Owning a small business with a strong online brand is almost impossible. Whether it’s an eCommerce store or a local iPhone repair shop, you probably do not have the budget to run large marketing, sales, and analytics department.
Now that you have unprecedented access to data with the proliferation of technological know-how, your business decisions should become smarter and data-driven. Having open access to numbers and figures you don’t understand is one of the biggest challenges you face. And here’s when external forces can help you out.
In order to correctly classify the potential lead source of your business, you must collect, review, and further evaluate the data of your online platforms, such as – websites, social media, business directories, etc. So, I’m going to share some of the key tools and places where you can track your online growth and necessary recommendations.
Google Analytics
If you have any online presence, Google Analytics (or GA) is your first stop. GA suite has so much data to offer, you may feel like drowning in the ocean of numbers. You don’t need to be a super-genius at Google Analytics. Keeping track of a certain number of webpages and the time they are spending is a good starter.
Here is a screenshot of how a GA dashboard looks like:
Key metrics: Age, Gender, Countries, Devices.
Google Search Console
Although you need a good SEO company to improve your rankings on Google, it is good to set up Google Search Console for your website and keep track of some keywords if they are bringing any traffic at all. Unless the keywords are super easy to rank for, there is a zero chance those keywords will drive traffic towards the webpages. Sometimes, a good On-Page SEO score is more than enough.
Search Console is for keeping track of the users that are coming through Google. It is a must-have for any business to work on their SEO for long-term advantages.
Key Metrics: Keywords, Impressions, Clicks, Average CTR.
Google Search Console
Although you need a good SEO company to improve your rankings on Google, it is good to set up Google Search Console for your website and keep track of some keywords if they are bringing any traffic at all. Unless the keywords are super easy to rank for, there is a zero chance those keywords will drive traffic towards the webpages. Sometimes, a good On-Page SEO score is more than enough.
Search Console is for keeping track of the users that are coming through Google. It is a must-have for any business to work on their SEO for long-term advantages.
Key Metrics: Keywords, Impressions, Clicks, Average CTR.
Have no idea at all? Make a consultation with our SEO experts to discuss today!
Social Media
You already saw above that Social Media is one of the most important traffic sources. Check out your best performing posts, or those with the highest engagement, and build your Social Media strategy around those. Even if Social Networks don’t convert as many clicks to your website, they are still great to track your brand or get customer feedback.
Respond to Engagement signals such as replies and comments within the stated time frame to enhance customer satisfaction and prevent and resolve negative sentiments.
Key metrics: Engagement (likes, shares, retweets, reposts, mentions), Performance, Reach/Impressions.
Email Marketing
I know what you’re thinking – How on earth is email marketing a business tracking metrics? Just hear me out-
All of the above focused on acquiring new visitors and attracting them. But what about your existing target customer set? In marketing, the next stage after lead generation is nurturing. Send out a newsletter to your potential customers to make sure you stay in touch. Make sure that your newsletter is not irritating or spammy. By providing valuable information about your products and services—offers, deals, info about your company, etc.—you can avoid that.
A successful email newsletter relies on experimenting: try different titles, content, and writing styles. Monitor its performance and define your own success factors.
Key metrics: Subscribers, Unsubscribes, Opens, Bounces, and Clicks.
Conversions
Last but not least- be aware of your conversion rate. You may have a lot of leads right now but how many of them are you being able to convert? All our businesses are focused on bringing quality leads and nurture them to further sell a product or a service.
For every small business, the owner or marketing team must keep track of the ratio of generated leads and the customers/clients. Be that on a spreadsheet on an initial basis, it doesn’t matter as long as it is visible.
Wait, There’s More
Actually, there isn’t! As I said before, these are for starters! If you are able to collectively see results from the metrics given above, I’m sure you will know what to do next.
And for extra support, you know where to find us!