Web and digital marketing has often been deemed much more efficient than traditional marketing. Yet, there is just one problem: many web marketers continue to fail to leverage web analytics. It’s possibly because it can quickly become overwhelming trying to sort through all the data.

What does it all mean? Why do I need to understand bounce rate or even traffic origination? Why is this important? Why can’t I just pay for clicks and let that roll? Well, in today’s hypercompetitive online environment, you can’t just buy clicks and let the chips fall where they may. You need to understand who is visiting and why. You have to grasp how long visitors stay on your site, and what is their bounce rate.

And, you can’t just archive this data. You must learn to use it to ensure business growth. When you understand the market, you can act accordingly. If you can understand your prospects by segments such as age, location and more–you can reduce the cost you spend on ads because you can make them much more targeted. Web analytics also help you to get an accurate picture of your advertising investment relative to the actual results. So, here are five website analytics that are the most critical.

Traffic

There isn’t any question that you need to measure the number of visits to determine site reach and growth. This helps to give you an idea of how well your marketing efforts are working, as well as a picture of site performance. You also want to make sure you are getting the right traffic, or people who are actually interested in your products and services.

Your goal should be to do better than you did last year. You also want to grow a dedicated audience who supports your business. Large numbers aren’t that important if no one is interested. Ask yourself why you want to grow your traffic and what you plan on giving your targeted audience for their dedication.

Pages/ Session

This is the average number of pages viewed during a visit to your site. The objective is to keep your visitors engaged and wanting to take the next step. You want them to see more than just your home page. Understanding the pages/session analytics helps you to measure interest and curiosity about your business. The unofficial standard is two pages per session.

Bounce rate

This rate is based on single-page site visits. You need to understand the bounce rate because it gives you a good signal of user engagement and content quality. The industry indicator is 50 percent. Although, bounce rates can rage from 25 percent to 65 percent. You should look at other metrics, such as the nature of your business and industry, when considering your bounce rate. If you have an unusually high bounce rate, it means people are not sticking around your site to see what else you have to offer.

Average session duration

This tells you how long visitors stay on your site. The longer the better. This tells you if your content is engaging enough for them to stick around. If not, how can you improve? The industry standard is 2-3 minutes. This might not seem like much at first, but it’s certainly long enough to read a piece of content or watch a video. If they stay longer, it means they’re reading or viewing more of your content. We all feel like we could use more time in the day.

When visitors are willing to sacrifice even five minutes for your content, that is a good sign. If they aren’t, then it is time to re-evaluate your site and run some focus group tests. This is why web analytics is so important–the better you understand your audience, the better you will be at creating content they want.

Conversion rate

This is a goal completion such as purchasing a product or signing up for your company newsletter. The industry standard conversion rate is 2 percent. This metric helps you to learn more about the value of your marketing efforts and site. Conversions are the reason your site exists, right? Of course, they can vary depending on your business goals.

If you have a low conversion rate, it might be due to issues with low-quality content, disinterest and accessibility. Another metric, connected to conversions, is bounce rate. The longer a visitor stays on your site, the more likely they are to become a conversion. The opposite is true if they leave your site immediately.

You can see how web analytics gives you a better understanding of what your visitors like and dislike. It gives you an overview of what they interact with and what they don’t. As a result, web analytics helps to take away an element of guess work in digital marketing. Instead, you get to see exactly what works and determine where to make any necessary changes.