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5 Reasons Your Ministry Should Be On Twitter5 Reasons Your Ministry Should Be On TwitterPostedMonday, August 30, 2010 @ 9 AMByBryan YoungTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Social Media Twitter 0 commentsAdd comment

Twitter is a social networking service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Followers can visit the author's Twitter page or use one of many tools to follow feeds, or their computer or phone.

So what does this have to do with your ministry? Twitter can be used as a tool to connect with your users, to promote the content on your website, and possibly gain more interest in what your ministry is doing. Here are five reasons why your ministry should consider joining Twitter.

1. Audience

Twitter has over 100 million active users. Many are young (between 18-48) and come from all over the country and the world. Like Facebook and YouTube, Twitter is a tool that allows you to expand your ministry's reach. In addition to your followers, your tweets can also be found by adding topic tags and by retweeting posts from other Twitter accounts.

2. Links, links, links

One of the biggest benefits of Twitter is as an avenue for posting links back to your website. By using hyperlink abbreviating programs, you can create convert your long links into shorter ones. Twitter is all about driving traffic to your main Web presence, your ministry website.

3. Networking

"It's not what you know, it's who you know." We've all heard this saying and found it to be overwhelmingly true. By gaining followers and by following others yourself, you can develop a list of diverse contacts who share your beliefs, have a common mission, and may work in different areas of ministry. If you are interested in collaborating with other ministries, Twitter is a good place to develop relationships.

4. It's easy, interactive, and viral

Twitter is like a blog in that it initiates dialogue between you and your readers. Your followers can retweet your posts, or post your tweets from their profiles, they can respond to your tweets, and they can comment on the pictures you post. And its much less complicated than blogs. Users can read a tweet in 20 seconds and pass it on to others with an extra 5 seconds. They can follow much more people at once from mobile applications, desktop programs, and other utilities.

5. It's Free Advertising

Having a Twitter profile and posting tweets costs you nothing. Nothing except time and a tweeting strategy.

That being said, Twitter is not for everyone. Above are just reasons why your church should consider it. Concentrate on the content of your ministry first, your ministry's website second, and advertising last.

Reasons why you may not need Twitter

  • You don't know what a "blog" is, nevermind a "micro-blog"
  • You don't have enough content to link to on your ministry website
  • You can't devote any time to tweet, or you'd rather spend your time doing ministry work
  • You aren't interested in learning how to maximize its potential

MORE RESOURCES FOR TWITTER

The Reason Your Church Must NOT Twitter - ChurchCrunch.com
Twitter for Ministry and Church – A Business Perspective - ChurchCrunch.com
Why I Love Twitter - Tim O'Reilly

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Social Media: Fad or the Future?Social Media: Fad or the Future?PostedMonday, August 16, 2010 @ 9 AMByBryan YoungTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Social Media 0 commentsAdd comment

What is Social Media?

Hundreds of websites like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube, and LinkedIn have been created to help people connect with each other, from anywhere, at anytime (so long as there is an Internet connection). And many more are being created each day. For many, keeping up with the hottest new social media tools is daunting, let alone using these tools for their benefit.

So is social media just a fad? Considering that many Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and non-profits are utilizing social media for marketing purposes, it seems that it's is not going away any time soon. Let this blog entry be a tool for you to evaluate if you should get in on the social media action.

Which Social Media Tools Should I Care About?

With new social media tools popping up by the minute, it can be difficult to know which ones matter. Here are the three social media tools you should know and consider using first.




 Facebook: This social networking website allows users to create an account, personalize it with pictures and information, add friends, and comment on other people's profiles. With over 400 million active users worldwide, Facebook has become one of the most powerful tools for mass marketing out there.


Twitter: Users create an account and "micro-blog" posts of 140 characters or less. Many corporations, celebrities, and businesses have used Twitter to build their name and post links back to their websites.


YouTube: After Google, this video posting website is the second most used search engine on the Internet. In this media-driven age, video is more important than ever for getting your message to the masses.

What Are The Benefits Of Social Media?

Social media tools are great ways to expand your reach on the Internet. They can be used in partnership with your website to make your name known and spread your ministry's message. Each channel can be a unique way of connecting with people. And isn't that the goal of your ministry? The best thing about the Internet is that you can touch a life in Africa as easily as you might across the street from your ministry. With social media, that possibility is only a few clicks away.

Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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How Can Social Media Be Used?

By now you're probably asking "Why should I know about these tools?" All social media can be used to garner interest in your ministry and as a host to links back to your website. It is to be used as a supplement to your website, not as your primary Web presence. The ultimate goal is driving traffic to your website.

Think of it as a megaphone for your website. A way to amplify your message on the Web.

In upcoming blog posts, we will explain how to achieve this goal on each of the above social media channels.

Should I Sign Up?

No matter the size of your ministry, using social media tools can help you achieve your mission of reaching others for Christ. What does it take to achieve an effective social media presence?
  • Strategy: Make goals, figure out how social media can help you achieve them, and decide which tool will be most effective.
  • Time: You know the old saying: "Anything worth doing is worth doing right." If you don't have the time to do your best, it may be better not to start.
  • Content: To make yourself stand out in the crowd, you need interesting things to say and stuff to link to on your website.
Helping Your Senior PastorPostedMonday, August 2, 2010 @ 9 AMBySharon KostalTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites 0 commentsAdd comment

As a ministry "communicator" you are all about furthering the reach of the message of Christ--an aim that readily transfers into supporting His messenger, your Senior Pastor. This begs the question, have you helped your Senior Pastor today?

Below are two important ways to consider...

GET HIM CURRENT

No, we're not talking cell phones, social media or even sweater vests :). We are talking about his web bio.
  • Is the information accurate?
  • Are the number and names of children correct?
  • Does he still resemble his photo?
  • Do you even have one posted on your website?
If not, then it's time for an update! When doing so, a simple tip to lengthen his bio's shelf-life is to omit the ages of his children and replace time references with dates (i.e. change "married eight years" to "married in 2002").

COMMUNICATE THE NEWS

Is the Lord working out his purposes in your midst? Share on your website the good news by posting news, blog updates or send out e-newsletter blasts. The daily responsibilities of a typical Senior Pastor doesn’t always allow for timely sharing of even the most powerful moments in your church. The body of Christ that you are involved with can’t be kept up to date if they don't know. :)

Noteworthy events in the life of your church or ministry might include:
  • Baptisms.
  • Anniversaries of specific dates and milestones.
  • Elder installations.
  • The launch of new programs.
  • Those unexpected faith-building circumstances that God orchestrates.
Then...
  • Tap someone to take photos and/or video. Always!
  • Be selective. Upload 10-15 good images to your website.
  • Create a News item and summarize the gist of the event in a few paragraphs. Include wow-moments and a few quotes if possible for these really help to communicate the moment. Add your photos and/or video to your page.

About the Author

Sharon Kostal oversees the Harvest Bible Fellowship website, digital media and other aspects of communication. Her delight is in spreading the word of God's work in our world today, encouraging Harvest church plants and pastors, and helping to further the reach of their ministries.

Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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Improving Search Results Case Study - Harvest Bible ChapelPostedMonday, July 19, 2010 @ 9 AMByBryan YoungTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 commentsAdd comment

BACKGROUND

Problem

HarvestBibleChapel.org ranks low in simple Google searches using key words.

Recommended Solution

Implement standard SEO practices including:
  • Revising content
  • Revising site title format (as seen on top of window)
  • Adding Meta tags
  • Changing menu headings

Project Goals

To boost the Google search ranking to the top 10 website listings in each of the primary search terms. Simultaneously increase the website’s grade on WebsiteGrader.com.

Time Line

One week, from Wednesday, January 27 to Wednesday, February 3, 2010.


IMPLEMENTATION

Revising Content

Every instance of “Harvest” was changed to “Harvest Bible Chapel” in the website page’s content, where it was possible. “Harvest Bible Chapel” is the search phrase most used by visitors arriving via a Google. Increasing the use of this phrase in site content increases the site’s ranking when entered in a search inquiry.

The link title “Pastor James’s Blog” was changed to “James MacDonald’s Blog” to increase ranking when “James MacDonald” is entered in search inquiries.

Revising Site Tile Format

The previous site title (which appears at the top of the Internet browser window) was changed from the format “[Site Title] – [Page Title]” (ex. “Harvest Bible Chapel – Main Site – New To Harvest?”) to the format “Harvest Bible Chapel | Dr. James MacDonald | [Page Title].”

Removing the site title and replacing it with “Harvest Bible Chapel” makes it more clear to Google what this site contains. Adding “Dr. James MacDonald” also will improve the search ranking for those who search this phrase.


Adding Meta Tags

No Meta tags were in place before this implementation. The description, which appears under the Web site listing in Google search results, was added as follows:

“Harvest Bible Chapel is one church meeting on five campuses in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois led by Senior Pastor James MacDonald.”

Mentioning the key phrases “Harvest Bible Chapel,” “James MacDonald,” “church,” and “Chicago, Illinois” positively influences the Google search rankings for these phrases.

Keywords act as magnet words for Google search inquiries. Sites that include keyword Meta tags improve their search ranking when those words or phrases are searched. The following keywords were added:
  • Harvest Bible Chapel
  • HarvestBibleChapel.org
  • Harvest Bible Chicago
  • James MacDonald
  • Walk in the Word
  • Harvest Bible Fellowship
  • Chicago churches

Changing Menu Headings

The menu heading “About Harvest” was changed to “About Harvest Bible Chapel.”

RESULTS

Google Search Rankings

Search rankings for each of the key phrases improved dramatically after only two days.

Results Before SEO

Results After SEO

41 "harvest bible chapel"
 1 "harvest bible chapel"
1 "harvestbiblechapel.org" 1 "harvestbiblechapel.org"
? "James MacDonald"
 3 "James MacDonald"
23 "Dr. James MacDonald"
 6 "Dr. James MacDonald"
7 "harvest bible"
1 "harvest bible"

Website Grade

The website’s grade from WebsiteGrader.com increased more than four points after the SEO implementation.

Before SEO

Results After SEO

91 Overall Website Grade
 95.6* Overall Website Grade
2 Google PageRank
 2 Google PageRank
154 Google Indexed Pages
 138* Google Indexed Pages
94 Blog Grade
 96.5* Blog Grade
1,012 Inbound Links
 1,012 Inbound Links
2,425,735 Traffic Rank
 2,450,000* Traffic Rank

* average

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We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

Increase Google Page Rank and Inbound Links

The biggest influence on Page Rank is inbound links (other websites linking to HarvestBibleChapel.org). The higher the Page Rank of the sites linking to you, the more influence it has on your Page Rank. HarvestBibleChapel.org has relatively low inbound links, so it is crucial to develop more.

The challenge is that this site is more of a “hub” which directs many users to the campus websites so the amount of content it contains, and the frequency in which its content changes, is less than other church websites of a similar size (harvest.org, willowcreek.org).

Finding a way to develop more inbound links is important to increase the site’s traffic and it’s Page Rank. Sites to get inbound links:
  • Local universities (.edu sites’ links carry more weight)
  • Facebook (fan pages, personal profiles)
  • Extension ministries: HCA, HBF, Walk in the Word, should all be linking back to this site)
  • Twitter: a Harvest Twitter account would drive traffic and add links
  • Other free sites: Chambers of Commerce, church directories, etc.
Is Your Homepage Attractive? Part 5: AdsIs Your Homepage Attractive? Part 5: AdsPostedMonday, July 5, 2010 @ 9 AMByTravis HickoxTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Is Your Homepage Attractive 0 commentsAdd comment

5. Ads

In the past few blogs, we explored how to improve the look of your homepage by writing compelling content, adding thumbnails and highlights, and by creating a custom scrolling header. In this blog, we'll explain how ads can be the finishing touch on the first page your visitors see.

The goal of your homepage is to "convert" your vistor--to convince them to stay on your site longer, see what your ministry has to offer, and hopefully visit your ministry in person or contact you for more information. One way to do this is to show them what's happening with you. You can do this on a large scale with scrolling headers, but you can also do this by creating and uploading ads.

Just like a business would use advertisements in newspapers, billboards, or television, you can advertise your upcoming events, latest news, podcasts, or blogs in the same way. The goal is the same--to get your audience to buy what you're selling. In this case, you are selling your ministry and your ministry website's offerings.

On your iMinistries website, you have a designated place where ads will display, depending on your skin. Most ads show above highlights in the right column. And with iMinistries Rotator feature, you can easily add scrolling ads to maximize the use of this space.

Step 1: Create your ads to "sell" the content of your choice.
Step 2: Make a Rotator, add slides, upload your images, and link them to your content.
Step 3: In your site's Content Administration, use the Widget feature to add your Rotator as a ad.



Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

Create Your Free Trial Account

MORE RESOURCES FOR ADS

What is An Ad? How Do I Create an Ad? - iMinistries Knowledgebase
What is Rotator Admin? How Do I Create a Rotator? - iMinistries Knowledgebase Video
Is Your Homepage Attractive? Part 4: Custom HeaderIs Your Homepage Attractive? Part 4: Custom HeaderPostedMonday, June 21, 2010 @ 9 AMByTravis HickoxTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Is Your Homepage Attractive 0 commentsAdd comment

4. Header

Your ministry website's header is your place to grab your visitor's attention. Since its placement is most prominent on your homepage, your header can be used for several things:
  • To advertise your upcoming ministry events
  • To link to your About pages (Our Beliefs, Service Times, etc.)
  • To let visitors know about your site's blogs and podcasts
Using iMinistries' Rotator feature, you can create a scrolling header for your homepage that can do all these things.

Step 1: Create your banner images to advertise the content of your choice.
Step 2: Make a Rotator, add slides, upload your images, and link them to your content.
Step 3: In your site's Content Administration, use the Widget feature to add your Rotator as a header.



Now your site visitors can see what your ministry is all about, and what's currently going on, from the second they get there. And in the Web world, every second counts.

Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

Create Your Free Trial Account

MORE INFO ABOUT HEADERS AND THE ROTATOR FEATURE

Adding a Header – iMinistries Support Video
What is a Rotator? How do I Create a Rotator? – iMinistries Support Document
Rotator Feature – iMinistries Feature Description
Rotator Transition Styles – iMinistries Feature Description

Is Your Homepage Attractive? Part 3: Adding HighlightsIs Your Homepage Attractive? Part 3: Adding HighlightsPostedMonday, June 7, 2010 @ 9 AMByTravis HickoxTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Is Your Homepage Attractive 0 commentsAdd comment

3. Highlights

Are you using Highlights effectively? Do you even know what a Highlight is? Every page should have at least one Highlight on it. Why?
  • Because they provide additional points of interest
  • Because they provide additional imagery to break up the text
  • Because they make your website appear more dynamic, even if you don't have someone maintaining your website, by using the "Random Highlight" option
  • Because they make your website look more filled with content
  • Because they provide additional cross links, which makes you look better to search engines
  • Because they provide additional navigational links, which help your users find more information


Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

Create Your Free Trial Account

OTHER RESOURCES ON HIGHLIGHTS

What Are Highlights? – iMinistries Support
Adding Highlights? – iMinistries Support Video
Why Highlights? – Wisdom & Insight for Your Website
Is Your Homepage Attractive? Part 2: Adding ThumbnailsIs Your Homepage Attractive? Part 2: Adding ThumbnailsPostedMonday, May 24, 2010 @ 9 AMByTravis HickoxTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Is Your Homepage Attractive 0 commentsAdd comment

2. Thumbnails

If you are not adding thumbnails to the content that you post on your church website, you are missing a step that is a total game changer for how your website looks. I don't want to say that this is the most common thing people miss, but it is a big one. Check out the difference between our previous blog entry and the one below. They have the exact same pieces of information in them but this one has thumbnails.



Thumbnails make your content "pop" off the page. The images break up the chunks of text so your homepage is more pleasing to the eye. They also give a visual representation to your content that your users can more easily identify with. Pictures speak a thousand words, remember?

Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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OTHER RESOURCES ON THUMBNAILS

How to add a thumbnail – iMinistries Support Video
Free thumbnails – iMinistries Resources
Is Your Homepage Attractive? Part 1: ContentIs Your Homepage Attractive? Part 1: ContentPostedMonday, May 10, 2010 @ 9 AMByTravis HickoxTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Is Your Homepage Attractive Web Writing 0 commentsAdd commentAs we've said before, having a great website is more than just fancy images and flashy bells and whistles. The same goes for having an attractive homepage. So how can you make your church website's homepage more attractive to its visitors? Follow us step-by-step through this five part series.

1. Content

Being visually appealing can make or break your website, but the real killer is your written content and how often it changes. While graphics can either pull people in or turn them away from your church website, how can anyone ever find you if Google, Bing, or Yahoo never visit you because there is no information for them to consume? And how will you keep people coming back if there is no information for them to consume?

You need written content on your website's homepage that is dynamic, always up-to-date, and is constantly-changing. Adding the News, Events, or even Blog Widgets to your homepage will make a dramatic difference in how your website looks, both to visitors and search engines.


In the example above, you can see that there are two news items, two events, and a latest blog entry from this website. This is an excellent start, especially because the content shows on the home page by a dynamic feed, or what we call the News, Events, and Blog Widget. Any time that there is a new item added to the News, Events, or Blogs Administration panel, they will update the home page.

Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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Keyword Phrase Strategy's Importance to SEOKeyword Phrase Strategy's Importance to SEOPostedMonday, April 26, 2010 @ 9 AMByJon SingerTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 commentsAdd comment

"I want to be on page one of Google."


That statement is the beginning of the practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s when a website owner realizes that launching a website is not enough to attract new business, and that a complete Web marketing plan must be started.

The one thing that is missing in that statement, however, is for what keyword phrase do they want to rank on page one of Google? Though the answer given off the cuff by the website owner is insightful, the true answer requires research and expertise.

Otherwise, website owners will spend a lot of time and money and still rank poorly. Or equally disappointing, they may rank well, but for poorly chosen keyword phrases, and the resulting traffic to their website is of poor quality.

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We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

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For example, a church might choose "church services" as a keyword phrase, thinking the searcher on Google is seeking local church service times and options. But searchers also might use these terms to mean janitorial companies that specialize in cleaning churches, or for church service times 5,000 miles away.

Any traffic received from these searchers is worthless. The website traffic stats may grow, but that’s not telling the true story. Worst of all, even though the church invested time and money to rank well, it probably received no new calls or interest.

They may then be tempted to write off SEO and Web marketing. But the true problem was poor keyword phrase research and selection.

Lastly, SEO work lasts a long time. If a website succeeds and is on page one of Google, it will have that power for months, if not years, depending on how competitive the keyword phrases are. And if it does drop to page two, with a little attention, the former position can usually be restored.

So, it is critical that website owners don’t race through the keyword phrase selection process. It is not only the first step in SEO and Web marketing plans, but also the most important.


About the Author

Jon Singer is a Chicago area Search Engine Optimization Specialist and Website Designer.
Google Analytics: Campaigns, Custom Links, and MoreGoogle Analytics: Campaigns, Custom Links, and MorePostedMonday, April 12, 2010 @ 9 AMByBryan YoungTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites 0 commentsAdd comment

Understanding campaign variables: The five dimensions of campaign tracking

Google Analytics tracks online campaigns using a combination of the following five marketing dimensions:

Source
Every referral to a web site has an origin, or source. Examples of sources are the Google search engine, the AOL search engine, the name of a newsletter, or the name of a referring website.

Medium
The medium helps to qualify the source; together, the source and medium provide specific information about the origin of a referral. For example, in the case of a Google search engine source, the medium might be "cost-per-click," indicating a sponsored link for which the advertiser paid, or "organic", indicating a link in the unpaid search engine results. In the case of a newsletter source, examples of medium include "e-mail" and "print."

Term
The term or keyword is the word or phrase that a user types into a search engine.

Content
The content dimension describes the version of an advertisement on which a visitor clicked. It is used in content-targeted advertising and Content (A/B) Testing to determine which version of an advertisement is most effective at attracting profitable leads.

Campaign
The campaign dimension differentiates product promotions such as "Spring Ski Sale" or slogan campaigns such as "Get Fit For Summer."

Creating Custom Links

Ever wonder how many of your site's users click on your ads or hyperlinks? Google Analytics can track that, too!

After creating an ad, visit the Google Analytics URL Builder. After adding the end location of your link, edit a few descriptors and Google will create a custom link. Copy this link and use it as your hyperlink URL. Every time your website users click on this link, Google will track their visit information. To access that information, just click Campaigns under Traffic Sources in your website report.



Free Trial

We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

Create Your Free Trial Account

MORE RESOURCES FOR GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Getting Started Guide – Google Analytics
Quick Start Guide for Custom Reporting – Google Analytics
How Do I Tag My Links? – Google Analytics
Google Analytics: Viewing Traffic ReportsGoogle Analytics: Viewing Traffic ReportsPostedMonday, March 29, 2010 @ 9 AMByBryan YoungTaggedBest Practices for Church Websites 0 commentsAdd comment

Analyize tons of data about your ministry website visitors

After you add your Google Analytics account number to your iMinistries website, you'll need to wait 24 hours for data to accumulate on your GA profile. When your data is complied, you can view any of the dozens of Google Analytics reports by clicking the View Reports link at the top of your Analytics screen.

Types of Reports

Important reports in the Content section:

Overview: lists pageview volume and lists the pages (Top Content) that were most responsible for driving pageviews.

Top Content: Which are the most commonly viewed pages on your site, and how are they used? The table lists all of the pages which were viewed on your site. A high "Time on Page" may indicate content that is particularly interesting to visitors.

Top Exit Pages: From which pages do people exit your site? It may be common for visitors to exit your site from a receipt or "thank you" page because they have completed a conversion activity. But a large number of exits from a news item, blog, or event pagemay indicate that the page is confusing or uninteresting.

Important reports in the Traffic Sources section:

Overview: Shows the different kinds of sources that send traffic to your site. The graph shows traffic trends. The pie-chart and tables show what is driving the trends. How did your website visitors get to your site: Direct Traffic, Referring Sites, or Search Engines?

Direct Traffic: How do the people who clicked a bookmark or typed your site URL into their browser to visit your website compare to the "average" visitor to your site?

Referring Sites: How do the people referred from other sites compare to the "average" visitor to your site? The graph shows the overall trends in traffic volume from referrals while the table lists the sites driving the trends.

Search Engines: How does search engine traffic compare to traffic as a whole to your site? The graph shows overall trends while the table lists the search engines driving the trends. (Read our blog entries on how to improve your Google search results.)

Keywords: How does traffic from search keywords compare to traffic as a whole to your site? The graph shows overall trends while the table shows the keywords driving the trends.

Important reports in the Visitors section:

Visitors Overview: How many new and returning visitors came to your site and how extensively did they interact with your content? This traffic overview allows you to drill down into aspects of visit quality (i.e. average pageviews, time on site, bounce rate) and visit characteristics (i.e. first time visitors, returning visits).

Visits: The number of visits your site receives is the most basic measure of how effectively you promote your site.

Pageviews: Pageviews is the total number of pages viewed on your site and is a general measure of how much your site is used.

Average Pageviews: Average pageviews is one way of measuring visit quality. A high Average Pageviews number suggests that visitors interact extensively with your site. A high Average Pageviews results from one or both of:
  1. Appropriately targeted traffic (i.e. visitors who are interested in what your site offers)
  2. High quality content effectively presented on the site.
Conversely, a low average pageviews indicates that the traffic coming to the site has not been appropriately targeted to what the site offers or that the site does not deliver what was promised to the visitor.

Time on Site: If visitors spend a long time visiting your site, they may be interacting extensively with it. This can sometimes be misleading because visitors often leave browser windows open when they are not actually viewing or using your site.

Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page). Bounce rate is a measure of visit quality and a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance (landing) pages aren't relevant to your visitors.

New vs. Returning: A high number of new visitors suggests that you are successful at driving traffic to your site while a high number of return visitors suggests that the site content is engaging enough to keep visitors coming back. You can see how frequently visitors return and how many times they return in "Recency" report and the "Loyalty report," both under "New vs. Returning" in the Visitors section.

Map Overlay: Use this map to visualize visits by geographic region, country, and city.

Length of Visit (Visitor Behavior): Length of visit is a measure of visit quality. A large number of lengthy visits suggests that visitors interact more extensively with your site. The graph allows you to visualize the entire distribution of visits instead of simply the ‘Average Time on Site’ across all visits.

Depth of Visit (Visitor Behavior): Depth of visit is a measure of visit quality. A large number of high pageviews per visit suggests that visitors interact extensively with your site. The graph allows you to visualize the entire distribution of visits instead of simply the average pageviews per visit.

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Terms Used By Google Analytics

Visits vs. Visitors

Analytics measures both visits and visitors in your account. Visits represent the number of individual sessions initiated by all the visitors to your site. If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity will be attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes will be counted as part of the original session.

The initial session by a user during any given date range is considered to be an additional visit and an additional visitor. Any future sessions from the same user during the selected time period are counted as additional visits, but not as additional visitors.

Pageviews vs. Unique Pageviews

A pageview is defined as a view of a page on your site that is being tracked by the Analytics tracking code. If a visitor hits reload after reaching the page, this will be counted as an additional pageview. If a user navigates to a different page and then returns to the original page, a second pageview will be recorded as well.

A unique pageview, as seen in the Top Content report, aggregates pageviews that are generated by the same user during the same session. A unique pageview represents the number of sessions during which that page was viewed one or more times.

Viewing Traffic Reports

Check out the video below to see report checking in action.


MORE RESOURCES FOR GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Getting Started Guide – Google Analytics
Quick Start Guide for Custom Reporting – Google Analytics
Reporting Basics – Google Analytics
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