How Google Analytics Search Can Help Improve User Experience

Google Analytics is an amazing tool. There are so many features to help explain phenomena on your website and why users are interacting and using the site the way that they are. One useful tool i have food in Google Analytics is the Site Search feature. It tells marketers what is being typed into the search bar of your website.

Finding Site Search
To find site searches, log into google analytics. In the behavior section there is a subsection called "Site Search." This contains the categories Overview, Usage, Search Terms, and Search Pages. The overview provides a high-level look at the searches being conducted by users on a site. Usage explores site search status, including sessions without a search. Search Terms reviews the terms people are looking for while Search Pages covers the start page, search page, and which pages users end up on after their searches.

Using the Data
Once marketers have access to site search data on Google Analytics, they can use it to create a better user experience. For example, during the month of May there were 55 searches on the Google Beta website. Out of those 55 searches, 47 of them (or 85%) were for the same product, the gopher. Since Google knows that users are searching for this product they can feature it on the homepage or in a place that is more accessible to users to improve their experience. The Site Search function is extremely useful for ecommerce websites.

Google Analytics - Measuring Behavior

As companies begin to further analyze their website data, they are realizing that metrics like number of users on the site, page views, and unique visitors are just the tip of the website data iceberg. Taking a deeper dive into website behavior can give brands real insight into how their sites work, how people are using the website, and where changes can be made.

In Google Analytics under “behavior” there is an overview of how people are using the site. Further exploration of the behavior section will show metrics like the entrances and exits, which tells companies where people enter and leave their websites. If a lot of people tend to exit from a page when they are meant to click somewhere else, that brand can make the necessary changes. Page entrances also hints to the best external referrals that are bringing people onto the site. Showing these on a dashboard can allude to user flow without going too in-depth for companies. Another aspect of the behavior section is the content drill-down. The content drill-downs analyzes the pages users are spending the most time on. This shows the type of content users enjoy interacting with, and future content can be built in the same style. Aspects like the breakdown of the browsers shows the top internet browsers website traffic coming from, which can help optimize content.