Choosing the right Google Analytics metrics to measure your business success can seem difficult. There are thousands of ways to slice and dice the massive amounts of data Google provides. This makes it all too easy to waste time and money focusing on the wrong metrics, or get discouraged by information overload. But fear not. There are only a few metrics you really need in order to track and increase online bookings and revenue.
First, in order to see and benefit from these metrics, you must take two quick steps: enable e-commerce in your Analytics account, and add the e-commerce tracking code to your website, so Google Analytics can collect and display revenue related data.
Once that’s done, you’re ready. Here are my eight favorite revenue-driven Google Analytics metrics for aerial adventure companies. They will keep you focused, productive, and ready for growth.
1. Revenue
What It Means
In Google Analytics, revenue refers to the total revenue received from online bookings. Online revenue includes all taxes and fees, and accounts for any discount applied at purchase.
Why I Love It
Revenue is the ultimate metric in Google Analytics, and one of the most straightforward indicators of how your business is performing. If your business goals are focused more around profit (i.e. revenue minus costs), revenue is still a vital piece of the puzzle.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Conversions > Ecommerce > Overview.
2. Product Revenue by Demographic
What It Means
Product Revenue is calculated based on the quantity of people in a single booking multiplied by the listed price (the resulting amount does not account for discounts, taxes, or fees). Because the price can vary based on the demographic (e.g. adults vs. children), your Google Analytics integration should automatically separate products by demographic (e.g. an adult’s ticket is listed separately from a children’s ticket).
Why I Love It
The Product Revenue metric gives you a good overview of the products that are performing well on your website, and which ones are not. Breaking down Product Revenue by demographic helps you understand whether pricing differences by demographic help or hurt your business. For example, offering a discount for students could help drive more business by customers who otherwise don’t have the expendable income to book your activity. On the other hand, if the discount is too deep, you could lose more revenue than it’s worth.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, you can find the Product Revenue report by navigating to Conversions > Ecommerce > Product Revenue. If your Google Analytics Ecommerce integration includes a demographic breakdown, that will be included in the report automatically.
3. Listing vs. Add-On Revenue
What It Means
The Google Analytics Ecommerce integration can help you distinguish between the revenue generated by your aerial adventure bookings vs. your add-ons. Google Analytics does this by dividing products into categories that help you distinguish between the two product types. Listings Revenue refers to the Product Revenue (covered in the previous section) collected from your zip line bookings, challenge course tickets, and other bookable activities. Add-On Revenue refers to Product Revenue collected from all add-on sales.
Why I Love It
Add-ons are a great way to increase your average booking value and get a little more out of each guest. For example, our customers offer online add-ons like pre-ordered photos, GoPro rentals, and branded clothing.
Understanding how much of your revenue comes from add-ons helps you measure how well you are increasing your average booking value online. For example, if you begin offering GoPro rentals and start to see Add-On Revenue increase, it confirms that your strategy is working.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Conversions > Ecommerce > Product Revenue. Select Product Category from the Product Dimension selector.
4. Revenue by Channel
What It Means
Google Analytics uses information from the referring website and other URL parameters to identify where your visitors came from before landing on your website. With an Ecommerce integration, Google Analytics knows where your visitors came from and the amount of revenue each visitor generated. Using this information, you can see the exact amount of revenue each of your online marketing channels generate.
In Google Analytics, a Marketing Channel refers to the different ways your visitors go through to access your site. For example, Direct traffic refers to visitors who already know your website and entered the URL directly in their address bar. Social traffic refers to visitors who access your site by clicking on a link on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites.
Why I Love It
People tend to focus on how many website visitors or sessions each channel brings to their website. But it’s a lot more useful to understand how much revenue each channel generates on your website. At the end of the day, would you rather have 10 visitors who spent a total of $10,000, or have 10,000 visitors who spent a total of $10?
Revenue by Channel is also the first step to understanding your return on investment (ROI) from the ad campaigns and consulting services you spend money on. If you spend $100 a month on AdWords, it’s important to know if that investment is earning you $200 in return, or if you’re only getting $50.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels.
5. Page Value
What It Means
In simple terms, Page Value measures how frequently a page appears in a session where someone makes a booking. The assumption is that the more frequently a page is visited by customers, the more helpful it is in driving those bookings.
Here’s the exact formula of how Page Value is calculated:
Page Value = (Transaction Revenue + Total Goal Value) / Unique Pageviews for the page.
Why I Love It
Page Value is one of my favorite metrics, but it’s grossly underutilized. It measures the value of your content in economic terms, instead of relying on more subjective measurements like Pageviews or Time On Page.
Start by looking for pages that get a lot of traffic but have a low Page Value. Why don’t these pages help drive new bookings? Should they? Use some of the other metrics, like Avg. Time on Page, Bounce Rate, or Exit Rate to get a better picture of the visitors’ experience on the page.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages.
6. Ecommerce Conversion Rate
What It Means
The Ecommerce Conversion Rate tells you the percentage of your site visits that resulted in a booking. If your Ecommerce Conversion Rate is 10 percent, you could expect an average of 10 new bookings for every 100 visits to your website. The global average conversion rate is about 3 percent, but there are many ways to beat the average (like making the checkout process less complicated).
Why I Love It
The Ecommerce Conversion Rate gives you a quick way to understand how effectively your website converts site visitors into paid customers.
There are many ways to improve your website’s Ecommerce Conversion Rate, like improving your web design and adding more appealing images and videos to your site. One of the biggest culprits of a low conversion rate is checkout abandonment. Research indicates that on the average website, roughly 69 percent of visitors that start the booking process leave without completing the transaction. One proven way to increase conversions and win back these otherwise “lost” customers is to send an automated “abandoned booking” email. Ask your software provider about setting this up.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Conversions > Ecommerce > Overview.
7. Conversion Rate by Channel
What It Means
Conversion Rate by Channel breaks down your Ecommerce Conversion Rate based on which marketing channel drove traffic to your site. A channel with a high conversion rate tells you that the channel is doing a better job of attracting the right people, at the right time, with the right message to your site, and motivating them to make a booking.
Why I Love It
A great way to identify marketing opportunities is to look for channels with high conversion rates that are underinvested. If you spend thousands of dollars on AdWords every month, but your Facebook ads get twice the conversion rate, you might consider moving more of your ad investment into Facebook.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels and look for the Ecommerce Conversion Rate column.
8. Conversion Rate by Landing Page
What It Means
Conversion Rate by Landing Page breaks down your Ecommerce Conversion Rate based on the page your visitors see when they first land on your website. A landing page with a high conversion rate tells you that page does a good job motivating visitors to make a booking.
Why I Love It
A landing page gives visitors their first impression of your business. And as the saying goes, first impressions are everything. Whether it’s your homepage, or a dedicated landing page for a campaign you’re running, it’s important to know which landing pages perform well and which drive people away.
Where to Find It
In Google Analytics, navigate to Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages and look for the Ecommerce Conversion Rate column at the end.
Taking a scientific approach to growth is critical for business success. And that means running your business with an eye toward revenue-driven metrics. Focusing on these eight metrics should help quiet down all the noise that Google Analytics can produce, and help you make more informed decisions to boost your bottom line.
