Paul, 25 October 2023

Start making the most of analytics and data

Data analytics are key to creating content that meets audience needs. Read our tips for making the best use of analytics tools right from the start of your project.

I recently read a quote by one management consultant who described companies that don’t use data analytics tools as: “Wandering out on to the web like deer on a freeway.”

While the imagery is a little brutal, the point is clear: the benefits of using data analytics are massive.

For a start, using automated processes like an analytics tool can free up your team by tracking how people use your website.

That means your team can focus on creative tasks, such as identifying what your audience needs and testing new content ideas.

But getting everything set up to do data analytics can be daunting.

You’ll need to find a system that works for you.

Here are nine tips to ensure you don’t get dazzled by the headlights.

Define your objectives

Define your content goals before you dive into data analytics.

Get a clear view of what you want to achieve.

Goals guide your efforts. They don’t need to be defined in detail.

You only need enough information to take the next step.

Ask yourself what your business needs to achieve. Are you looking to increase website traffic, improve engagement, or drive conversions?

Defining your goals focuses you on the right metrics and data to make them possible.

Set up the right analytics tools

Start using popular analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Hotjar. These will help you track user behaviour and gather relevant data.

Collect data so you can monitor people’s behaviour by setting up the tracking codes on your website.

You can do this by copying and pasting snippets of relevant tracking codes from tools such as Google Analytics.

Find out more about choosing the right analytics tools for your business.

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs)

Choose metrics that match your objectives and provide actionable insights about how your content is performing.

These can be:

page views (how many people visit a page)
time on page (how long they stay there)
bounce rate (how many people leave your site after viewing only one page)
conversion rate (how someone successfully completes a task, such as signing up for a course or paying for a product)
click-through rate (how often they click on an actionable link)
shares on social media (how often they share your posts on sites such as Facebook or Twitter)
any other relevant metrics based on your objectives

Keep monitoring data

Monitoring data will give you insights into how people interact with your content.

Look for patterns and trends such as page views and bounce rates to understand:

what content performs well
what needs improvement

Identify your top-performing content, where web traffic comes from and audience demographics. This will help you refine your content strategy.

Don’t forget about user research

Get some qualitative data to back up your metrics.

For example:

surveys
interviews
user testing

Qualitative data will provide:

valuable feedback
insights into people, preferences and pain points

Insights can help you prioritise content topics, formats and delivery channels are top priority.

Use data as the basis for your content strategy

Use the insights from your data analysis and audience research to refine your content strategy.

Identify:

gaps in your content
topics, formats, and distribution channels that are suitable for your target audience

Create an effective plan based on your data insights. This will give you confidence that you’re delivering the right content in the right format and channels.

Find out more about using data to get insights about content performance.

Test and iterate

Test and iterate your content as much as you can. Identify what works and doesn’t work.

Experiment with different formats, headlines, visuals, or calls to action (CTAs). Base these on insights from your analytics. They’ll help you streamline your content.

A/B testing can also help you identify the most effective content variations.

You can monitor the impact of changes and refine your content based on audience feedback.

Collaborate and communicate

You’ll get the most out of your data when you encourage:

data-driven decision-making in your content team
collaboration and sharing in your team with workshops and content crits

Communicate key insights and findings from data analysis to your team.

Share your findings often to get everyone working together towards the same goal.

Measure and report outcomes

Check the impact of your content by measuring defined KPIs.

Prepare reports that compare the performance of your content against your goals.