Google Analytics: What to feed back to clients?

Question

We have several successful websites all of which have Google Analytics. A few clients like to see some of the stats on the website and kind of like to have a "feedback" session.

I usually go through the usual stuff like unique visits, most popular content, keywords etc. Although I feel these are important I'm not really sure how much the client is getting from this.

I've recently come across the click overview where for each individual page it shows the percentage of clicks on the different links.

I was just wondering what kind of things other people like to show? Are there some hidden little areas in analytics that could be of great use to the clients? How can I clearly show the success of the website?

Answer 1

Follow the KISSMetrics guide

The KISSMetrics blog has a detailed post titled, “How to (Finally) Make Web Analytics Work for You” that explains the process of evaluating exactly what's worth tracking. It breaks it down into the following steps:

1. Identify business objectives.
2. Specify website goals.
3. Distinguish website Key Performance Indicators.
   • Visitor loyalty
   • Visitor recency
   • Conversion rate
   • Task completion rate
   • Economic value
4. Discover your segments.

Read the full post here.

Don't forget to compare current data with historical data if you have it

The best way to “clearly show the success of the website” is to compare the analytics data from your design with that from the previous design if you have it.

Telling a client that their site's conversion rate is 10% is not necessarily an indicator that the design is a success. But telling them that it's 10% higher than the design they were using before they hired you means a lot more if you're trying to show them the value of your redesign.

For this reason, it's worth obtaining analytics data (general averages) before you launch a redesigned site whenever you can.

Answer 2

You should start by asking yourself what the most usefull information is you can present your client. Then, make sure your presentation of the results leads to recommendations. Showing and discussing data can be fun and interesting, but actually using it to steer the purpose of the website should be you and your client's priority.

Do you have any KPI (key performance indicators) set up with your client in order to determine the succes of the website in question? If so, show them the results of the KPI's. If not, determine a set of KPI's, monitor them and come up with ways of improving their results.