 Google Analytics is a complex collection of data that an inexperienced eye can easily get lost in. When looking at the Source/Medium of the traffic sources to your website, Google Analytics breaks the data up into three sections which are Acquisitions, Behavior, and Conversions. Most business owners and C levels care about the Conversions however, in this article we are going to dive into the 2 broader and perhaps harder to decipher categories. Acquisition Metrics are things like the number of users, number of new users, and number of sessions to start. Behavior Metrics are focused on the user once on the site, including things like bounce rate, page session, and average session duration. Both of these groups of metrics are relevant for different types of SEO campaigns and are particularly important if you are trying to understand your own SEO. Keep reading and we will break them down piece by piece. When Should You Care About Acquisition Metrics? Users, New Users, and Sessions are the 3 standard metrics provided in this section.
These are top of funnel metrics and should be looked at through a top of funnel lens. Particularly true in e-commerce business models, not every user is a customer but every customer is a user, and this is important to remember. Bringing more users, but seeing a decline in Behavior and Conversion metrics, could be an indication that you are bringing the wrong type of user to the site. Acquisition metrics are an area you want to see continuous growth in, but if Behavior and Conversions are not on similar upward trends you may need to revisit your content strategy. Tip: Take a look at the Geo section in Google Analytics under “Audience”. You’ll want to monitor where your traffic is coming from and trends that relate to the searchers geographic region. If you are a local business and your content is attracting users from states or even countries away this could be a reason you see better Acquisition numbers than Behavior and Conversion.  When Should You Care About Behavior Metrics? Bounce Rate, Page/Session, and Ave. Session Duration are the 3 standard metrics provided in this section.
These metrics are at the heart of good SEO and becoming more and more important ranking factors. And this is a fairly easy conclusion to draw. If users are showing quality behavior metrics like high time on page or pages visited per session, then the user must be receiving some sort of value from your site and Google will reward you by showing your site more frequently to qualified users. Behavior metrics are clearly the next logical step in tracking Traffic Sources. First, you acquire the user, then you track that user as they move around your site, if you are able to attract enough eyes, and provide a quality experience worth staying, you should have some nice conversion metrics to show the decision makers. Tip: Consider adding a tool to your site that tracks your users' cursors anonymously. You will be able to view a heatmap of where people click and this makes for very clear A/B testing. Try things like different contact form or call to action placements and see how your users interact with the page. After a few tests you should feel very confident in creating a template that others in your business can use to push out optimized content worry free with a page layout that works.  Scratching the Surface of Google Analytics Traffic Sources is a fraction of the data offered by Google Analytics. It is a great place to simply make sure things aren’t on fire but finding the cause of poor SEO results requires much deeper digging. In my next two posts I will discuss How to Identify the Underlying Causes of Poor Acquisition and Behavior Metrics through other tabs on the Google Analytic Dashboard.
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Custom software is often a topic completely overlooked by many small to medium sized businesses. The idea of having a CRM or mobile app built specifically for your business may seem like a luxury only larger businesses can afford however, this is no longer the case. Just as a standard website used to cost upwards of $10,000+ in the 90’s and now can be built at a fraction of the cost, custom software builds are experiencing a coming of age in similar fashion. What used to cost 6 figures has been reduced to the low 5’s and there are even drag and drop app building platforms where you can build apps yourself code free. As better tools are made available for the experts, allowing for faster output from developers, and with the rise of elastic databases like AWS, which provide commercial server access in an a la carte format, having your own app or web based software is something every business owner should consider. Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of a custom software build and how to tell if it’s time for your business.  Choosing Between Established Software and a Custom BuildYou would be hard pressed to find a business that doesn't use any software at all to operate these days. Even the most basic of businesses have an invoicing system, a payment processor, or some sort of software to monitor internal affairs like employee management. Without second thought, many of these business owners will turn to some of the most popular platforms out there like QuickBooks, Office365, Slack & more. A couple of years ago these big players were offering their software at extremely affordable prices or even free. Fast forward to 2021 and you will find new SAAS companies entering the marketplace every day along with widespread user reliance on these services. This reliance (once you start using QuickBooks...good luck stopping) along with the rapidly growing number of competitors have created an environment where these services are usually no longer free and are becoming less and less affordable. Quickbooks cost just $19/mo a few short years ago for complete plans and now you can expect to pay $50+/mo. Some readers may even scoff at the thought of a $50/mo piece of software as many enterprise software providers won’t talk to you for less than 4 figures a month and there’s always a contract that is essentially non-negotiable. Paying 4-5 figures a month to a software company, that at the end of the day still owns all of your company data in one way or another, can wear on any business owner who wishes to run a secure and self reliant business. Ultimately, opting for out of the box software when starting a business makes sense but as you grow, paying over and over again for something you don’t own, that wasn’t built for your business, causes a lot of business owners to seek out a professional app development team. If custom software can save you or your team a few hours a day, it pays for itself in a few short months. Benefits of Using Already Established SoftwareThere are many benefits to simply purchasing a subscription from a well established brand and having them hit your card every month. As stated above, it is recommended that you use these tools when you start your business and these platforms have helped tons of businesses scale. The biggest benefits are
The pros of using a subscription based software as described above are the cons of a custom build and vice versa. Benefits of Having a Custom Software BuiltBelow read some of the biggest advantages to building your own system which are simultaneously the pitfalls of paying for a month to month software.
How do you Know it’s Time to Have Custom Software Built?If you are:
you can be sure now is the time to invest in custom software for your business. Custom software gives you design flexibility and freedom from high, endless monthly bills. With our average software build costing between $20-50k and a business owner that knows their numbers, we can generate a breakeven date compared to what you are currently paying your current software providers so you can be certain this endeavor will have a positive ROI for your business. Is There a Way I Can Dip My Toe in the Water? $20-$50,000 Sounds Like a Lot!Yes! Here at Mad Mango Marketing we can sit down with you and your team and go over your current systems, your functionality requirements, and your design preferences. For around 10% of the price we quote you to build the entire system we can build what we refer to as a “mock up”. This mock up has clickable features and can be used on your computer or phone with limited functionality. What we do in the mock up stage is put together our best interpretation of your needs into an app for you to feel comfortable in our ability to deliver as well as for you to visually see how it will look so you can make suggest critical changes before continuing development. The best part!? This mock up is 100% non-binding to the build of the application or software. We even bake this number into the future price of the project! i.e. if we quote you $20,000, you pay $2,000 for the mock up and then owe a remaining $18,000 for the completion of the project which is typically spread out into monthly payments based on our projected timeline to finish. Some people come to us just to develop a mock up that they can have on their phone as a tool to raise funds for completion!How to Get StartedFill out the contact form below or message one of our team members on LinkedIn and we will send you some of our most recent projects, referrals from past builds, and set up a meeting to learn more about your business. With Mad Mango Marketing, having a custom built mobile app or software system is only a few clicks away. Contact us today! |
AuthorAll blogs are written by our incredible staff here at Mad Mango Marketing. Your Connecticut SEO, App Development, and Online Advertising experts. Archives
November 2021
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