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Written by 3by400 on . Posted in 2009.

Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Site

We first gave this talk in 2009 at a Lumpkin County chamber session. The tools have changed a lot since then, but the question hasn't: what is your data telling you to fix?

2026 update: the same question, a new tool

Universal Analytics, the version we covered in 2009, has been retired. Google Analytics 4 replaced it, and the reports look different. The goal hasn't changed, though: use what visitors actually do to decide what to change on your site. If you're starting fresh, our GA4 basics guide walks through setup and the reports worth checking.

Three questions to ask your data

  • Where do people land? Your top landing pages are your real front doors. Make sure they say clearly who you are and what to do next.
  • Where do they leave? If people bail from a key page, look at the page. It might be slow, confusing, or missing a next step. Is My Website Slow? covers common speed problems.
  • What do they search for? Search terms point to content you should write, or content that's hard to find.

Turning numbers into changes

Analytics doesn't fix anything on its own. The useful habit is to pick one page, make one change and check again in a few weeks. Small, steady improvements beat a big overhaul based on guesses.

How Google finds your site

The 2009 session also covered how Google indexes sites. The basics still apply: clear page titles, useful descriptions and a clean structure. For Joomla sites, see SEO title and meta description in Joomla.

The original session (2009)


Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Web Site

Presented June 24, 2009

Dahlonega Lumpkin-County Chamber of Commerce

Nuts & Bolts

Presenter: Beth Snider

This session included an overview of Google tools for businesses and a look at top-level Google Analytics reporting. Discussion included understanding what reports indicate, how to translate indicators into changes that may be required on your site, and a basic understanding at how Google indexes your web site.


3by400-GoogleAnalytics (downloadable PDF)

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