WordPress has now become the most popular self-hosted CMS, beating out Drupal, Expression Engine and Blogger. (A CMS is a Content Management System). Here, we’ll discuss how to log in once to WordPress and measure website visitors, quickly and easily.
Along with bloggers, millions of small business people have gotten a WordPress website customised and then scratched their head. They ask: “how do I use a website to measure visitors and understand all the metrics?”
Install an Analytics Dashboard to Measure Website Visitors
As a business owner or consultant, you’re flat out already – with little time to check your Google Analytics tool. Welcome to a handy Plugin: Google Analytics Dashboard.
(Select “Add new” and search “analytics dashboard”, select the one with four stars).
Once installed, you’ve got a great time saver – scroll down to the bottom of your Dashboard to see a quick overview of visitors.
Also check how many visitors to each page, and how long they stay.
What’s All that Exit Data Mean?
What is the exit rate? The exit rate is people leaving from that page, but you’ll have to go to the full Google Analytics version to figure out their path. In Analytics, they call it ‘bounce rate’.
On the overview, it gives the overall number of people who leave your site in under 30 seconds. (Some admittedly could be bots or spam).
10 – 40% overall bounce rate — nice one bro, you’ve got some interested folk and a quick page speed
41 – 60% overall bounce rate — not too bad, unless you’re paying for advertising (try to improve your page load speed and words)
61 – 75% overall bounce rate — could be a lot better, but look where they are coming from (could just be other countries’ people are finding your site often)
76 – 95% overall bounce rate — blimey Charlie, you’ve mostly got junk traffic and you need to target your site keywords — and ideal customer persona — much better.
Another way to tell if you’re engaging with your audience is checking the number of social shares on the bottom of all blog pages (if set up), and by seeing if it’s getting signups to your Freebie or email news. This can be increased substantially with a hovering or sliding opt-in, like SumoMe provides. (SumoMe is an on-site application which controls your email offers).
Don’t expect more than 5% of website visitors to take action… In fact, due to lost traffic, spam traffic, and overseas visits, over 1% of visitors opting in is considered good. If I have 600 hits per month on my optimised and content-rich site, then I should expect around 6 calls, emails, or subscribes, although this varies. Some people are looking for service right now, while some want a drip-fed information from you, and another portion is still yet to be sold on brand you.
Updating your website and blog at least once-monthly ensures that content is up-to-date, more pages are being indexed, and visitors see something different.
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Understanding how to measure the ROI on your website is important and needs calculation, so I’ll leave this discussion to experts at PixelFish.
Simon Dell explores the very real connection between bounce rate (exit rate) and page slowness, which is very important for both ranking and conversion. (I myself have spent both money and time on increasing page speed).
Improvements by Re-writing Your Website Content
You may be able to improve numbers and on-site time by re-writing the words on the About Us page… at least ensure it has the words needed to inspire some more reading. Even suggest they check out “About Us” on the Home Page, if you’ve got some particularly credible and relevant experience. With permission from them, you can also add client logos and testimonials to either Home (under the main content) or About Us, to increase trust.
Respond to Mobile Platforms
You can buy WP themes that are responsive — i.e. they resize on various graphic tablets, smartphones, and laptops – and this will increase CONVERSION. Check out Impreza (bought at ThemeForest), or have a look around at what other brands use.
If you have a retail store, you can provide check-in deals, or offer smartphone-enabled discounts to those who subscribe. Mobile-first design is the answer for retail.
Remember, there are lots of on-page optimisations to do before your website is clicked on. Similarly, there is plenty of work to do to make the copy sound convincing and authentic. That’s what a freelance copywriter does, e.g. Power of Words copywriting, Brisbane.
