Google Analytics has the reputation of being used to track sales or to increase profits. But as a nonprofit, there are many ways to utilize Google Analytics to help reach your end goal. For example, Google Analytics can help answer questions such as “How are people finding my website?” or “How many people come to my website after we post on Facebook?” Google Analytics is also a great tool for understanding how your website is performing and what areas need improvement.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool, and it produces a large amount of data that can make it difficult to know which data is relevant and which reports to look at. Don’t worry! That’s why we’re here—to help your nonprofit utilize Google Analytics and make it an asset to help spread your message.
Please visit this article to get the basic rundown on Google Analytics. We explain what each metric means and which data is important.
The Best Google Analytics Reports for a Nonprofit
Let’s look at which reports are the most important to run for a nonprofit organization. These reports are in the left sidebar.
- Acquisition –> All Traffic –> Source/MediumThis report will show you where users were before they came to your website (source) and how they got there (medium). For example, “google/organic” means a user came to your site through Google’s organic search results. This is a great way to gauge how people are finding your website and whether your marketing efforts are bringing in traffic.
- Acquisition –> Social Network ReferralsThis report will show what traffic you are getting from social media platforms. This information can help you determine whether your social media efforts are bringing people to your website.
- Behavior –> Site Content –>All PagesThis report will show how all the pages of your website are performing. This information can help you understand which pages are the most popular and which pages may need to be improved.
- Audience –> Geo LocationThis report will show the locations of those who visit your site, and you can filter results by country, city, or metro area. This is helpful because most nonprofits want their visitors to come from their local areas.
- Acquisition –> Search Console –>Queries This report will show which search queries have been used to bring traffic to your website. This can give insight into what people are searching for and which keywords they use to access your site.
Google Search Console is another valuable tool for ensuring that your website is running properly from a technical standpoint. It also can give insight into other aspects of your website including keyword ranking, internal linking, and site indexing. This article will give you more information on the most helpful tools available through Google Search Console.
One of the most important aspects of nonprofit work is spreading your message so more people can share your passion and support your efforts. Google Analytics can help by making sure your efforts aren’t going unnoticed.
