As a digital marketer serving a range of clients, you typically have access to their website traffic data. We’ll show you how to use Google Analytics and some segmentation filters to identify which of your customers might be receptive to a discussion about mobile solutions in less than five minutes.
This post is an update to one we did in August of 2011 (Using Google Analytics to Understand Smartphone User Behavior) where we looked at some Google filters to identify Bounce Rate differences. Since Google has made some changes, we can accomplish the Bounce comparison and much, much more. You can use this technique with any websites that have Google Analytics. Once you set up the Segmentation filter described below, you can re-use it throughout all the sites – a major time savings.
Step 1 – Log into Google Analytics. Choose a website and elect the Standard View. Ensure that in the left column you have Audience > Overview selected and that you see the Visitors Overview.
Step 1 – Log into Google Analytics and get to the Standard View and the Audience > Overview. The display should look something like this.
Step 2 – Create a Custom Segment that will only show non-mobile traffic. Click the Advanced Segments button (A) and then click the Create Custom Segment button (B). In the Edit window give the Segment a Name (C) (e.g., Non-Mobile). Change the drop-down (D) from “Include” to “Exclude” and then select “Mobile (including Tablet)” from the green drop-down (E). Make sure the drop-down (F) is set to “Containing” and type in the word “Yes” into field (G). Save.
Starting to set up the Custom Segmentation
Setting the detailed parameters to complete the Custom Segementation
Step 3 – Compare desktop and Mobile Traffic. Click Advanced Segments again (H) and select “Mobile Traffic” (I) from the list of Default Segments. Click Apply (J).
Setting up the Segmentation so both filters are applied.
Now you have two segments that enable you to quickly compare desktop to mobile visitor behavior. So what should you look for?
The first stat to look at is the percentage of each traffic type. This is listed for the two segments just under the Visitors Overview. In this example you can see that desktop (non-mobile) traffic makes up 74.45% and mobile is 24.55%
The resulting report clearly shows the difference between Mobile and Non-Mobile visitors to the website.
An 8 point percentage in greater Bounces for Mobile traffic indicates a significantly higher number of visitors are immediately leaving this site.
The second stat to look at is the Bounce Rate. You want to compare the rate between desktop and mobile. At differential beyond 5 percentage points is significant.
Both of these stats give you an idea if the visitor behavior makes this client a good prospect for opening the discussion about a mobile solution. It’s important to look beyond percentages and translate those into actual unique users. For example, ask yourself “Does this client want to turn away 55,000 (the number of unique visitors) customers a month due to a poor mobile web experience?” Expressing the user experience in terms of customer behavior helps make the numbers come to life in terms any client prospect should understand.
Now that you have the filters and know how to interpret the results, it’s really a simple matter to go through client websites and locate the most likely prospects. What’s more, it is a win for them and a win for you.