Get started on Google Analytics

| Web design

Get started on Google Analytics

Analytics is one of those subjects that not many people pay attention to. There are many reasons why this is the case, usually due to it taking up too much time, website owners don’t realise the importance it has or maybe they think it will be too complicated for them. However over 55 million websites use Google Analytics...

What is analytics?

Analytics is an easy way for you to track the activity of your website. For example how many people visit your site, where they come from, how long they stay and what they looked at on the site.

Why is analytics important?

These days homebuyers are making up their minds about properties they are interested in online way before contacting the agent. It is now more important than ever to know more about the customers search process.

Stats about online estate agency:

  • 90% of homebuyers are now turning to online sources when searching for a home.
  • Over the past four years, estate agent related Google searches have grown 253%, homebuyers perform on average, 11 searches before taking action on an estate agents site.
  • 78% of homebuyers visit at least 3 estate agents site before taking action.

Google Analytics is the best free service available for generating detailed statistics about how visitors are getting to your website and what they are doing once they are there.

Here are the most popular metrics; you will be able to use a date comparison on any of these reports to see month over month progress.

The basics metrics of Analytics:

These metrics can be organised into charts, graphs, and lists. Analytics tools were once aimed towards webmasters, but Google Analytics was created for marketers.

Getting started is really simple; here is the step by step below:

1. Go to http://www.google.co.uk/analytics/ and sign up for an account.

2. They will ask you what you would like to track – choose website

3. Setting up your web properties - Fill in these categories:

  • Choose a website name
  • Enter your websites URL
  • Industry category: choose Real Estate
  • Enter the time zone you are in

4. Then click “Get Tracking ID”

5. Finally Copy the tracking code snippet and paste it into your website’s source code just before the </head> tag.

 

Once you get into it, Analytics will change the way you think about your website and how you market through it. It is available for every business that is serious about online marketing.