Getting Analytical to Know Your Online Audience

Getting Analytical to Know Your Online Audience

Who is your online target audience? That might be a question you think you know the answer to, but do you really? It is often a mistake to think that you are in the know when it comes to who and who isn’t reading the content you produce for your website and/or blog. While you may perform all the tricks to lure in who you feel is your target audience, you may, in fact, be luring in a whole different demographic altogether. Luckily, there is a handy tool called Google Analytics that is free to use and can help you get to know your online audience.

There are several reasons to use Google Analytics that span far past the fact that the service is free. It is a hands-off feature that can basically be plugged in and forgotten about until you get those juicy stats at the end of the month. And even better, at the end of each month, Google will email you and give you that very detailed breakdown of your online audience.

It can get a bit overwhelming with all the analytics Google provides you, but there are some key elements you really want to pay attention to. First and foremost, you want to see what time of day and day of the week is most popular for your website. This will allow you to focus on releasing new content at a time when you know there will likely be the most eyeballs on it. Another key factor to look at is how your audience is finding you…in other words, what leads them to your site. And, taking that a step further, what pages do they see most often?

You’ll also want to pay attention to who your audience is. It is wonderful to know where they come from and where they go on your site, but you should really center on the personal demographics of the audience. Things like age, gender, and region all help when it comes time to create content. If you know what your audience wants, as well as where they come from and where they go, you can hone your skills as a master content creator and maximize your target audience…even if they were not at all who or what you expected.