What are the most important conversion goals to track in Google Analytics?

1 Why track conversion goals?

Tracking conversion goals helps you understand how well your website is meeting your business objectives and how effective your SEO strategy is. By measuring the number and value of conversions, you can evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of your SEO efforts and identify the areas that need improvement. You can also segment your traffic by different sources, channels, keywords, and other dimensions to see which ones are driving the most conversions and optimize your campaigns accordingly.

2 How to set up conversion goals?

To set up conversion goals in Google Analytics, you need to have a clear idea of what you want your visitors to do on your website and how much each action is worth to you. You can use the SMART framework to define your goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, a SMART goal could be: Increase the number of newsletter subscribers by 10% in the next quarter.

Once you have defined your goals, you need to go to the Admin section of your Google Analytics account and select Goals under the View column. There, you can create up to 20 goals per view and choose from four types of goals: Destination, Duration, Pages/Screens per session, and Event. Each type of goal has different settings and options, depending on what you want to track. For example, a Destination goal tracks when a visitor reaches a specific page or screen, such as a thank you page after a purchase. You can also assign a monetary value to each goal to estimate how much each conversion contributes to your revenue.

3 What are the most important conversion goals?

When it comes to tracking conversion goals in Google Analytics, the type of goals you should track depend on your business model, industry, and target audience. However, some common goals are those that generate income for your business (e.g., online sales, bookings, donations, or subscriptions) and those that capture the contact information of potential customers (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers, or names). You can also track engagement goals such as how long and how deep visitors browse your website. To track these goals, you can use the Ecommerce or Enhanced Ecommerce reports in Google Analytics for revenue goals, Destination or Event goal types for lead generation goals, and Duration or Pages/Screens per session goal types for engagement goals. Tracking these conversion goals will help you inform and reassure stakeholders, as well as provide valuable insights for improving your website.

4 How to monitor and analyze conversion goals?

Once you have set up your conversion goals in Google Analytics, you can monitor and analyze them using various reports and features. The Goal Overview report displays the total number and value of conversions, the conversion rate, and the abandonment rate for each goal. You can also compare the performance of different goals and see how they vary over time. The Goal Flow report gives an insight into the path taken by visitors to complete a goal, from source to destination. Additionally, the Multi-Channel Funnels report shows how different channels, such as organic search or social media, work together to drive conversions. Finally, the Attribution report provides an understanding of how different touchpoints, such as keywords or campaigns, influence conversions.

5 How to improve conversion goals?

To improve your conversion goals in Google Analytics, you need to test and optimize your website design, content, and user experience. A/B testing is a great way to compare two or more versions of a web page or element, such as a headline, a color, or a button. With Google Optimize or other tools, you can measure the results in Google Analytics. Landing page optimization involves improving the relevance, clarity, and value of your landing pages. You can use Google Analytics to analyze the behavior and feedback of your visitors on your landing pages. Lastly, conversion rate optimization is a strategy of increasing the percentage of visitors who complete desired actions on your website. With Google Analytics, you can measure and improve your conversion rate by segmenting traffic, finding best and worst performing pages, and testing different hypotheses.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?