WHAT IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and have written an accessible overview of What is Google Analytics, so you understand how it works and why it’s a must-have tool for monitoring your website’s success.

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in local SEO services, helping businesses understand their website performance and improve online visibility through data-driven strategies. One of the most powerful tools for achieving this is Google Analytics. It provides valuable insights into who visits your website, how they find it, and what actions they take once they’re there. Understanding Google Analytics can help you make informed decisions that boost your marketing results and business growth.

What Google Analytics Does

Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool provided by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It collects data about how visitors interact with your site, including where they come from, which pages they view, how long they stay, and whether they complete important actions such as filling out a form or making a purchase.

By analysing this data, you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, identify which pages perform best, and discover opportunities to improve user experience.

How Google Analytics Works

When you set up Google Analytics, it gives you a small tracking code that you add to your website’s pages. This code collects information every time someone visits your site and sends it back to Google’s servers.

The system then organises the data into meaningful reports, which can show you:

  • How many people visit your website.

  • Where those visitors come from (for example, Google, social media, or direct traffic).

  • Which devices they use (mobile, desktop, or tablet).

  • How long they stay and which pages they visit most often.

  • Which actions they take before leaving, such as clicking a link or completing a purchase.

This data helps you understand both your audience and the performance of your website.

Key Metrics in Google Analytics

To get the most out of Google Analytics, it helps to understand its key metrics:

  1. Sessions: A session represents a visit to your website. It begins when a user arrives and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.

  2. Users: These are the unique visitors who come to your website within a chosen time period.

  3. Pageviews: The total number of pages viewed by visitors.

  4. Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing just one page.

  5. Average Session Duration: How long visitors typically spend on your website.

  6. Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as a purchase or enquiry.

These metrics give you a clear picture of how well your website is performing and where you might need to make improvements.

Benefits of Using Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers a wide range of benefits for businesses of all sizes.

  • Understand your audience: Learn who your visitors are, including their location, age range, and interests.

  • Track marketing success: Measure which channels drive the most traffic and conversions.

  • Identify top-performing pages: Find out which content keeps users engaged and which needs improvement.

  • Improve SEO: See which keywords or search queries bring visitors to your site.

  • Optimise conversion rates: Analyse how users move through your site to identify and fix barriers to conversion.

Using these insights allows you to make smarter decisions and increase your return on investment from digital marketing.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4): The Latest Version

In 2023, Google replaced its older Universal Analytics with Google Analytics 4 (GA4). GA4 is designed to provide a more complete understanding of the customer journey across websites and apps.

Key improvements include:

  • Event-based tracking rather than session-based.

  • Better integration with Google Ads and other marketing tools.

  • Enhanced privacy controls for GDPR compliance.

  • AI-powered insights and predictive metrics.

GA4 gives businesses a clearer, more flexible view of how users interact with their online presence across multiple devices and channels.

How to Set Up Google Analytics

Setting up Google Analytics is straightforward, even for beginners.

  1. Create a Google Account: If you don’t already have one, sign up at Google’s website.

  2. Set Up a Property: In Google Analytics, a property represents your website or app.

  3. Add the Tracking Code: Copy the code provided by Google and paste it into your website’s header section.

  4. Verify the Installation: Once the code is added, Google will start collecting data within 24 hours.

If you use platforms like WordPress or Shopify, there are plugins and integrations that make installation even easier.

How to Use the Data

Once Google Analytics is active, you can access detailed reports in your dashboard.

Some useful reports include:

  • Acquisition Report: Shows how visitors find your site (for example, through search, ads, or referrals).

  • Behaviour Report: Reveals which pages are most popular and where users spend the most time.

  • Conversion Report: Tracks how many visitors complete key actions such as purchases or sign-ups.

You can also create custom dashboards that focus on the metrics most relevant to your business.

Tracking Conversions and Goals

A key feature of Google Analytics is the ability to track conversions or “goals.” These goals represent specific actions you want users to take, such as completing a form, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase.

By setting up goals, you can measure how effectively your website encourages desired actions and pinpoint areas where customers drop off. This insight helps you refine your marketing funnel and improve performance.

Integrating Google Analytics with Other Tools

Google Analytics can be connected to other tools such as Google Ads, Google Search Console, and Data Studio. Integration provides a more complete picture of your marketing efforts by combining advertising, search, and website data in one place.

For example, linking Google Ads allows you to see how paid campaigns influence website behaviour and conversions, helping you optimise ad spend for better results.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

While Google Analytics is powerful, mistakes can lead to inaccurate data. Avoid these common pitfalls:

  • Forgetting to exclude internal traffic from your team.

  • Not setting up goals or conversion tracking.

  • Misconfiguring filters or views.

  • Ignoring mobile data, which can differ significantly from desktop.

Regularly review your setup to ensure your data remains accurate and meaningful.

Using Analytics to Improve Local SEO

For businesses focusing on local SEO, Google Analytics can reveal valuable insights such as where visitors are located and which local keywords drive traffic.

You can use this data to:

  • Create content targeting high-performing local areas.

  • Adjust advertising to focus on specific locations.

  • Monitor the success of Google Business Profile traffic.

Combining Google Analytics with local SEO tools gives you a clear picture of how customers find and interact with your business online.

Final Thoughts

Google Analytics is more than just a reporting tool—it’s a guide to understanding your customers and improving your digital strategy. By tracking how visitors interact with your site, you can make data-driven decisions that increase visibility, engagement, and conversions.

At Lillian Purge, we help businesses use Google Analytics to strengthen their SEO and marketing performance through actionable insights.

If you want to get the most out of your website data and improve your local visibility, get in touch today.

We have also written in depth articles on Is Google Analytics For Free? and What is Google Analytics 4 as well as our Google Analytics Hub to give you further guidance.