Recent changes Google Analytics added include segmentation amongst other features and further increase the benefits for SME e-commerce sites to implement it as an information source.
To select the segmentation click the drop down in the top right of the dashboard, “Beta Advanced Segments” which is initially defaulting to “All Visits”. Here we’ve selected both “New Visitors” and “Returning Visitors” which combined still provide the “All Visits” data so that too remains selected.
The dashboard updates and includes the three visitor types in the traffic seen. Here you can see “all visits” in blue, the “new visitors” in orange and “returning visitors” in green.
With the overview of the visitor types we can quickly see, for instance, that returning visitors visit, for this site, half as many again pages as new visitors.
Selecting the Ecommerce panel from the left hand menu will display conversion rate data for the three segments, All Visits, New Visitors and Returning Visitors. This is both graphed for the selected period and various aspects of the data is displayed below.
You can instantly see that returning visitors convert at a much higher rate than new visitors, and from the segmented data below you should notice from the Average Order Value and other sales data that they not only convert at a higher rate but also spend more money and purchase more products.
This data gives an incredible insight into the value of your exiting customers. If you maintain the customer lifetime value then you will already be aware of the hidden value of your existing client base. With these graphs we can instantly see that the returning visitors provide 50% of the revenue from 28% percent of the site’s hits.
From this analysis, you might decide to concentrate more on retaining customers and increasing communications with them, as their interactions with the website are more valuable than a new visitors. However, knowing the value of your existing client base should help your PPC campaign bidding as you gain a further insight into a clients lifetime value to your business. You may therefore decide to bid for more than just the initial ROI on the opening visit and sale. Afterall, extending your customer base will increase the number of clients who can become repeat customers for you.
Have you found any other uses for the new segmented data from Google Analytics? Please feel to comment below.
I have been working with a client trying to create a decent squeeze page to boost subscribers to an eNewsletter. I have been using Google Analytics Segmentation to quickly show the client the difference in traffic sources and new/returning. Slightly different use but I really like this new feature. Saves time making up reports, I get charts on the fly to show.
Nice article btw.
Jim
Hi guys,
Advanced segmentation was a missing feature of Google Analytics. All other enterprise analytics tool were offering it, but now Google is giving it free. You can now dissect data much easier (segmentation was possible even before in GA, with custom filters and profiles, but now it is much easier). I am planning to create a series for segments idea. The first segment we have described on Google Analytics Segmentation page is called keywords with conversions. Please have a look.
Feel free to visit our blog and if you have any ideas on what segments could be useful, leave a comment and we will try to write a post on that one.
Good post. Not sure whether to use profile filters or advanced segmentation? Here’s a bunch of resources that could help you decide: http://bit.ly/bPWpg6