Understand Your Analytics - Google Analytics

Let’s face it, math sucks! 

I still stand by this statement.

If it’s not addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division - I’m not trying to wrack my brain to figure it out. Especially as I write this blog post when we’re in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, and I’m “struggling”...and I do mean “struggling” to help my son with his 8th-grade math. 

8th. Grade. MATH!!!

The struggle is real ya’ll. 

I’m a book nerd.

I do not like math. 

BUT...if you have a blog and/or an online business, there are some metrics you HAVE to get used to understanding, and one of those is Google Analytics. 

This blog post is the second in a three-part series where I’m going to break down the most critical metrics you need to look at when it comes to your Pinterest, Google, and Tailwind analytics. 

This blog post is about your Google Analytics. 

When you have a Pinterest business account, you can track how well Pinterest sends its users to your website. But the most essential set of analytics you need to monitor is your Google analytics. 

Now, if you’ve set up your Google Analytics account, you know there is a LOT of information. But you really only need to look at a few select metrics on Google, especially if you’re analytically challenged.

What Are Google Sessions? 

Defined by Google, “a session is a group of user interactions with your website that take place within a given time frame. For example, a single session can contain multiple page views, events, social interactions, and e-commerce transactions.

A single user can open multiple sessions. Those sessions can occur on the same day, or over several days, weeks, or months. As soon as one session ends, there is then an opportunity to start a new session. There are two methods by which a session ends:

• Time-based expiration:

  • After 30 minutes of inactivity

  • At midnight

  • Campaign change:

    • If a user arrives via one campaign, leaves, and then comes back via a different campaign.

By default, a session lasts until there are 30 minutes of inactivity, but you can adjust this limit, so a session lasts from a few seconds to several hours.” 

Why Do Google Sessions Matter?

Monthly sessions are an essential metric to monitor because it gives you a monthly view of how many people are visiting your website or blog. The goal of any website or blog is to grow your traffic, especially if you’re interested in earning money through advertising and joining Mediavine (largest advertising network). The amount of sessions you have is the one metric they look at. You need at least 25,000 consistent sessions (over 30 days) to your site before you’ll get approved by Mediavine. 

Where Do You Find Your Google Sessions? 

From your Google Analytics dashboard, click on:

• Audience

• Overview

Don’t forget to select the correct monthly time frame to get an accurate full session count. 

If you want to learn more about Google sessions, go here.  

How To Find Your Sessions For Pinterest in Google Analytics

If you have a Pinterest business account, you will want to know how many sessions you receive directly from Pinterest. To find your Pinterest sessions click: 

• Acquisition

• Social

• Network Referrals

What you will find in this area is the number of sessions you receive from all of your social networks (Facebook, Instagram), including Pinterest in a given month. 

RELATED: Understand Your Pinterest Analytics

Why Do You Need To Know Your Pinterest Sessions?

You need to understand where all of the traffic comes from, but again, if you are utilizing a Pinterest business account, the sessions you receive from Pinterest is important. By understanding your sessions, you know how Pinterest is growing your business every month, and you can compare them to your overall sessions. 

If you click on Pinterest, you can also see which blog posts bring the most traffic to your website. 

What Are Google Pageviews

Defined by Google, “a pageview (or pageview hit, page tracking hit) is an instance of a page being loaded (or reloaded) in a browser. Pageviews is a metric defined as the total number of pages viewed.” Pageviews is a metric that shows the total number of pages viewed from your website within a specific timeframe. 

Why Are Google Pageviews Important

Pageviews allow you to see how your website or blog is doing overall. You should look at this number every month so you can see how your overall website or blog traffic is performing. Pageviews are also vital because they allow you to understand how engaged your readers are when they visit your website. 

Where Do You Find Google Pageviews

From your Google Analytics dashboard, click on:

• Audience

• Overview

Your page views number will be displayed under the “sessions” number. 

Well, there you have it! These are the two metrics you should pay attention to in Google Analytics when you want to find out how users interact with your website.

If you missed the blog post about Pinterest Analytics, go here.

Are you struggling with Pinterest? Then go here and check out my Pinterest Management services. I’d love to help you out.