Social Media Metrics For Dummies

Growing a Brand with Metrics

Metrics are excellent tools to build awareness of your brand and grow your business, working hard to give you the data you need to expand your reach. Not only are metrics good for growing the business profile, you can use them for other growth aspects, such as hiring new help.

One of the first places you should check in your analytics program is the overview of where your traffic is coming from. You can find this overview in Google Analytics as follows:

1. Log in to Google Analytics.

2. Select the domain you want to track.

3. Click the Standard Reporting tab.

4. In the left sidebar, click Traffic Sources.

5. Click Overview under Traffic Sources.

The Traffic Sources Overview, shown in Figure 12-1, appears.

6. Look for the pie chart and pay attention to the segments Search, Referral, Direct, and Campaigns.

Breaking down the pie

You can use this referral source data to see how well your various online marketing efforts are working. If most of your pie is Search, then you know your SEO is strong, and any AdWords campaigns and keyword pushes you’re running are strong. If more of your pie is Referral, then you know your social media and landing page campaigns are doing well.

Figure 12-1: Traffic Sources Overview in Google Analytics.

If your pie is off kilter, you can see which areas you need to work on and know where to put your resources. This ...