How to Boost Your SEO with 7 Useful Google Analytics Metrics

Google Analytics was launched in 2005 and has since become an invaluable resource for SEO insights.

Provided you’re using this suite of tracking tools regularly, you can easily improve SEO by tackling site performance issues and identifying new opportunities for search engine optimization.

More than 29 million websites in the United States use Google Analytics. If you’re not yet putting this powerful tracking tool to good use, now’s the time to make it a cornerstone of your SEO efforts.

More than a quarter of all internet users click on the first Google result displayed after inputting a search query.

Click-through rates diminish considerably by the time you reach the ninth and tenth positions, demonstrating just how vital SEO is for online businesses.

Unsure of how to leverage Google Analytics to improve your ranking? Read on for a roundup of the most useful SEO insights you can learn from Google Analytics.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free-to-use tracking tool that allows site owners to monitor how visitors are interacting with a website.

Google Analytics can be used to keep tabs on the number of users visiting your website, however, you can also delve much deeper into visitor insights.

With Google Analytics, you can easily determine where your site visitors are based, as well as what devices they’re using to access your site.

GAs is an invaluable tool for business owners looking to succeed.

It can be used to provide a snapshot of how well your website is performing, as well as determine the success of any ongoing marketing strategies.

If you’ve yet to truly establish your online presence, Google Analytics can also be used for content curation suggestions.

Crucially, Google Analytics can also be used to capture insights into user behavior.

With this tracking tool at your disposal, it’s easy to segment users into key demographics, based on segments such as region, gender, age, and so on.

Once you’ve done this, it’s far easier to optimize site content and individual web pages to drive conversion rates in the right direction.

How to Boost Your SEO with 7 Useful Google Analytics Metrics

Google Analytics is loaded with user-friendly features and tracking options that can be tailored to any site.

With relatively little effort, you can effectively leverage Google Analytics to provide you with invaluable insights that can bolster your SEO strategy.

1. Tackle slow page loading speeds

If your website isn’t tailored toward mobile devices, make this a priority. Google has recently adopted a mobile-first indexing approach. In other words, Google is more likely to rank your website more highly if it’s mobile-friendly.

One area you’re going to want to focus on when adapting your website for mobile devices is page loading speed.

If you’re unsure about how well your website is performing in this regard, Google Analytics is on hand to help. Google PageSpeed Insights also helps for this.

Many people focus on the overall speed of a website, rather than assessing how well individual pages are performing. This is a mistake you should aim to avoid.

Thankfully, Google Analytics allows you to carry out an in-depth assessment of individual page loading speeds.

The Site Speed Suggestions tool is particularly useful for identifying which aspects of individual pages can be optimized to improve loading speeds and bolster your SEO efforts.

2. Revise your site navigation

Navigation plays a significant role in how well a website ranks. User-friendly navigation will encourage visitors to stay on your website for longer.

The longer a user remains on your site and the more content they explore, the more likely it is that search engines will determine your website is a valuable online resource deserving of a higher ranking.

However, good site navigation is also vital in ensuring your visitors complete a desired action.

If you’re operating an e-commerce platform, this usually means directing a visitor along a complete customer journey, resulting in a transaction.

However, you may simply want to encourage a user to sign up for a company newsletter or share personal details for later correspondence.

If you’re struggling to secure conversions thanks to poor site navigation, Google Analytics can help.

The Google Analytics Behavior tab is what you should be looking at here.

This tab will provide you with rich insights into what your visitors are doing once they land on a certain page. You can determine bounce rates associated with a particular page, as well as identify which pages your visitors are more likely to head to next.

By understanding the behavior of visitors to your site, you can work on improving your existing pages.

If you’re struggling to secure conversions at the final hurdle, think about incorporating some call-to-action prompts to encourage a sale.

If your main goal is lead generation, consider adding visible contact forms to the pages of your website that receive the most traffic.

3. Capitalize on content that’s already performing

If your website is already populated with a good amount of content, look at what’s currently performing well to see how you can build on your strengths.

If you regularly publish content to a company blog, investigate which posts have been drawing in the most readers or triggering significant levels of engagement.

Google Analytics provides you with a simple way to determine which blog posts are receiving the most traffic during any given period.

Once you’ve highlighted which content is drawing in the most organic traffic, you can aim to replicate your success with future posts and updates.

4. Identify Pages That Require a Revamp

With Google Analytics, you can quickly determine which pages are receiving little traffic. By sorting your pages in descending order, you can identify which pages are in dire need of an overhaul.

There may be more than one reason why your pages aren’t performing particularly well.

Before you invest too much time in optimizing poorly performing pages, determine their overall worth to your site.

If the pages don’t contain any crucial content or don’t contribute to the customer journey, consider removing them to improve user experience.

5. Use the customer journey

If you’ve never heard of the customer journey before, now is the time to wrap your head around them. In short, channels refer to the journey taken by visitors before ending up on your site.

Some users may arrive at your site by simply typing in a URL, while others may turn to Google and input a search query relating to your brand. Others may arrive at your website more organically by using a general search term.

You can refer to standard channel groups to better understand your traffic and optimize your website accordingly. However, you can also use custom groups to provide more tailored insights.

Google Analytics not only allows you to create custom customer journeys but also lets you adjust goals for each one. With this functionality at your disposal, you can truly take charge of SEO campaigns.

6. Identify keyword opportunities

Most websites include an internal search engine as a key feature.

They’re a staple of larger websites and a must-have for website platforms like e-commerce stores. In addition to making life easier for your site visitors, you can use Google Analytics to track the search terms they’re using.

It’s a good idea to use Google Analytics to identify new keyword opportunities. If site visitors are searching specific terms in high volume and you don’t have a corresponding landing page associated with these terms, think about creating one.

This is a pain-free, but incredibly powerful way to improve your SEO ranking.

7. Investigate inbound traffic from third-party pages

If your website has been live for some time, there’s a good chance that you’re already receiving a fair amount of traffic from external sites and webpages.

In many cases, the traffic you receive from these inbound links results in visitors you may never have attracted via standard search engines.

Google Analytics allows you to quickly identify which third-party sites are directing traffic to your own. Some of these third-party sites may be paid referrers you’re already aware of, while others may be purely organic.

Whatever the case, Google Analytics allows you to easily track all streams of traffic. By using Google Analytics, you can determine how cost-effective your paid referrers are.

If you’re not receiving as much traffic as you’d like via paid refer links, consult with site owners to reword content and linked text.

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