I want to know how many people are viewing our company's website and smartphone site, which pages get the most views, and what search terms people use to find us!!
But I'm not really sure what tools to use or how to read the data…
For everyone in that situation, we'll be posting a reverse-lookup dictionary for the most popular access analysis tool of all, [Google Analytics], bit by bit.
Since this is the first installment, we'll start with the Basic Information Edition.

First of all, in order to use Google Analytics… you need to embed the Google Analytics "tag."
For customers who order website or smartphone site production from us, we install it free of charge (as standard), so whether you're thinking about having a website or smartphone site built from now on, or you already have one but it doesn't seem to be installed… please feel free to get in touch.

Once the tag is installed, all you need is a Google account.
(If you don't have a Google account, signing up is very easy and free, so please take this opportunity to get one.)
The administrator does need to grant you viewing permission so that you can see Google Analytics yourself, but we'll take care of that too, so there's nothing to worry about.

Once you're all set, let's dive right into Google Analytics and take a look at the access analysis results for your website or smartphone site!!

1. Go to the Google Analytics login screen and log in.

Search for "Google Analytics," or go to https://www.google.com/intl/ja_jp/analytics/index.html, click the "Log in" button, and enter your Google account ID and password.

2. After logging in, click the blue text that says "All Website Data."

After logging in, you should see your website name or URL displayed.
Click the blue text below it that says "All Website Data."

3. Let's take a look at the "Audience Overview."

The "Audience Overview" that appears first gives you a bird's-eye view of your entire website.
Ah, I see… but even so, it's full of technical jargon, and many of you are probably thinking, "I have no idea which number to look at to find what I want to know!!"

Here's where the reverse lookup begins!!

First, (on a PC) the date range is shown in the upper right of the screen, so set it to the period whose access analysis data you want to view.
Then…

[If you want to know how many times users visited your website or smartphone site]
Look at "Sessions." For example, if the number 500 appears in the "Sessions" field, that means users visited your website or smartphone site 500 times during the specified period.

[If you want to know how many users visited your website or smartphone site]
Look at "Users." For example, if the number 400 appears in the "Users" field, that means 400 users visited your website or smartphone site during the specified period.
This is similar to "Sessions" above, but it's easier to understand if you remember that "Sessions" is counted in "times" and "Users" is counted in "people."

[If you want to know the total number of pages viewed on your website or smartphone site]
Look at "Pageviews." This tells you the total number of pages viewed during the specified period.

[If you want to know how many pages people viewed per visit]
Look at "Pages/Session." This tells you the average number of pages a user viewed during a single visit to your website or smartphone site.
For example, if the "Pages/Session" figure reads "3.15," the analysis is telling you that visitors viewed an average of 3.15 pages per visit.

[If you want to know how many minutes people stayed on your website or smartphone site]
Look at "Avg. Session Duration." This tells you the average length of time users spent on your website or smartphone site after arriving.
For example, if "Avg. Session Duration" reads 2:30, the analysis is telling you that visitors stayed for an average of 2 minutes 30 seconds per visit.

[If you want to know the percentage of visits where people viewed only one page (without moving on to another) and then left your website or smartphone site]
Look at "Bounce Rate." This one's easy to grasp since the name is so direct.
For example, if the "Bounce Rate" is 60.77%, that means 60.77% of visits ended with the person viewing just one page (without moving on to another) and leaving your website or smartphone site.
Now that I've written it out, it really is exactly what it says on the tin. Sorry about that.

[If you want to know what percentage of visits were people coming to your website or smartphone site for the first time]
Look at "% New Sessions." This tells you the percentage of first-time visits to your website or smartphone site—in other words, the share of new visitors.
For example, if "% New Sessions" is 82.45%, that means 82.45% of all visits were new visits.
Incidentally, there should be a pie chart near that figure. The portion shaded blue represents new visits, and the portion shaded green represents returning visits (people who have visited your website or smartphone site two or more times).

That wraps up the Google Analytics Reverse-Lookup Dictionary – Basic Information Edition.
When we go over this with clients, we often get questions like, "How many sessions per month should we be getting?" or "Is our bounce rate high? What percentage would be good?"
In those cases, we don't give a clear-cut number. Or rather, we can't give one.
That's because the numbers you should aim for vary widely depending on your industry and the purpose of your website or smartphone site.

That would make this post too long, so we'll cover that topic in another article next time.
See you then!!