8 essential Google Analytics metrics you should know for your website or eCommerce business

One of the cornerstones of digital marketing is the analysis of website data, Google Analytics being the main tool for achieving this.This data is crucial for companies to work on their sales strategies, expand the reach of their campaigns, and improve their conversion rates.

However, as is often the case with these types of specialized tools, Its features and various functions can be a little overwhelming.Therefore, we have decided to discuss the basic metrics that will allow us to have a general understanding of the data offered by this Google service.

8 basic Google Analytics metrics

Upon entering the Google Analytics homepage, we will get an overview of what the most important metrics are: Users, Sessions, Session Duration, and Bounce Rate. These metrics provide an initial overview of the interactions generated within the website. These, along with four others, can be found in the Overview section of the Audience tab, and we will explain them below.

1.- Users

The first metric we have is that of users, which refers to all those who have logged in, That is, those who have accessed the site. Therefore, we can say that users are the people who visit the website and whose access is recorded. like a cookie in their browser. That said, if the person accesses the site again from another browser or device, it would be counted as a new user.

2.- New users

This next metric provides figures for those users who have accessed the website first within the period to be verified. Here you can see the unusual traffic of the site, which may be the product of SEO campaigns or other user acquisition methods.

Comparing this to the previous section, it's possible to estimate user loyalty on the website by observing the difference in their amounts. That said, these figures may vary depending on the site's characteristics. For example, On a website or eCommerce platform that has a login system, the number of new users will be lower.

3. Sessions

This metric refers to the to the interactions that each user makes within the site (going to the home page, visiting different products). In other words, the same user can have multiple sessions, so this number will be greater than the number of users.

As Google explains:

"A session is a set of interactions of users with your website over a specific period. For example, A single session can contain multiple page views, events, social interactions, and e-commerce transactions. A single user can open multiple sessions, either on the same day or over several days, weeks, or months.«.

As soon as a session ends, it is possible to start a new session. The expiration of sessions (i.e., of that set of interactions) can be based on:

• Time: after 30 minutes of inactivity or at midnight
• The campaign: If the user arrives at the site through a campaign, leaves it, and then returns to the site through another campaign.

4.- Sessions per user

As we mentioned, sessions are the visits generated by each user. The average number of sessions per user is a ratio of the number of sessions per user, That is, the number of interactions generated by a single user when visiting the website.

This metric allows us to validate the quality of the content offered by the site, as well as its overall appeal, since users must have a specific interest in it when they return continuously.

It may interest you: How to Improve Your Design in 20+ Easy Steps.

5. Number of page views

This section provides a figure on the number of page views within the site regardless of sessions and the number of users. At this point, even repeat visits to the same page are taken into account. So, if a user returns to the homepage every time they finish reading content, these returns are counted as new visits. This is the most important metric you should see on your dashboard. Analytics.

As with the average number of sessions, this metric allows you to gauge the level of audience interest. A higher number of visits indicates that users are spending more time on the site, interacting with the different types of content.

6. Pages/Sessions

Here we can find an average of the number of pages visited by each user in their different sessions on the site. This figure will give us an idea of ​​the depth of each visit, or rather, the level of interest users show in the site's content. This ratio will tend to be greater than one, especially in eCommerce, since the purchase process will require users to interact with different pages.

A low number would indicate a high abandonment rate for the store, as customers are not completing their purchases. On the other hand, for blogs or news sites, this would suggest that encouraging users to read other content, beyond what initially caught their attention, is not working. As we can see, this is an important factor to consider regarding internal website strategies, such as link building.

7.- Rebound percentage

Finally, we have the bounce rate, which refers to Users who enter the site and leave without generating any interaction with the website. In this way we can assume that main pages generate a lower bounce rate than other specific content, as it functions as a starting point.

This metric offers an analysis of user behavior on the site, allowing for the evaluation of various aspects. For example: content quality and relevance, as well as the browsing experience within the site. This aspect is related to the average session duration, since the time of visits considered as bounces is not counted.

8. Average session duration

This measures the average time a user spends on a page, And it is measured by taking into account interactions within the website. Therefore, time will only be counted if the user navigates to another page within the site, or interacts with it.

In this context, it's possible that informational websites will have a low average session duration, since it's common for users to leave the site after reading the content without further interaction. These types of cases are categorized in the following and final section. Note that sessions that generate a direct bounce, without interaction with the website, will generate a zero average session time.

We hope you find this article very useful, and remember that the most important thing about learning is to never stop asking questions.

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