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Understanding Google Analytics Without Getting Lost in the Numbers
When I was in a Mastermind group years ago, each member took the Gallup Strengths Assessment as part of the program. My results were no surprise to me.
At the top of the list? Empathy and creativity. Toward the bottom? Analytics.
As someone who works in marketing, empathy and creativity are great qualities to have. But missing the analytics part is a bit of an issue. I mean, I have to look at numbers at some point to know how I'm doing.
So, not only is that not a strength of mine, but after 15 years working in digital marketing, it's gotten more complicated. This is why I understand clients when they say, "I never look at my analytics."
But...what if you had a simple key to not only understand what you're looking at (and what you can ignore) but also find these numbers useful for figuring out future content?
Aha! By George, we've got it.
1. How Many People Are Visiting Your Website?
Look at: Users and Sessions
These are two of the most basic numbers in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Users: The number of distinct people (as estimated by Google Analytics) who visited your website.
Sessions: The number of visits to your website. One person can visit several times, creating multiple sessions.
It's tempting to focus on whether these numbers are going up every month, but website traffic naturally fluctuates. Holidays, vacations, seasonal interests, and even how often you publish content can affect your numbers.
What's more helpful? Look at traffic over the past six months or year. Are you generally attracting more visitors? Are there seasonal patterns? Did traffic increase after you started publishing blogs consistently? You're looking for trends, not a reason to panic because February had fewer visitors than January.
2. Where Are Your Visitors Coming From?
Look at: Traffic Acquisition
This is one of my favorite reports because it tells you how people are finding your business.
You'll generally see traffic divided into categories such as:
Organic Search: People who found you through search engines like Google.
Direct: Visitors who typed in your website address, used a bookmark, or arrived through a source Google couldn't identify.
Organic Social: People who clicked through from unpaid social media content.
Referral: Visitors who came from links on other websites.
Email: People who arrived through links in emails that were tagged.
Why does this matter?
Let's say you've been consistently posting on LinkedIn, and over the past six months, you've seen an increase in visitors coming from organic social. That's a good reason to investigate which posts are encouraging people to visit your website. Or maybe organic search is steadily increasing. That could suggest your website content is doing a better job of attracting people searching for information related to your business.
One important note: Traffic sources aren't always identified perfectly. For example, some visits from email or AI search tools may appear under other categories.
The takeaway: Instead of trying to be everywhere, use this information to help decide where your marketing time is best spent.
3. Which Pages and Blogs Are Getting Attention?
Look at: Pages and Screens
If you're creating content for your website, this is probably one of the most valuable reports you can review. It shows which pages people are viewing and how frequently they're being visited.
Let's say you're a financial advisor who writes about retirement planning, estate planning, taxes, and investment strategies. Over six months, you notice that your blogs about retirement taxes consistently attract more visitors than your general investment articles. That doesn't necessarily mean you should stop writing about investments. But it does suggest that retirement taxes might be a subject worth digging into.
You could create additional content answering related questions, develop a downloadable checklist, or feature the topic in your next newsletter. It shows which pages people are viewing and how frequently they're being visited.
In other words, your existing content can give you clues about what to write next.
Are People Actually Engaging With Your Content?
Look at: Engagement Rate and Average Engagement Time
Getting someone to your website is one thing. Getting them interested enough to stick around is another.
Two helpful metrics are:
Engagement Rate: The percentage of sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a key event, or included at least two page or screen views.
Average Engagement Time: How long your website was actively in use, on average.
These numbers need some context.
For example, someone might spend only 30 seconds on your contact page because they found your phone number immediately. That's not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, someone might spend several minutes reading a detailed educational blog without visiting another page.
Rather than obsessing over a particular engagement rate, compare similar types of content over longer periods.
If certain blog topics consistently attract visitors who spend more time reading, that may be another clue about what interests your audience.
Why Month-to-Month Google Analytics Comparisons Can Be Misleading
I see businesses get discouraged when their website traffic drops from one month to the next.
But here's the problem: One month is rarely enough information to tell you whether your marketing is working.
Maybe you published fewer blogs. Maybe your audience was on vacation. Maybe a popular article received an unusual spike in traffic the previous month. Or maybe nothing significant happened at all.
For most small businesses, I recommend looking at three different time frames:
Last 3 months: Useful for spotting emerging patterns and seeing whether recent content is gaining traction.
Last 6 months: Better for understanding which topics and traffic sources are consistently performing.
Last 12 months: Helpful for identifying seasonal trends and evaluating your overall marketing direction.
You can certainly check Google Analytics every month to make sure everything is tracking correctly and catch unusual changes. Just don't make major marketing decisions based on 30 days of data.
And You can certainly check Google Analytics every month to make sure everything is tracking correctly and catch unusual changes. Just don't make major marketing decisions based on 30 days of data.website. Google Analytics only captures part of that journey.
ntify opportunities, and make thoughtful adjustments over time.
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