from Google Analytics also shows which pages most frequently encourage visitors to view more posts. With this data, you can assess whether people enjoy reading your blog posts.

#4. Demographic Information About Visitors

Google Analytics will not divulge information about specific users because doing so would violate their privacy. However, they offer data about the types of visitors finding your blog.

That includes demographic data such as gender and age breakdowns, visitor geographical locations, and the interests revealed by their browsing habits. With such data, you can understand your visitors better and ensure you create content that is appealing to them.

#5. Whether your Traffic Comes from Mobile Device, Tablet, or Desktop

Another essential data that Google Analytics provides is the breakdown of visitors viewing your blog on a mobile device, desktop computer, and tablet. Ensuring your blog is mobile-friendly should be your top priority since mobile usage has steadily grown in recent years.

However, if this has not been your priority, seeing the percentage of visitors who view your blog on mobile devices can emphasize its importance. Additionally, it can assist you in understanding how various visitors see your blog pages.

The Best Ways to Use Google Analytics for your Blog

As a blogger, you can learn a lot about your blog’s reception from Google Analytics. However, you need to know how to use those insights effectively to put them to use. Some of the best ways to use Google Analytics for your blog are as follows:

#1. Begin with your Goals First

Every blog differs in so many ways. As a blogger, you have a target audience you want to appeal to and a specific set of goals you want your blog to accomplish.

Therefore, you must clearly define what success means to you if you want your blog to be as successful as possible. Once you have determined what to accomplish, Google Analytics will become much more valuable. And this is because you will know which metrics to prioritize.

#2. Set up Conversion Tracking

Once you set up Google Analytics, a lot of the most vital data will be available automatically. However, you will get a lot more out of it by setting up conversion tracking if you intend to use your blog as a sales tool. Or if you plan to use it to persuade visitors to take a particular type of action, like scheduling an appointment or joining your email list.

Using Google Analytics, you can specify a particular action, most vital for your business objectives, and set the tool to track them. If you have a business blog, you can use Google Analytics to set up a sales funnel or use conversion tracking to assess the number of email signups your blog helps drive.

#3. Carryout Analysis and Testing

To make sense of data from Google Analytics, you should also apply some human analysis. To transform the metrics provided by Google Analytics into insights you can use, you need to analyze them.

Create hypotheses based on the data and then set up tests (to check your theories out). Consider setting up A/B tests for various headlines, content formats, or calls to action (CTA). You will be able to understand your audience preferences better and how to improve the gathered results moving forward.

#4. Check Google Analytics Regularly

Setting up Google Analytics will not be worth much if you fail to check it regularly. Thus, make it a routine to check your Google Analytics dashboard often to see how your blog is doing and to notice any changes in the data that might reveal something important.

Conclusion

Setting up Google Analytics will be your best friend if you are new to blogging. With this tool, you will surely gain a better understanding of what your audience wants from you. And with such information, you can plan out your entire blogging strategy.