Now that you know how to collect tracking information using Google Analytics, you can create goals to track whether your visitors are taking certain actions on your site. Setting up goals will give you the ability to easily determine the percentage of your visitors that sign up for your mailing list or make a purchase. To set up a goal within Google Analytics, follow the steps below.
Set Goals and Create Business Projections
As you roll out your new products and services to the market, it will be helpful to set goals and create business projections (also called forecasts) your business. Setting achievable, research-based goals and forecasts will help you to project your business growth and determine your business needs over time. I like to create annual and 3-year forecasts. Many companies find value in 5-year forecasts, and that may be a good idea for you as well. I believe that with a small business things can change very quickly, so if you do plan to create 5-year, and often even 3-year forecasts, you should also be prepared to adjust them up or down as your business evolves. When you set your goals and create your forecast, you can either use a top-down approach where you forecast total sales and then assign percentages to each element of your marketing mix, or you can use a bottom-up approach where you forecast each individual element and add up those numbers to get your total. Either method works well, but if you want to dig into the details of your marketing, bottom-up forecasting is great for that.
Take Time Away for a Stronger Business
My yoga studio sent me an email this morning about the importance of a re-boot. The email both resonated with and inspired me, so I decided to write a blog post about it this week.
I'm convinced that inspiration for your business can be found nearly anywhere, but you have to take the time to look around and find it. Often, we're so busy 'hustling' that we forget to stop for a second and smell the figurative (or literal) roses.