Whether you are a small business owner or the head of a large corporation, you can take advantage of website tracking that collects website users’ data to enhance your overall performance. Though it seems complicated, collecting user data is not too difficult, especially if you have the proper analytics tools.
Understanding web analytics and how website tracking works can improve your relationship with website users and potential clients. Additionally, by using the data to optimise your website page, you can attract more people’s attention.
All in all, knowing how website tracking works can take your business to the next level.
What Is Web Site Tracking?
Website tracking is when websites collect data from users to survey user behaviour. Using cookies or another operating system, website tracking takes data from site visitors, usually their personal information, and presents it so that you can optimise content and create successful marketing campaigns.
Most website owners take advantage of this feature. Although some web users become worried at the sight of the word “cookies” on their screen, website tracking is a legal tracking tool to collect beneficial information.
You can see tracking from websites like news sites and e-commerce pages. Generally, they post info stating that they are collection statistics about the user.
What Data Can Be Collected?
To collect analytics from users, websites track several categories of information for a variety of purposes. If your website takes advantage of web analytics tools, then the software can present you the data which you can use as you wish to enhance performance or increase user traffic.
IP Addresses
Website visitor tracking can collect information about a user’s IP address. This can determine the location of a user. With access to visitors’ IP addresses, you can optimise your marketing and even your web page to enhance traffic.
Browsing Activity
Using cookies to track users’ browsing activity can give you more insight into their browsing history and more. This website tracking tool can present the interests and habits of different visitors. You can use this information to enhance your services marketing interests.
Browser Information
Web analytics also has the power to inform you of user browser information. This explains what browser they use and what kind of device visitors use to get to your site. Collecting this sort of material can improve the way you present or post information and cater to a specific audience.
Problems with Website Tracking
Website tracking is not a perfect way to collect information, mainly because a lot of users feel uncomfortable with being the source of analysis. Understanding the different problems associated with website tracking technology can improve your site and enhance user traffic.
First-Party vs. Third-Party
The two methods that track users are first-party and third-party. First-party is the tracking method completed by the website chosen by the user. This means that if people go to an e-commerce site, then the e-commerce site would be the first-party tracker.
Third-party, on the other hand, is completed on the same website but by different sites. This causes problems for some people because users typically expect to be analysed by the websites of their choosing, but they do not see the other third-party websites doing the same.
Site Visitors Usually Do Not Like Being Tracked
Using an analytics tool is great for you and your business, but other people generally do not like being the source of data collection. However, most websites collect information this way, so it is almost impossible for them to avoid a site without cookies or web tracking data analytics.
Why Use Website Tracking?
In the digital age, most–if not all–businesses have a website, and a majority of these sites contain software to track users and their information. Though you probably already understand website tracking itself, learning how it can expand your business is highly valuable.
Improve Visitors’ Experience
To make your site even more valuable, you can use the collected data to optimise their experience while enhancing traffic. Look through different demographics like age, gender, and location to strengthen your content. You should also look at what kind of device and browser is most commonly used and then adjust accordingly.
Enhance Web Performance
When websites track users, they can take the given data to improve their sites’ overall performance. For example, some trackers allow users to stay logged into the website, while others make suggestions for new products, videos, and other items.
Create Ads Targeted to a Specific Realm of Web Users
The data collected from analytics programs can enhance your traffic by optimising the site content and also creating successful marketing solutions. The data allows you to study the most popular graphic, thus allowing you to customise the most appealing ads.
Look into Partnerships with Your Most Popular Outbound Links
If you include outbound links on your website, you can also use the data to see how often people click on them. This gives you the opportunity to drum up a partnership with other sites that your users find appealing.
Expand Your Email Marketing
Many websites and companies use email marketing as a technique to increase traffic and more sales. Since email is a more personal form of advertisement, it would be even more personal to use the collected data and appeal to certain demographics.
Optimise SEO Content
There are many benefits of SEO for your business. One of the most critical ways website tracking improves your website and user traffic is through SEO improvements (title tag, metadata, h1 tags, and schema markup for example). SEO is useful because it presents information and keywords that are more likely to appear in search engine results. The information provided by the analytics software can give you an idea of the most attractive source material found on your website.
How Web Tracking Operates
Website tracking is conducted by using different programs and software. It usually varies based on the analytics website or tracking application.
Cookies
Cookies are the most popular way to track users. They are tiny pieces of data placed within the device of the user. Companies use cookies to make a more personalised experience. When cookies are present in a device, they stay for a certain period of time and allow the website or company to track their information.
The time span of cookies remaining in a gadget depends on the cookie. Session cookies stay until the user has finished their session within the browser. Persistent cookies can stay for as long as the website wishes. However, a user can always delete the cookie and terminate its use.
Fingerprinting
Fingerprinting uses different pieces of data to form a user profile so that businesses can better identify their audience. This method of tracking takes information like users’ browser, screen resolution, and time zone.
Call Tracking
Call tracking is a powerful marketing tool that allows businesses to monitor and analyse phone calls generated by their advertising campaigns. It provides valuable insights into which marketing channels are driving phone leads and helps optimize marketing strategies for better ROI.
How to Improve (Or Start) Your Web Tracking
Since site tracking has become more and more popular, it has also become easier to implement. Fortunately, there are applications like Google Analytics that make it almost effortless to optimise website material.
Use Website Analytics Like Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the most popular tracking source for other websites to use. You can use other similar websites to collect a list of data, but businesses speak most highly of Google Analytics.
To take advantage of Google Analytics and its site data tracking, all you have to do is create an account. Like Google AdSense, Google Analytics and other Google websites do a good job keeping the setup process simple and almost self-explanatory.
Reduce the Bounce Rate
The bounce rate of websites is the percentage of users that visit the website without heading to a second page. Low bounce rates signify that more visitors are exploring your site beyond the landing page. If you have a rate over 50 percent, you may need to rethink your site’s layout. When more people explore your site, you can collect more information.
How to Improve Websites with Collected Data
Highlight the Popular Pages to Improve Web Traffic
If you need to improve your landing page, you can use your data collected from Google Analytics to identify the most popularly visited pages on your website. It would help if you made these the focal point or at least more visible on the site’s main part.
Analyse Keywords
When the goal is to enhance websites, you can use the collected data to see how people come across your page. What keywords do they type in their search engine? Do users type your specific brand name in Google?
You can use the information based on keywords to enhance your SEO and improve traffic.
Look at the Long-Term Content Trends
A website owner uses its tracking data to look ahead and make projections about the future of the website. A lot of tracking programs present a nice list of data that can determine your site’s trends and help you set a goal. User tracking information is a great source to stay one step ahead.
Use Social Media to Attract New Website Visitors
All over the world, businesses are using social media to post information about their website or brand in general. Tracking software uses programming that can help determine what kind of platforms your users have and how often they use them. This gives you a window to enhance your site and marketing.
Privacy Regulations
Website tracking is popular for websites all over the world. As a result, it is also becoming more regulated to protect the safety of online users.
GDPR
GDPR is the short term for the General Data Protection Regulation. This is used in the European Union and allows sites to use cookies and other tracking programs but requires users to consent first. That being said, permission must be given by the user before a site can being detecting any personal information.
CCPA
CCPA stands for California Consumer Privacy Act. It has a similar goal to GDPR by regulating companies that take in statistics about users. However, unlike GDPR, the CCPA does not require consent from users but does require websites to inform internet them that the website is tracking.
The Final Word
All in all, website tracking is a great opportunity for your company or website to improve its presentation and reach out to a wider audience. You can also use the statistics to target a specific audience, whether for an ad campaign or your website in general.
Often, people who use the internet worry when they find that a website is detecting their behaviour. Of course, this form of surveillance is legal, and you are allowed to use statistics to enhance your company. However, if you keep your website professional, appealing, and targeted for your audience, then you can boost your trustworthiness and, ultimately, enhance the customer-seller relationship.
Want to learn more? Contact the team at Perth Digital Edge to elevate your brand and stay ahead of the competition. Find your digital edge today.
