Top 10 Reasons To Use Google Analytics on Your Community Website

Marketing has become more complicated in the past so many years – but it’s also become easier.

Even for senior living communities.

One of the ways it’s easier is all the data we have that didn’t exist 20 years ago. We have more insight into prospective residents shopping behavior than ever before.

One of the best ways to tap into that insight is through web analytics – and Google Analytics (GA) is the best way to measure community site traffic.

Here’s why…

1. Google Analytics (GA) Measures Your Website’s Success

The main reason to use any analytics program is to see if your marketing efforts are working. Did you just buy a banner ad at APlaceForMom.com? Then you need to track your ROI and find out how many lead forms came from the effort. GA helps you do that.

2. Easy to Setup – FREE to Use

Your website developer can easily install GA on your website. All it takes is placing a snippet of code on every page of your website and it’s done. Now you’ll have Google Analytics reports for virtually every visitor going forward. Oh…and did I mention it’s free?

3. To Understand your Audience – Demographics, Technology, New/Returning

Ever wonder how many new visitors came to your website last month? Or how many visitors came using an iPhone vs. an Android device. Google Analytics shows all of that visitor data and more with a few clicks. Not bad for a free web tool. See Audience reports for more info.

4. Test User Experience on the Site

Maybe you’re curious about how one of your blog posts is doing? Or if people are reading your community’s about page. With Google Analytics, you can see your most compelling content…and even your boring pages! Checkout the Behavior reports for more details.

5. To Understand Where Visitors Come From

This is probably my favorite part of GA – finding out if visitors came from Google or Bing or Facebook or whatever. See more details in the Acquisition reports.

6. Shows Organic Search (SEO) Traffic

One of the most valuable traffic sources is organic search – especially for senior living communities. This is the traffic that comes to a community that you didn’t pay for – visitors the search engines just gave to you gratis. See the Acquisition > Source/Medium report for more info.

7. Reveals Social Media Traffic

In the same way, you can see how many visitors found you on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe Ginny posted a link to her community from a birthday party with her friends. Now her friends are checking out the community. You can see that in GA under the Acquisition > Social report.

8. Makes it Easy to Track Marketing – Integrates with Google AdWords

Same goes with different online marketing campaigns. There’s a natural integration with Google AdWords so you can see which keyword is leading the most online leads. Gone are the days of guessing which channel is sending you the most leads.

9. Goal Conversion (lead) Tracking

As was mentioned above, you can see how many online leads you’re getting (and even offline leads if it’s setup correctly). And these leads can be tied back to audience types, traffic sources, and even keywords. Just make sure you set this up – it isn’t setup out of the box.

10. Shows Trends More Clearly – for Better Marketing Decisions

The whole reason you’re using Google Analytics is to be a smarter marketer. You want to have the best data at your disposal. And Google Analytics gives it to you.

For help with your community’s Google Analytics, contact Search Pros today!!