Digital marketing allows small businesses to harness the power of the internet at a local scale. If you’re looking for a super power to help drive local results here in Halifax, you need look no further than Google Analytics for small business.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google’s web analytics platform. Basically, that just means that Google collects essential information about the people visiting your website to help you make smarter business decisions. Those are decisions fueled by data.
For local small businesses here in Atlantic Canada, GA4 offers a wealth of information that can guide decision-making, improve marketing efforts, and enhance the overall user experience.
The one challenge is Google Analytics can be a bit overwhelming at first sight. Many small business owners find it intimidating. So, in this post we talk about best practices and we focus on a few key metrics to focus thing on useful, small business insights that matter here in Nova Scotia.
Why is GA4 essential for small business?
GA4, the current version of Google Analytics, is a powerful tool that allows you to track and analyze visitor activity on your website.
With the introduction of GA4, Google has taken a more user-centric approach, offering enhanced tracking capabilities across multiple platforms and devices. For small businesses, GA4 is essential because it provides actionable insights that can help you understand your audience, optimize your marketing strategies, and ultimately grow your business.
Here’s a quick example of why Google Analytics for small business is essential: imagine running a small Halifax-based bakery and café with online ordering. You’ve invested in this online ordering website but people are not buying.
By using GA4, you discover that a significant number of visitors are landing on your homepage but leaving before exploring your product pages. This insight should prompt you to make changes to your homepage to help visitors find your products and purchase them.
Key Google Analytics for Small Business Metrics
To make the most out of Google Analytics, it’s important to focus on a few key metrics that are easy to access and understand. Here are the top metrics that every local small business should keep an eye on:
1. New Users
New users are first-time visitors to your website. This metric is crucial because it shows how effective your marketing efforts are at attracting fresh prospects. For example, if you’re running an ad campaign for your new, local print shop, tracking the number of new users can help you gauge the campaign’s success in reaching a new audience. If the numbers aren’t as high as expected, it might be time to revisit your ad targeting or creative assets.
2. Traffic Source and Medium
Understanding where your traffic is coming from is key to optimizing your marketing strategy. Traffic Source and Medium reporting in GA4 tells you how visitors are finding your website—whether through search engines, social media, or paid ads. This information is invaluable for small businesses, as it allows you to allocate your marketing budget more effectively.
For instance, if you notice that most of your traffic comes from social media, you might want to invest more in that channel. Don’t forget to check out our previous post on tracking links to further refine your traffic analysis.
This is particularly useful when you consistently use tracking links to track which links are generating traffic and which ones are not.
3. Engaged Sessions
Engaged sessions refer to visits where a user session lasts longer than 10 seconds, has a key event (like a link click). This metric helps you measure how well your content resonates with your audience. For a small business, understanding engaged sessions can reveal which pages or products are most appealing to visitors, allowing you to focus on what works best.
4. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate indicates the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing just one page. A high bounce rate may signal that your website’s content isn’t relevant or engaging enough, or that there are issues with the user experience.
By monitoring bounce rates with a simple Google Analytics for small business strategy like the one we’re laying out here, you can identify problem areas and make necessary adjustments.
For example, a local attraction like Action Laser Tag might discover that visitors are leaving their site quickly because the information on their site is hard to navigate, prompting a redesign.
5. Pageviews
Pageviews represent the total number of pages viewed on your website. This metric gives you a sense of what content is most popular among visitors. For small businesses, this information can guide content creation and marketing efforts. If certain pages consistently receive high traffic, consider creating more content around those topics or highlighting related products and services.
6. Pages and Screens
This metric goes beyond just counting pageviews by showing how users navigate through your website, including which pages or screens they interact with the most.
For small businesses, understanding this user journey can help optimize the website’s layout and improve the overall user experience.
If a local business notices that visitors frequently view their product details page but rarely proceed to booking, it might indicate a need for clearer calls to action or a more streamlined booking process.
Essential Intel: Google Analytics for Small Business
Incorporating Google Analytics into your local marketing work doesn’t have to be time-consuming. By focusing on these key metrics—new users, traffic source and medium, engaged sessions, bounce rate, pageviews, and pages and screens—you can gain valuable insights in just a few minutes each week. These insights can help you identify the effectiveness of your ads and social media campaigns, uncover issues with your website’s design, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.
Whether you’re Halifax’s favourite bagel bakery or one of the only companies taking or a Nova Scotia tour company, the power of Google Analytics lies in its ability to provide you with the essential intel needed to make informed decisions that can save you money, boost your marketing effectiveness, and enhance your customers’ experience.
With Google Analytics for small business, you’re not just tracking numbers—you’re unlocking the potential to grow and succeed in a competitive market.
Bonus! Google offers free GA4 training to help you learn and use the platform to your advantage! Need a hand getting things setup and working, that’s what we’re for!