Many storage operators don’t understand how to measure the success (or lack thereof) of their storage websites. This is where Google Analytics and other web analytic tools can help. Being able to view website metrics like traffic, unique visits, and page views makes it easier for you to understand where your website is having trouble. Let’s take a closer look at some of the big metrics you should watch.
Traffic: How Many People Are Visiting Your Site?
The total traffic a website receives, including visitors new and old, helps determine how well it’s doing. If your website has little to no traffic, however, you might have an issue that’s hindering performance.
- People can’t find your website. Whether it’s a confusing domain name, not enough marketing, or bad page rank in search engine results, it’s something you’ll want to fix right away.
- No content on your website: If you haven’t added pages explaining your products and services, blog posts that provide helpful advice around common self storage questions, or your facility’s contact information, there aren’t a lot of reasons for people to visit your website.
Unique Visits: How Many New Visitors Are Checking Out Your Site?
New visitors are based on new IP addresses—that is, a visit from a computer that’s never been to your website. This is an excellent metric for storage facilities wanting to reach a large number of people, rather than concentrating on keeping repeat visitors. If you’re not seeing enough unique visits, you may want to invest more time and effort in reaching new consumers through social media and paid advertising.
On-Site Time: What’s the Average Time People Spend on Your Site?
On-site time specifies how long a visitor stays on your website. A longer visit means the website offers site visitors something useful or valuable. If the visitor leaves in under a minute, it usually means your website needs an update. Common issues that cause people to leave your website include:
- Slow website or webpage load time
- Outdated or distracting web design
- Difficult website navigation
- Poorly-written and/or irrelevant content
Page Views: How Many Pages Are People Clicking To?
Page views tell you the total number of pages that users have visited in a given amount of time. A website with several pages per visit usually means that the site visitor is invested and interested in different facets of the website. On the other hand, if there aren’t a lot of page views, that’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it means the site visitor landed directly on that page from an off-site link, or they found what they needed right away. These are good reasons for low page views. When combined with poor on-site time and low web traffic, though, it usually means your website isn’t providing anything for site visitors.
Bounce Rate: Are People Coming and Going Quickly?
With bounce rate, you can see the number of visitors who leave your website after visiting one page. High bounce rates often indicate that a site visitor wasn’t interested or accidentally clicked on the website. Other times, however, it can mean they didn’t like your website. Similar to page views, if your bounce rate is high and pairs with bad on-site time and traffic, there’s usually a larger issue.
All of these metrics combined can help you determine where your website needs work, so keep an eye on them and make adjustments where needed to improve your storage website for your consumers.
