Google Analytics – A Great Marketing Tool

The beauty of the World Wide Web is that for those of us who live and work in Carmel Valley, this is the center of the webiverse.  The internet has enabled us to be connected with family, friends, co workers and customers around the globe from your desktop, tablet or smart phone.  While that may not be news, I am frequently surprised by associates and clients that are astonished how much data is available about visitor behavior on your website.  Say for instance, you submitted a proposal to Qualcomm and then you looked at your Google Analytics and saw that your site was visited multiple times from Qualcomm for an average of four minutes and six pages were viewed on the average visit.  That information is available on Google Analytics.

Actually, hundreds of reports are available on Google Analytics that provide insight into where visitors are coming from, what sites referred those visits and which pages are being viewed.  Keywords and search terms are also ripe information for determining what people are searching for on the web.  And then you can adjust your messaging on your website, sales collateral or even your emails to position your product or service as the solution.

Any business would benefit from and know more about their web visitors and customers.  Google analytics provides a level of insight that is often greater than I had at my disposal in corporate marketing departments where we had a six or seven figure research budget.  And the best part of this is that all of this data is free from Google.

One of the businesses I am involved in is marketing the Surf-Grip (www.Surf-Grip.com).  The Surf-Grip is a light weight body surfing paddle that provides a flat buoyant surface for wave riding.  It has been described as the world’s smallest body board and it was developed on the beach in Del Mar and has yet to become a phenomena but it is slowly being discovered by web visitors beyond San Diego.  In the last month, the site has been visited by people from 32 countries.

One of the great things about Carmel Valley is that you can be at the beach in five minutes and we have some of the greatest beaches in the world nearby.  A great place to live, a great place to work and a great place to play.  Increasingly, Carmel Valley is a great place to start a company or launch a new venture and we’ll drill deeper on that in future columns.
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Mike Sick is an independent marketing consultant that has worked businesses and clients around the world from his home office in Carmel Valley since 2003.  Having worked with over 50 businesses in a cross section of industries, Mike will write about tips and tricks learned along the way to help you grow or start your business.  Prior to starting his business, Mike was a migrant marketing worker that traveled around the country as a corporate marketing executive.  He has worked for many well known brands including Jack In The Box, Pearle Vision and Arby’s where he was a Marketing VP.  Having worked with a number of inventors, Mike was inspired to invent his own product, a body surfing paddle called the Surf-Grip.  So now even a trip to the beach has a business angle!  A long time volunteer with Connect Springboard, Mike will also introduce San Diego start-ups and Carmel Valley entrepreneurs in his column.  The Sickness is the belief you can get better every day.  Go for it!