Table of Contents
Introduction
There is no doubt that Google Analytics reports have definitely made our lives a whole lot easier by presenting us with so much information about our campaigns in such a comprehensive way. However, with the multitude of information available, it can sometimes be overwhelming to us marketers as we are at a loss as to which set of data we should use. As individuals in charge of our business’ marketing strategy, it is essential to make strategic decisions to help our pay-per-click (PPC) ads and campaigns increase in volume and translate into higher sales. As such, these are some of the top five Google Analytics reports that every PPC marketer should take advantage of.
1. Interest: In-Market Segments Report
With the rise of targeted keywords getting increasingly loosely managed, understanding the behavior of our target audience has become more important than ever. With Google’s In-Market segments report, you are able to track just that. The report is able to capture the types of In-Market segments for Google Ads that users participate in when they visit your website or purchase a product or service from it. It features a comprehensive list of the users, new users, sessions, bounce rates, pages per session and many more useful indicators to help you make more informed decisions catering to your target audience.
Some of the key features of this report consist of the segment by history purchases to develop a better understanding of how these In-Market segments work and behave, and the ability to sort your data by highest revenue or conversion rate to gain insight on which segments are proven to be the most effective. Furthermore, it also allows you to layer these converting audiences into PPC campaigns, and take advantage of the high performance of them, as well as give you the relevant data to create new campaigns to cater to your target audience. If you are curious to find out more or try it out for yourself, here is a Google Analytics report template for you to get a glimpse of what to expect.
2. Site Search Report
Site Search report helps to zoom into the user behavior when it comes to keyword searches, essentially highlight how users search for products and services online through search engines. Many a time, many PPC marketers will be surprised to see the disparity between how a user actually searches for content online and how a marketer would think one does it. This report helps to inform keyword strategy and broaden the list of targeted keywords based on real-user behavior. The report hence facilities the identification of any problems and gaps in the overall branding of products offered, and understand whether or not it is effective enough to reach the targeted users.
For example, when it comes to wedding cakes, you may realize how many users are searching for “rustic-themed” cakes, when the availability of rustic cakes online may be limited. Therefore, businesses dealing with wedding cakes are able to digest this information and create more products to suit the demand of users.
3. Referrals Report
Though this report may seem relatively flat in terms of the information it offers, it is indeed highly underrated as the data from the report can definitely provide insight and help to improve your campaigns. The referrals report reflects the top websites that have sent traffic over to another website and the rate at which users actually purchase items from the other website. This enables PPC marketers to analyze the reasons behind users’ decision to switch to other websites, based on a specific website’s interface or usability. They are also able to discern how users find their brand and make changes accordingly to improve traffic.
If you would like to take it one step further, it is extremely useful to consolidate a list of top referral websites and create a “Placement” audience for a Display campaign in Google ads. This will help turn your PPC campaigns up a notch up and help direct some of the traffic from these referral websites to yours.
4. Top Conversion Paths
Due to the limited budget that every customer has, the higher-ups are greatly attentive to where each dollar is channeled to and whether the efforts are translated into sales revenue. As such, using the Top Conversion Path report, you are able to identify which modes of campaigns are bringing in the most sales for your company. Because Youtube, Instagram, and Display campaigns have different goals, while user behavior on these platforms varies as well, it is definitely beneficial for you to analyze from a holistic viewpoint as to how long it takes for a user to eventually purchase a service/product after viewing these ads on the different platforms. With this report, you will be able to direct more funds and more effort to the channels that are more effective, and aggressively market your products based on the insights gained.
5. Geo-Location Report
Geo-location reports help you track location performance according to state and city. Even though many may choose to let the campaign sit once a location has been set, this is not recommended as marketers should always look to optimize and maintain performance in PPC campaigns. Geo-location reports reflect the top users by city, and also the revenue and conversion rate. This highlights to you which areas are doing well and which areas are not.
What you should look out for is the ratio of users by area compared to the amount of revenue and conversion rate in the same area. If there is a large volume of people in a state, but sales are not relatively high, you should consider bidding down on these areas and possibly removing them altogether. If conversion rates are not high, why should you keep pumping in money? This report hence gives you a holistic view of the conversion rates across your PPC campaigns, and it also highlights the gaps in performance in some areas. Making bid adjustments based on the data shown can progressively help your business reel in more revenue and PPC performance.
Conclusion
Though there is a host of Google Analytics reports out there, these are the five main ones that you should definitely utilize to improve your PPC performance. It is recommended to occasionally take a step back and see the general trends of your business as a whole instead of micro sizing it down to each report. It is crucial to take a look at how each of these reports is able to work hand in hand to help you tailor your PPC campaigns accordingly to how your users behave online. By reviewing it consistently, you will be able to help improve the overall sales revenue of your company.
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