Google Analytics gives users hundreds of different metrics.
But that's part of the problem. There's just way too many!
To understand all of the different metrics, you would need an uninterrupted week to try and understand what each metric means and how it's affecting your e-commerce business.
And you're a busy Shopify store owner that's currently wearing multiple hats and stretched thin already. You simply don't have time for this!
But I've got some good news for you - you don't need to spend a ton of time trying to understand these metrics. In fact, you can and should ignore most of them!
There are however, a few reports and metrics that can teach you so much about your online store though and by not looking into them and making changes, you're missing out on sales. With these reports, you have the potential to understand exactly what your site visitors are doing on your website and you can use this information to your advantage!
Here's another really good piece of information: Google Analytics has really great customer service.
I know this because I have worked with them before! So if you need some extra help understanding the reporting and getting your Shopify website set up correctly with Google Analytics, you can always reach out to Google's customer service and have someone help you out. You probably will need to schedule an appointment, but rest assured that when they show up to your meeting and ask you to share your screen, you're going to get answers to your questions!
If you need help setting up Google Analytics to your Shopify online store, scroll to the bottom for step by step instructions.
So again, Google Analytics is going to give you SO much information. But you're going to need to ignore most of it and only focus on the metrics that will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Most people use their cell phones to search the internet and purchase products online. In fact, more people access the internet on their mobile devices than on desktop computers.
But here's the issue, most websites aren't built with a mobile first design and because of that, you're definitely missing out on sales.
If a customer comes across your website and it either takes a long time to load or your site doesn't respond well on a cell phone, chances are you're going to have potential customers leave your site almost immediately. Or maybe they get all the way to the checkout process just to find out that your online store doesn't have the best checkout process. Either way, sales have been lost. It's so important to make your website mobile responsive. I talk about it in the majority of my blog posts and Instagram posts.
Check out Improving User Experience and What to have on your Shopify checkout page.
Google Analytics has a dashboard that shows you exactly how your audience is responding to the mobile view of your website. To access this, Click the Audience tab, then click on Mobile and Overview.
Watch out for drastic differences between your website's conversion rate on different devices. If your mobile metric has a significantly less number than your desktop metric, then you're losing out on sales that should have happened. You should be selling more online, but your website's mobile responsiveness is holding you back.
If this is the case, then it's probably time to update your website. Inquire to work with me here.
Most people don't buy directly from your home page. Instead, they are most likely checking out your home page, and clicking to other pages on your website. The home page is the jumping off point for your customers.
So, instead of jamming in every single one of your products on the homepage, try to only show off your main product, a featured product, or maybe some best sellers. Your home page should include some great copy, beautiful imagery, and showcase only a few of your products.
Check out this post for Top 10 Must Haves for your Websites Home page
With Google's Behavior Flow report, will show you how many times people bypass your entire home page, and go to order checkout through another page.
To view this report, click on the Behavior tab in the left-hand sidebar.
Do you spend a lot of time on Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok to increase brand awareness and sales? That's great! But are you tracking how much you're getting out of all that hard work? Running a social media account is no easy task and requires lots of time and resources.
With Google's Social Media Analytics Report, you can find out how much traffic you're getting from each social media account and most importantly, how many of those visitors are turning into new customers.
If you're utilizing Social Media, then I highly recommend checking out this report.
Side note, Did you hear that Google updated their algorithms. Check out this post to learn more about Mastering Google's new SEO update.
This report is under Referral sources and when used, you'll be able to see the ROI of all your social media campaigns and just how much you're getting out of all your hard work.
With this report, you can identify the best performing information on your website and what pages are bringing in the most traffic. This will help you decide where to focus your marketing efforts.
To view this report, go to Behavior, Site Content, and Landing Pages.
Does your website have a search icon?
You might not need it if you only have a few products on your Shopify online store but if you have more than 10 products, I recommended adding a search function.
Search buttons are great for 2 reasons:
To enable this function, go to Google Analytics account, and under the Admin section, click View Settings > Site Search.
With these metrics, you'll be able to see exactly what your customers are searching for on your site. And with this information, you can create more relevant blog posts or even products and services that your customers are searching for.
See, it's a win, win!
If you don't have one of the tracking tags mentioned above in the theme.liquid file, and you don't see a Google Analytics tracking code in the Preferences page, then Google Analytics isn't enabled on your Shopify online store.
Chances are, you already have a Google account for GMail or Ads and you can use the same Google account for your Analytics. If not, then you'll need to create a Google account. After your account is created, you can then Create an Analytics account.
Note: By Default, Google creates Google Analytics 4 properties, which are not compatible with Shopify. Make sure that you create a Universal Analytics property.
Step 4: Turn on basic Ecommerce tracking
If you need more detailed information, then you can turn on Enhanced Ecommerce Tracking.
Google Analytics can help you increase online sales if you know which reports to pay attention to but most of the information is unnecessary and hard to understand. I recommend using the reports listed above to give you a much more targeted and easy approach.
Once you get a baseline for how your site is performing, where your customers are dropping off at, and what they are searching for on your website, you can then update your website accordingly.
If you need help updating your Shopify website, inquire to work with me here. I'll take over all of this heavy lifting so you can get back to doing what you do best!
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