How often do you remember to check the Google Analytics data for your website?
Many people can go several months without thinking about it, which means you could be missing out on valuable insights into the success of your online marketing efforts.
To stay updated, you can set up custom reports and dashboards in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to monitor key metrics and gain valuable insights.
Here are 4 reports we think are valuable for checking your blogging stats:
1) Top 10 Blog Posts on www.yoursite.com
To generate this report in Google Analytics 4:
Navigate to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.
Use the search bar above the data table to filter for the directory of your blog (typically "/blog/").
This will display the top blog posts based on user engagement and views within your blog section.
2) Top 10 Web Pages on www.yoursite.com
Go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.
The default view shows your top pages ranked by views or user engagement.
You can sort the table by metrics like Views, Users, or Average engagement time to identify your most popular pages.
3) Top 10 Referral Sources to Your Site
Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
In the data table, set the primary dimension to Session source/medium.
This will list all sources directing traffic to your site, allowing you to see the top 10 referral sources.
4) Top 10 Referral Links from www.erpsoftwareblog.com (or another group blog site) to Your Site
In the Traffic acquisition report, set the primary dimension to Session source.
Find and click on erpsoftwareblog.com to filter the data.
To see individual referral pages:
Go to Explore > Free Form.
Set Dimensions to Page path + query string and Session source.
Apply a filter where Session source equals erpsoftwareblog.com.
This will display specific pages from erpsoftwareblog.com that are sending traffic to your site.
From these reports, you can tell:
The topics your blog readers are most interested in, giving you ideas for new blog posts.
Which pages on your website are the most popular, helping you decide which ones to feature or update.
The sites that refer the most traffic to your website, informing your link-building and partnership strategies.
Since www.erpsoftwareblog.com is often a top referring site, you can also determine:
Which specific pages from the ERP Software Blog are sending the most traffic to your site.
You can use the data in these reports to decide which posts to update, optimize, or improve. You may be surprised to find that posts over five years old are still sending you significant traffic, indicating they might benefit from a refresh.
And don't forget to check out your Group Blog post data in the back end of the Group Blogs. For details, check out our post: "See Which Of Your Group Blog Posts Gets the Most Traffic."
Setting Up Automated Reports in Google Analytics 4
While GA4 doesn't support scheduled email reports in the same way as the previous version, you can still keep track of your important metrics by:
Creating Custom Dashboards:
Use the Library feature in GA4 to customize and save reports.
Pin key reports to your dashboard for easy access.
Using Google Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio):
Connect GA4 to Looker Studio to build custom dashboards.
Set up scheduled email delivery of these dashboards:
In Looker Studio, click on Share > Schedule email delivery.
Configure the frequency, recipients, and message.
Regularly reviewing these reports helps you stay informed about what your readers are interested in and how your marketing efforts are performing.
What will your Google Analytics 4 reports tell you?
By Anya Ciecierski, Co-Founder, ERP Blog LLC
Join a group blog at www.groupbloggers.com
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