Analytics that matter: what to track and why

Why page views are not enough

Page views tell you how many people visited, but not whether your site is working. To understand if your site is effective, you need to track what matters to your business [1]Source 1 .

For more on setting up analytics, see analytics setup that actually helps.

What to track

1) Goals and conversions

Track the actions that matter to your business.

• Form submissions: How many people complete your contact or enquiry forms.
• Phone calls: Track clicks on phone numbers or calls from your site.
• Email clicks: How many people click your email address.
• Downloads: If you offer PDFs, guides, or resources, track downloads.
• Purchases: For e-commerce, track completed purchases and revenue.

2) User journeys

Understand how people move through your site.

• Entry pages: Which pages do people land on first? Are they the right pages?
• Exit pages: Where do people leave? Are they leaving after converting or before?
• User flows: How do people move from homepage to contact? What paths do they take?
• Bounce rate: Are people leaving immediately or engaging with your content?

3) Traffic sources

Know where your visitors come from.

• Organic search: How many visitors come from Google and other search engines?
• Direct traffic: People typing your URL or using bookmarks.
• Referrals: Visitors from other websites that link to you.
• Social media: Traffic from social platforms (if you use them).
• Paid ads: If you run ads, track which campaigns bring visitors.

4) Content performance

See which content works and which does not.

• Popular pages: Which pages get the most traffic? Are they the pages you want people to see?
• Time on page: Do people read your content or leave quickly?
• Scroll depth: How far do people scroll? Are they reading your content?
• Content that converts: Which pages lead to conversions? Focus on improving those.

What to ignore (or deprioritise)

• Vanity metrics: Total page views, social media likes, followers - these do not tell you if your site is working.
• Average session duration: Can be misleading - a long session might mean people are lost, not engaged.
• Pages per session: More pages is not always better - someone might find what they need on one page.
• Real-time data: Interesting but not actionable - focus on trends over time.

Setting up goals

1) Define your goals

What actions do you want people to take on your site?

• Primary goal: The main action you want (e.g. form submission, phone call, purchase).
• Secondary goals: Other useful actions (e.g. newsletter signup, download, page views of key content).
• Micro-conversions: Small steps toward your main goal (e.g. viewing a service page, reading an article).

2) Track goals in analytics

Set up goal tracking in your analytics tool.

• Destination goals: Track when someone reaches a thank-you page after submitting a form.
• Event goals: Track button clicks, form submissions, downloads, video plays.
• Duration goals: Track when someone spends a certain amount of time on your site.
• Pages per session: Track when someone views a certain number of pages.

Understanding the data

1) Look for patterns

Do not just look at numbers - look for patterns and trends.

• Trends over time: Are conversions increasing or decreasing? Why?
• Traffic sources: Which sources bring the most conversions? Focus on those.
• Content that works: Which pages lead to conversions? Create more like those.
• Drop-off points: Where do people abandon forms or leave? Fix those issues.

2) Ask why

When you see a change in data, ask why it happened.

• Did something change? Did you update content, change design, or run a campaign?
• Is it seasonal? Some businesses have seasonal patterns.
• Is it a trend or a blip? One day's data is not a trend - look at weeks and months.

3) Act on insights

Use analytics to make decisions, not just to look at numbers.

• Improve what works: If certain pages convert well, make them better or create similar content.
• Fix what does not: If pages have high bounce rates or low conversions, improve them.
• Focus on high-value traffic: If certain sources bring more conversions, invest more in those.

Common mistakes

• Tracking everything: Too much data is overwhelming. Focus on what matters.
• Ignoring conversions: Traffic without conversions is not useful. Track what drives business results.
• Not setting up goals: Without goals, you cannot measure success.
• Checking too often: Daily fluctuations are normal. Look at weekly and monthly trends.
• Not acting on data: Analytics are useless if you do not use them to improve your site.

Practical approach

1. Set up analytics: Install Google Analytics or similar and configure it properly.
2. Define goals: Decide what actions matter to your business.
3. Track conversions: Set up goal tracking for your main conversions.
4. Review monthly: Check analytics monthly to spot trends and issues.
5. Act on insights: Use what you learn to improve your site and content.

Summary

Track: goals and conversions (forms, calls, purchases), user journeys (entry/exit pages, flows), traffic sources (organic, direct, referrals), content performance (popular pages, what converts).

Ignore: vanity metrics, misleading averages, real-time data.

Set up: define goals, track conversions, look for patterns, ask why, act on insights.

For more on analytics setup, see analytics setup that actually helps. For help with conversion tracking, see conversion rate optimisation. You can also get in touch to discuss your analytics needs.