The entire Google platform in general and Analytics more specifically has become so robust that a lot of law firm leaders find it too labor intensive to dig into the data. For that reason, IMS provides clients with the ability to review the data that we feel is most valuable through your Essential 1.0 Dashboard. The key information about your firm’s website and your marketing data is gathered in a way that is convenient and, we think, sensibly organized.
Should you venture into the world of Google Analytics? If you have the time and inclination, yes. There is a world of information in GA that will give you insights into how well your website is performing, where people go once they get to your website, how long they visit your pages, and that key question, what page is the most frequent one to send them away from your website.
Your IMS marketing team devotes a lot to your GA so that we have an in-depth understanding of your website’s performance metrics and what, if any, changes should be made to your website. If you are using the E2 CRM, that provides us with even more information, and we can make recommendations based on a bigger data set.
It should be noted that we do have a number of clients who enjoy—yes, they really do—the process of digging into screen after screen of information from GA and discerning for themselves the health and well-being of their website. The challenge is that GA is a lot like Aladdin’s cave—there’s so much gold, it’s hard to know what to grab first.
We asked IMS team members what they think matters most in terms of website performance, and they were ready with responses:
Traffic is important, but be careful to look at the numbers in a meaningful time frame. If they just look at one month, or one quarter, it’s too little information to get a complete picture. Comparing year-over-year will give more insight.
How many people are looking at their videos? If they don’t have videos, then maybe this is the time to consider what they are missing. If we look at the performance of websites with videos compared to websites without videos, the reason for videos becomes clear.
Looking at bounce rates for the site overall and for specific pages will tell you where the site or the particular pages are falling short. If so many people are reading your “About the Attorney” page and leaving very soon, then you are not connecting with them. Maybe your content is out of date, or your photo is out of date, but they are not feeling the emotional connection and trust that this page needs to create.
How many Contact Us forms get filled out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? If that is not set up to be a conversion, then ask an IMS team member to get it set up that way. You’ll want to know how many of those forms get filled out, and if you are not getting a lot of conversions or if the number of conversion is declining instead of increasing, let’s dig in and find out why.
Have questions about GA? Submit a support ticket and we’ll help you gain a better understanding.