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This is another article from our SEO Matters series, where we’ll consider setting Goals using Google Analytics and how that can really take your game up a notch. Note carefully that setting goals not only helps you increase “conversions” (get visitors to take a certain action at your site), but also helps you learn and adjust your general SEO strategies.

by Scott Frangos

What measurable goals have you set for your website’s performance? How many visitors are you converting each month? If you answered, “Huh?” — you’re not alone. In my experience, business blog owners, and businesses with websites seldom even look at their stats that come with their hosting program, let alone Google Analytics. Even BlogMasters and WebMasters I know seem to ignore the power of “goals” and “conversions” as key metrics for your site’s performance.

You can study keywords visitors use to find your site, and which ones result in the highest goal conversions

So, let’s learn about it. And, I think you’ll find that you benefit not only from analyzing the results of your goal setting, but perhaps even more from the new way you think about organizing activity at your site and making site design adjustments.

Quick — does your website have a purpose? If you can’t answer that, you need to set goals. How well is your site reaching those goals? If you can’t answer that… Google Analytics comes to the rescue. Let’s consider some typical goals:

• Getting a visitor to purchase something on your site (a “conversion”, as in converting a visitor into a paying customer)
• Getting a visitor to download a free white paper
• Getting a visitor to go to a “contact us” page and fill out the form

Are you following? Don’t worry… we’re going to watch a video in a moment that will help you understand goals. For now, think of goal setting and tracking as a way to “funnel” visitors to your site to take a desired action. And while the word “funnel” is used by marketers and in Google Analytics bear in mind the difference between a real funnel (the liquid can’t get out), and an online website funnel (the visitor can go somewhere else). That’s why you want to track visitor behavior and make adjustments accordingly.

Here’s a screenshot of an analytics goal I have set up for WebFadds.com:

Above (click to enlarge) you can see that I have set a goal to track visitors who fill out and send (the page tracked only appears after a message is sent) at our site.  I have also defined a “Funnel” (bottom three stepped links) to watch if these visitors go from the home page to the services overview page, and then to the contact page.

Let’s take a look at the video on Goals in Analytics, then we’ll do a review for this article in the series:

To wrap up — here are some points from the video, and general points about setting goals for your site:

• Set up goals using Google Analytics
• You can enter a page that a visitor only hits after they reach a goal (like a “thank you” page)
• You can also “benchmark” your site using Analytics to compare similar business websites online (we’ll talk about that more in a future article in this series)
• You can study keywords visitors use to find your site, and which ones result in the highest goal conversions (then use them in your other SEO efforts)
• When you learn to watch visitor behavior at your site, you can make adjustments that will increase conversions

That last point is really what it’s all about.  If you’re in business with an online presence you need to convert visitors to customers.  Smart goal setting with Google Analytics will help you do that, and find ways to make the process more efficient, and effective.

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About the Author: Scott Frangos develops dynamic, automated WebSites at WebFadds.com, based on the WordPress platform. He also advocates smart use of Google Analytics to help clients reach their business goals. He lives with his wife, Pepper, and three dogs (Wisdom, Spirit and Steggman) in the Pacific Northwest.

About WebHelperMagazine: WebHelperMagazine is a digest of tutorials and helpful articles for WebMasters, BlogMasters & Social Marketers.