By Dana Alley, Kelly Myers and April Leabo
Now that we know who is visiting your site, let’s take a look at what they’re actually doing once they’re on your site. Look at Pages per Session and the average number of pages a user visits when they land on your site. More pages per session means that users are being engaged with your content and want to explore your site. Most clients on average have two page views per session, mainly because viewers are interested in a specific need. Maybe a couple has just had their first child and are curious about Estate Planning, or an adult child’s parent suddenly needs long-term care. These users are more likely to visit one web page with the area that applies specifically to their concern.
Next, look at the Average Session Duration: how long visitors are staying on your site. This is not how long a user stays on a single webpage, but the duration of the entire visit to your site. An average of two minutes is standard for the legal industry. In two minutes, a user can fill out a contact form and read a practice area page. If you average less than two minutes, you might need more engaging content or design, or a stronger call to action.
The Bounce Rate indicates the number of sessions on your website that resulted in only one page view. The user clicked on your website, stared at that one webpage for a few seconds and clicked the back button. The lower the Bounce Rate, the better. For the legal industry, a bounce rate of 60% is average. If you have an older site and a bounce rate at a concerning level, it may be time to evaluate your site for a redesign; however, if your site is relatively new or a high bounce rate is a rare occurrence, it is not likely that major changes will need to be made. Adding video to your site, especially on the home page can help decrease the bounce rate as it serves the dual purpose of engaging visitors immediately and initiating a personal connection with your firm.
Integrity Marketing Solutions configures a series of Goals for you in Google Analytics. The first Goal is the Contact Us/Thank You page, the webpage a user is directed to after submitting a Contact form or a Request a Consultation form. Lastly, there is an [entrance] field. This is meant to track your phone calls from the website via the call tracking number.
This is where Goals can be confusing. A Goal does not track when a website visitor lands on the webpage with the form. The Goal tracks when a website visitor reaches the webpage that appears after submitting the form, which is the Thank You page. One visitor to a Thank You page is considered one Goal Completion. Why is this? Since visitors to your website are directed to one of these “Thank You” pages only after they have completed and submitted a form on your website, your goal completions track only those leads who have taken the initiative to reach out to your firm. Likewise, one phone call, based on the call tracking number on your website, is equal to one Goal Completion for [entrance]. These numbers give your firm an idea of how many people your website is converting. Once a lead has made a call or submitted a form, your firm has the opportunity to close the lead and welcome them into your client family.