Web Metrics: The Beginner Guide to Tools and Analytics

Key highlights

• Track website hits per day with Bluehost Analytics and Google Analytics.
• Measure key web analytics metrics like bounce rate, traffic sources and unique visitors.
• Analyze website statistics to understand user behavior and improve site performance.
• Compare traffic data, top pages and competitors rank for better marketing campaigns.
• Optimize audience insights using website traffic checkers and content analytics software.

To measure your website’s performance, go beyond counting sales. Look under the hood to see how people interact with your site through web analytics for beginners.

This approach is called web analytics and starts with collecting website statistics on your visitors. You can then analyze the data for ideas to improve your website’s user experience. The result is a super effective website that compels more customers, engagement and sales while giving you accurate traffic data and insights into site performance.

While you learn, don’t let any complex-sounding terms throw you off; with some straightforward steps and easy-to-use tools like Bluehost Analytics or Google Analytics, you’ll get a better idea of what your target market wants.

What is web analytics?

Web analytics is the process of tracking and analyzing what users do while they use your website. This data reveals what you can capitalize on and what to fix about your business. That’s valuable, so business owners install web analytics metrics applications that collect relevant website statistics and user behavior insights.

Without software programs, many web analytics tactics would be a big ask for most business owners. However, the right tools will give you a good grip on making website statistics analysis a routine; this guide will include recommendations of the best web analytics for beginners.

First, let’s consider what website statistics and analytics can do for your business and how Bluehost Analytics and other tools can simplify your journey.

Web analytics example

Imagine you’re trying to grow your blogging website. Using web analytics metrics, you could compare all your blog posts and discover the high-performing ones, based on a metric such as your visitors’ average time on each page. Now that you know what’s working, you can double down, try a new spin on it and attempt to improve the format even more with insights from traffic analysis and audience insights.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to web analytics nor a predetermined playbook for using the insights. To know what works best, practice your critical thinking, run tests to see for yourself, learn more about marketing campaigns and remain patient as you gather up to date data for better site performance.

What do website analytics allow you to do?

Website analytics reveals which types of viewers visit your website, where they found it and what they use it for. You can see which parts of your site are popular with customers and which parts could do better. And ultimately, you’ll gain more ideas for marketing campaigns and traffic analysis.

Let’s explore each aspect in depth to get a full picture of your website statistics and improve your site performance.

Get a better understanding of customer behavior

Do customers spend time reading your blog or do they navigate straight to your weekly deals page? Either way, gaining this traffic data will help you make changes to your website to make it more user-friendly. For example, you may decide to feature the popular page more prominently on your landing pages to boost user engagement and improve overall site performance.

Find out who’s visiting your website

User demographics, especially geographical location, will help with market segmentation — a strategy centered on categorizing your target market into groups that share characteristics and motivations.

Once you know who’s coming to your website, you can conduct a thorough website statistics analysis and send targeted ads, incentives or content straight to the people who’d be most interested. With tools like Google Analytics or Bluehost Analytics, you’ll get accurate audience insights into your site visitors and make more informed decisions about your marketing efforts.

See which parts of your website are popular with customers

After determining which parts of your website are a hit with customers, you can make those sections an area of focus to boost conversions.

If most people spend the bulk of their time on your product description pages, you could focus on closing the sale by adding a product comparison section, a time-sensitive deal or clearer links to the checkout page. Tracking engagement metrics and user journeys through tools like content analytics software helps you refine your marketing campaigns.

Learn which parts of your website could perform better

If you’ve spent a lot of time updating your blog section, you’ll want to know if your efforts have paid off web analytics metricswill answer that. On the other hand, you may realize a landing page needs an overhaul because most viewers hit the back button. Using traffic reports and bounce rate analysis, you can compare top pages with weaker ones and take action to improve site performance.

Identify where your website visitors came from

Web analytics reveals your traffic sources, including organic search from Google, Bing or Yahoo. Similarly, you can determine if you’re getting referral traffic, paid search or visitors from social media campaigns. This information tells you how much web traffic comes from each channel and whether your marketing efforts are paying dividends. By checking traffic numbers regularly with a website traffic checker, you can optimize marketing campaigns for both new users and returning ones.

Key metrics for web analytics

    Web analytics metrics are sometimes called key performance indicators (KPIs), but only some metrics will be relevant to your business goals. Keeping that in mind, here’s a list of commonly valuable measures of a website’s performance for website statistics analysis:

• Web traffic
• Page views
• Bounce rate
• Traffic sources
• Conversion tracking
• Time spent on site
• Unique visitors
• Returning visitors
• Cart abandonment

Tracking these engagement metrics helps you understand user behavior, optimize landing pages and get a full picture of how many visitors your site attracts and how they interact with it.

Web traffic 

This is the number of users who visit your website in a given time period. It’s one of the most widely used web analytics metrics, but its impact varies. For example, if tons of people land on your site and only view one page, then the high traffic numbers are less valuable.

Conversely, if website visitors typically browse multiple pages, that points to higher user engagement you can capitalize on. Tools like Bluehost Analytics or a traffic checker make it easy to see how much traffic your website gets per day.

Page views 

After checking out your website traffic, explore each page’s performance by reviewing its number of page views, also known as page impressions. If you plan on promoting a product or discount on an individual webpage, remember to look at the website statistics beforehand and then compare the traffic reports afterward. This data helps you make informed decisions for your marketing campaigns.

Bounce rate 

This is the proportion of site visitors who leave your website without engaging further (e.g., navigating to another part of your site). A high bounce rate could mean your site is slow, so visitors grow impatient and leave or that your page is not relevant to search intent.

According to Semrush, a good bounce rate is 40% or below. However, benchmarks vary. For example, blogs generally have higher rates, while online store websites tend to perform better. Using engagement metrics such as scroll depth and file downloads can help you understand why users exit early.

If you find out your web pages have a high bounce rate, it’s crucial to use all the tools at your disposal to align it with industry standards.

Traffic sources 

Traffic volume is useful, but knowing where your site visitors come from is equally important. Examples of traffic sources include:

• Organic traffic from a search engine like Google or Bing
• Visitors from paid search ads
• Referral traffic from another website or brand
• Social media traffic
• Users arriving via email marketing campaigns

Tracking these channels provides a full picture of how people discover your site. With up to date data, you’ll know whether to scale SEO, focus on paid social or invest in new marketing efforts.

Conversion rate 

This rate represents the percentage of total website visitors who act in a desired manner (e.g., making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter or sharing content). While a visually appealing site is important, it should also drive actions that grow your business.

According to Statista, B2C eCommerce websites had an average conversion rate of only 2% in early 2023. You can expect similar numbers and use conversion tracking tools like Google Analytics or Bluehost Analytics to monitor performance. These insights help align your marketing campaigns with real sales results.

Time spent on site 

Short visits to your website may suggest you aren’t doing enough to keep users engaged. Instead of focusing on every brief visit, look at the average site performance and time users spend on each page. Match this data with page purpose — whether it’s to read content, sign up or purchase.

By analyzing engagement metrics such as scroll depth, you’ll gain audience insights into how users interact with your landing pages, helping you improve user journeys and marketing efforts.

Number of unique visitors

This total ignores several visits by the same individual, so it’s a good indicator of the potential new customers you’ve reached in a given period. Google uses cookies to identify these unique visitors and give you data on them.  

A rise in your number of unique visitors would confirm that your latest digital marketing campaign has brought new customers to your website. Alternatively, timely events may have people searching for what you offer. 

However, this measure is not impeccably accurate. Suppose a website visitor uses multiple devices to browse your website (e.g., their phone in the morning, desktop at lunch and tablet in the evening). In that case, each device will register as a unique visit. 

Also, if your visitors are particularly vigilant in removing cookies, you might occasionally get a miscount of unique visitors. All in all, use this metric as a ballpark estimate.

Returning visitors 

A return visit can indicate a loyal customer or a previous visitor’s desire to complete their purchase. Tracking returning visitors in your website statistics analysis highlights customer loyalty and helps refine marketing campaigns.

Don’t forget — it’s easier to keep site visitors coming back than to attract new users. According to Dotdigital, the average conversion rate for loyal customers is 60% to 70%, compared to only 5% to 20% for new customers. Monitoring this through Bluehost Analytics or other tools gives you actionable audience insights to strengthen user engagement and boost sales.

Cart abandonment 

This is when customers add products to their basket but later decide against a purchase. In one study, the Baymard Institute found the average cart abandonment rate is 70.19%.

If your cart abandonment rate is higher, it could mean that customers have technical problems with your website or feel your total prices need to be lowered.

Another issue could be a lack of trust in how your brand would handle customer data. Many users will look at your URL to ensure you have an SSL certificate, so make sure you do. With Bluehost plans, you’ll automatically get a free SSL certificate along with website statistics through Bluehost Analytics to help you track user behavior and improve checkout conversion tracking.   

How to make website analytics work for your website 

When it’s your first time using web analytics for beginners, it’s easy to get overwhelmed as you look into the plethora of tools and KPIs.

Here are some steps to help beginners nail website statistics analysis:

1. Make a plan and write down your goals for using web analytics metrics. For instance, do you want to increase your website traffic by using search engine optimization or are you looking to change your marketing campaigns to boost user engagement?
2. Schedule a predictable, recurring time to check your website statistics. This could mean a weekly check-in with different team members or a monthly traffic analysis project
3. Schedule a predictable, recurring time to check your website’s analytics. This could mean a weekly check-in with different team members or a monthly data collection and analysis project.  
4. Start small to avoid information overload. A data-driven approach is only helpful if you can wisely use the stats you get. Once you gain basic analytics know-how, you can move on to the tricker measures. 
5. After you uncover an insight, act on it. Website statistics analysis will give you clues about improving your site’s functionality. In line with those clues, proactively update your pages, including adding new content and altering visual elements.
6. Stay patient until you see results. You may need to change your approach several times before you settle on one that works. Document your process at each stage to make web analytics metrics easier for you and your team members.. 
7. Holistically consider multiple metrics. While it’s impractical to do everything at once, use various tools and measures to ensure you get a broad picture of user interactions. With the increased context, you’ll be even more sure you’re focusing on the right things.

If you’re looking to try your hand at web analytics but aren’t sure where to start, then read on. We’ll go over the most popular content analytics software and explain the features that’ll help you the most. 

Best web analytics tools for beginners

If you run a quick Google search, you’ll see many web analytics tools, some of which are better suited to experts and the world’s leading brands with million-dollar budgets. Finding tools for web analytics for beginners can be hard.

For your convenience, the best website statistics apps to consider are:

• Google Analytics
• Crazy Egg
• Hotjar
• Bluehost Analytics
• Similarweb
• Semrush

Google Analytics

According to Statista research, this tool had a website statistics market share of 29.62% in 2022. Every website owner should try Google Analytics and its academy is a great jumping-off point for those just starting with web analytics for beginners.

Once you’re ready to dive in and use this platform, look forward to a real-time snapshot of how your website traffic is performing. For example, you can uncover traffic data like page views, number of new users, total revenue, retention and cart abandonment. This helps you make informed decisions about your marketing campaigns and improve overall site performance. 

Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg has various tools of a more analytical nature, such as heatmaps, A/B testing and error tracking. Since you can dive deeper than face-value data, it’s used by the world’s leading brands such as Dell and Etsy.

Crazy Egg records entire viewer sessions, allowing you to track user behavior, including a user’s mouse movements as they consider your subscribe button. These insights help improve user engagement and refine marketing campaigns.

In terms of pricing, Crazy Egg is a paid service, but if you’d like a test drive before you buy, take advantage of the free 30-day trial. A basic Crazy Egg plan includes 30,000 tracked page views, unlimited surveys, websites and A/B tests — plenty of website statistics to fuel your analysis.

Hotjar

One useful feature of Hotjar is that it integrates with Slack, HubSpot, Google Analytics and more. Instead of simply spitting out stats, it helps website owners understand the reasons behind performance issues through user behavior and website statistics analysis.

Like Crazy Egg, Hotjar provides useful features like heatmaps, recordings and surveys. One key difference is that Hotjar’s basic plan is free forever, which is great for those just starting with web analytics for beginners. However, for more than 35 tracked sessions per month, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan. With traffic data and audience insights from Hotjar, you can better understand site visitors and improve user engagement.   

Bluehost

Choose Bluehost as your web hosting provider to get built-in Bluehost Analytics powered by Awstats and Webalizer straight from your website dashboard.

With the utmost convenience, you can generate traffic reports on key web site statistics such as unique visitors, number of visits, page views, website hits per day and bandwidth.

These website statistics give you a full picture of your site performance and help you make more informed decisions about your marketing efforts. Plus, it comes at no added cost, making it a beginner-friendly choice for web analytics metrics.

Similarweb

This analytics giant has paid and free tools. On the Similarweb site, enter any URL into the analytics search bar to find out its category rank, total visits, bounce rate, number of pages per visit and average visit duration.

Similarweb can be connected to Google Analytics or the Google Search Console to provide even more traffic data and website statistics on your site visitors.

With these insights, you can compare competitors, check competitors rank and use traffic analysis to identify trends that shape your marketing campaigns in the digital world.

Semrush

Semrush has a whole suite of tools for gleaning useful website data. While it’s famed for SEO, the platform also has a useful analytics reporting feature. 

With Semrush, you can find your website’s average visit duration, traffic sources, traffic share by device, unique visitors, bounce rate and number of pages per visit. Currently, you can generate 10 free traffic reports per day if you register with Semrush. 

Final thoughts 

As you’re finding your groove with website analytics, you’ll realize the quickest way to improve your target audience experience is to ensure your web host provides lightning-fast load speeds and keeps up with your growing website traffic.

But why should your web host stop there? Bluehost offers digital marketing services that take an active role in boosting your SEO and advertising.

You’ll meet with marketing experts to discuss your business goals, they’ll review traffic data like top pages, new users and historical data in search console and create marketing campaigns to match.

With benchmark performance insights and a clear view of competitors rank, you get to watch your organic traffic grow while your web analytics metrics improve.

FAQs