Using Google Analytics to track links in WordPress is a very important part of any successful blog.
Most people think Google Analytics only tells you how many page views and visitors you are getting and where they’re coming from, but it can do more than just that.
The part we are going to focus on, takes tracking a step further and actually shows you want your visitor do after they find your site.
Using Google Analytics to track links in WordPress is the best way to get stats real usage.
If you know where your visitors go, how long they stay on each page/post, which banners and links they click on most, which social media they use the most and many other behaviors of your visitors, you can make adjustments to convert more visits into profits.
With the tools given to you by Google, you can turn an average website into a high converting site ready to push your products and make you money.
For example, if you sell an eBook and you use many different avenues to market this eBook, Google Analytics can help you figure out what’s working best.
Without tracking the different social media used, your email newsletter and ad placement, you won’t be able to customize your site to fit the behavior of your visitors.
However, since you’re using tracking, you will be able to find out what is working best and maximize your profits.
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Three Benefits of Proper Google Analytics Tracking
Here they are:
1.True Customer Feedback
You can’t always trust customers to tell you exactly how they found you, where they went when they reached your site and what made them buy your product.
With good tracking; however, you can spot the patterns used by the majority of visitors leading them to the product they purchased.
This gives you real customer feedback about the process without even engaging your customers.
2. Ability to Test
Sometimes, the smallest change can make a huge difference when it comes to your conversions.
Maybe changing a headline from black to red increases conversions or a specific placement of an image does the trick.
With the right tracking in place, you can test different ads, placements, sales pages and other promotions.
3. Increase your Profits
The most important benefit you gain from using the right tracking is the increase to your profits.
Changing a product sales page, banner or other form of advertising because of the tracking information collected can add to your bottom line.
It’s possible to test and track your way to a very high conversion rate, no matter what you’re trying to sell.
Tracking Your Links
Google gives you an awesome feature with custom campaigns.
This feature allows you to track your links better and easier.
All you need to do to use it is add UTM parameters to your URL, which will be tracked in the analytics report.
You can even use the URL builder tool to generate your new URLs with UTM parameters.
Here are how some of the parameters work.
- utm_medium parameter – Described the medium used for the link.
- utm_content parameter – Allows you to specify the type of content you are using.
- utm_term parameter – Can be used to track paid search keywords.
- utm_source parameter – Allows you to identify the source of the traffic.
- utm_campaign parameter – Lets you define the custom campaign
You will be able to view the statistics of all your custom campaigns within your Google Analytics account. Just go to the Reporting tab, click on Traffic, then sources and campaigns.
Handling Outgoing Links
Another feature found within the Google Analytics tracking is the ability to track outbound links you use on your website.
These are any links taking your visitor away from your site to another website on the internet.
With this type of tracking, you will gain a better understanding of the links most clicked by your visitors.
This can help you create a better user experience and plan your content strategy.
This won’t happen automatically, however.
You just set up this type of tracking within your site by adding the JavaScript and a small code to the outbound links you wish to track.
However, you can enable automatic tracking of all your outbound links within WordPress.
You will need to begin by downloading, installing and activating the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin.
You will need to remove the code you may have inserted into your blog before you authenticate your profile through the plugin.
If you need to, you can enter the UA-code manually, which is found in your Google Analytics Dashboard.
Once installed, you will be able to track all the outbound links on your site.
However, if you use any type of plugin to cloak your links, you may need to enable tracking internal links as outbound links for this plugin to work properly.
Handling ‘Keyword not Provided’
Even though Google Analytics is a full suite of traffic monitoring tool, you’ll often find a section in the report – “keyword not provided” – which doesn’t state where and how the traffic is coming from.
It’s hidden from you.
Knowing this data is also necessary.
Since the keyword “not provided” covers a chunk of organic data, you cannot ignore it.
Instead, it is necessary to find a way around it.
Here are some topics:
1) Google Webmaster Tools (GWT):
The GWT still displays a higher number of organic search keywords than GA.
Login to GWT, select site and check the search queries.
The results show search numbers, page impressions and the keyword’s ranking on Google.
If you are not using any third-party keyword research, ranking and monitoring software like the LongTailPro (review) keyword too, the GWT is the best option for you.
2) Get into PPC Advertising:
While Google said the purpose behind displaying “not provided” was to protect privacy, some marketers and webmasters think that it is simply a strategy to make people spend on Google AdWords.
The reason being that if you are using Google AdWords PPC advertising, you are given access to all data; nothing is hidden anymore.
Whatever the reason behind Google’s action might be, PPC advertising is not a bad option for getting more visitors to your website products and services.
With proper AdWords quality score and optimization, it is simple to get heavy ROI from AdWords.
If you are new to paid advertising, spend considerable time studying AdWords before plunging forth.
Read this FAQ for PPC beginners.
Lastly, Google is working hard to make PPC better for advertisers.
The amount of SERP coverage is reducing while paid advertising is reaching higher grounds – another reason why you should get into PPC advertising.
3) Social Media Analysis:
There are a host of social media analysis tools available these days.
While they are worth investing in, you can simply begin by observing social media shares all around.
The observation will show how your social media marketing is performing and what kind of content gets higher visibility from your audience.
Do a small experiment.
Round up 3 articles and share them on multiple social media channels few days apart but at the same time (time when your audiences are most active).
Do this for a week and observe the social media traffic.
This experiment will tell you a lot about how your site SEO is performing.
It will also show what kind of content your audience expects you to deliver and therefore, you can improvise content development and marketing strategy.
4) Use Google Trends:
The Google Trends is a must-use tool for brand visibility monitoring and tracking keywords.
Go to the tool and search for your business brand name and keywords.
The graphics show how your business and its keywords were searched within a certain space of time.
Do note that sometimes the Trends will not display anything as the results depend on search volume.
If your business search does not yield any results, it does not mean that the business does not have any visibility, it means that it is not yet captured by Google Trends.
The Power of Google Analytics
With the help of the right tracking program, you can make significant improvements to your website, your sales and your bottom line.
Tracking is a very powerful way to figure out what your visitors are doing and how you can improve the overall user experience.
If you’re not using tracking, you could be losing money every time someone visits your site.
