How to Use Google Analytics Behavior Flow
Google analytic behavior flow is all about how your website is working (or not) when you have visitors to the site. You may feel the website is easy to use, but this tool helps you know for certain … or will let you see where there are bumps in the internet roadway of your site. The great news is that this tool is absolutely free, so you get answers and help, and the only cost is the time you invest. So, here are some tips to keep your time commitment as low as possible too.
You will find the tool under the Google Analytics umbrella. If you haven’t already installed the Analytics script on your website, that’s your first step. But once you have that, then open the “Behavior” option in the left-hand column. A chart will come up …. Don’t be intimidated by it. Green boxes are about pages, gray lines are connections between those ages, and red lines moving away from boxes indicate when people left the site at that page (“bounces”).
The first green box is your starting page or point of entry (often your homepage or a blog page). If visitors enter frequently from more than one page, you can see if a page is effective or if you are losing most visitors that hit that page. If they generally leave, changes need to be made or even get rid of that page so all visitors are directed to the effective page, no matter what addy was used to get to your site.
The first engagement, or “interaction” (Google’s name for it) is the page they go to after the initial contact. Generally, this is where you want them to go most. It might be your store, or an offer of some kind to get their email address. If a lot of people are going to a different place on your site, the initial page may need some tweaking to encourage the choice you want them to make. Alternatively, the first engagement that isn’t where you want them may be used to direct them to the store, if that’s your goal.
If it takes more than two steps for most visitors, then you need to do some serious reworking of your website.
What to Check or Fix
Some common problems if people are not staying at your site … bouncing away … or not going where you want them to, then you know you have a problem. But there are several things that could be causing that. Some of the possibilities include content is not holding their attention, flaws in the design – maybe a link or button doesn’t work as it should.
The great news is that with this free tool, it’s easy to spot when there is a problem, and so you can find a way to correct the issue. The other side of this equation is that you need to look at the pages that are very successful in hitting your goals. What is right about them. Use that information as you build additional pages or connections with people looking at your site or other social media platforms.
If, after comparing your winning pages to losing pages, you still don’t know the problem, then it may be time for some customer survey work.
