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Join us for this MARKETING SERIES moderated by expert Mara Roberts.
Read the article below and have a two-way discussion with members and Mara:
- Can you share some ways in which you have been using Google Analytics?
- What are some of the challenges you face when analysing your data?
About Mara RobertsMara is a digital marketing specialist with a hands on, results-driven approach. She has a special passion for the schools sector, having a track record of innovative solutions. She holds an Honours Degree in Marketing Management. For more information about Mara, visit http://www.mararoberts.com.au.
Website Strategies to Increase Enquiries
School websites can be complicated with hundreds of pages, different departments to showcase and constant news needing to be shared. Schools either get it right, or lag behind with outdated websites that don’t impress. Does it take a whole marketing team to get it right or are there strategies that you can adopt which will help you to ace it?
Effectively managing a website consists of two main stages – knowing and applying the data behind the website – and then implementing continuous strategies for improvement.
- Know the data behind the website
The world of Google Analytics can be scary to delve into, but what data should you pay attention to? Knowing how people use your website is key to making good decisions on an ongoing basis and continuously improving results. Instead of just looking at a page full of numbers each month, get down to the practical implications of what the data means. Frame the data within the following questions to get actionable steps you can take regularly to improve your site:
- How do your visitor numbers compare for the same period last year? Compare the number of unique visitors to your website each month with year-on-year data to see if your performance is actually improving.
- What content do your visitors want to see and what are they searching for? Look at the most popular pages and their bounce rates. Move popular pages to easy-to-find locations to improve usability for your visitors. (In Google Analytics click behaviour > site content> all pages)
- Instead of obsessing over whether your site is ranking on the top spot in search engines for specific keywords, look at how effectively your content is generating traffic by looking at the visits for your top landing pages. (In Google Analytics click behaviour > site content> landing pages)
- Are we attracting the right audience for new enrolments? Look at the number of visitors that viewed pages specific to enrolments and then look at how many of those users actually put in an enquiry. This conversion rate is something that can be continually worked on for improvement. (In Google Analytics click behaviour > site content> All pages and then click pages specific to enrolments.)
- What do your visitors look like? Put together a demographic profile of your visitors including their age, gender and geographical location. Write your content specifically for them. (In Google Analytics click audience > demographics > overview)
- How are people are finding your website? Ensure you set up tracking campaigns for your digital advertising and direct your spend to the most effective sources. (In Google Analytics click acquisition > all traffic > source/medium)
- Is your website content what visitors are expecting? Bounce rates will tell you how well your content meets what people were searching for. Rethink the content for pages with high bounce rates.
I know that most marketers duck under the desk when they hear the word ‘data’ because it can take a considerable amount of time to collate … and you’re probably thinking that it will take you ages to put this list data together each month. Automated reports are a lifesaver here. Once set up, it will automatically put the report together for you in a visual way. Research Google Data Studio to set this up.
- Actionable steps for continual improvement
Now that you have a better understanding of your audience and how your website is performing, let’s look at the day-to-day actions you can take for improvement.
- Regularly update content
Website maintenance is best done on an ongoing basis rather than every few months. Put together a schedule for checking all your content systematically.
Over and above keeping content current and correct, it’s also important that you add new content to your website so that search engines see your website as up-to-date. This can be done through news pages, blogs and expanding on your current content.
- A/B Split Testing
Have you ever wondered if a different page layout would work? Often people change their website without having actual data of whether the changes they make are actually better. A/B Split testing serves one version of a web page to half your audience and another version of the web page to the other half so that you can compare which version works better. Split testing is a great first step before diving into structure changes, especially for pages where you are asking people take action such as putting in an enquiry. You can split test page elements such as opt-in button locations, wording and colouring. You can perform split testing through Google Analytics or use software such as Optimizely.
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Hi Mara, thanks for the concise steps you have laid out to follow. Can I ask if Google Data Studio is a free add on or does one have to pay to use this feature?
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Hi Monique, Google Data Studio is absolutely free and a great tool: https://datastudio.google.com/
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