Mobile analytics

It is obvious that mobile is a force to be reckoned with.  But the best way to really understand this is looking at the hard cold numbers.   And the ideal way to do this is to integrate web analytics into your mobile-ready site.

This article will give you some great guidelines:

“How To Access Essential Analytics Data — And What To Do With It

When you first log in to Google Analytics, you’ll see a dashboard similar to what’s below.

To get in-depth mobile-traffic data, simply click on “Standard Reporting” in the orange navigation at the top, followed by “Audience” and then “Mobile” (see below). To get reporting for a specific time period — which is important if you want to track specific campaigns — you can segment your data by setting a custom date in the top right.

From the “Overview” pane, you can extract information that is crucial to understanding your mobile visitors. For example, click any of the areas located directly above the blue line graph to learn more about:

• Visits/New Visits: If you notice that your overall traffic has a high percentage of mobile visits, you’ll be able to justify developing a mobile-friendly site much more quickly. For the date range pulled (see the example below), you can see that over 20 percent of site visits were from mobile —- a clear indication that a mobile site is needed. With higher mobile traffic, your site should satisfy the basic needs of smartphone users.For example, nearly 40 percent of mobile searches are local, with 61 percent of consumers following up with phone calls and 58 percent with in-store visits.

With that in mind, design with the mobile lifestyle in mind, including putting your basic business and contact information up front as well as providing click-to-call and mapping/navigation. It’s also noteworthy to watch new visits increase as smartphone penetration and your mobile efforts improve.

• Pages per Visit: How deep are mobile users navigating within your site? Due to small screen sizes and sensitive touchscreens — which don’t always take kindly to larger human fingers — mobile users don’t click as much as desktop users.

Again, using the example below, we can see that desktop users visited an average of five pages, whereas mobile visitors only viewed up to two. Based on that, write your product/service descriptions succinctly to eliminate endless scrolling and clicking. If clicking-through is necessary, make sure links, navigation and buttons can be accessed without hassle.

• Bounce Rate/Average Time on Site: Did you know that 80 percent of consumers immediately quit their shopping if they have a bad experience on mobile devices? Average time and bounce rate can be indicators that your site isn’t performing well on mobile devices or living up to mobile consumers’ expectations, from both a content and functionality standpoint.

In the example below, mobile visitors spent a little more than one minute on the site versus desktop users, who spent over four minutes.Although this clearly shows that mobile users are spending less time on the site, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem because mobile users typically have an immediate need and are looking for specific information. As we’ll explore a little later, you can actually view the top pages mobile users visit; such analytics serve as further proof of any issues with your site as well as what content is most important to specific users.

Selecting “Technology” reveals traffic per browser, browser version, operating system and the like. Obviously, this data set gives you a clear indication of the types of mobile experiences for which you must design and develop. And it makes testing much easier, since you now know the platforms being used for site access.

Shown next, “Traffic Sources” further segments the reporting by (among others):

• Source: See where your traffic originates, possibly opening up opportunities in link building (SEO), affiliate marketing and reputation management. Here is where you should see your other efforts, particularly your directory and organic business listings, pay off.
• Landing Page: Track how visitors interact with your site, especially the type of content they’re apt to view (e.g., a blog, contact info, a coupon page, etc.). Once you have this information, you can better organize, design and optimize for mobile viewing the pages that users are navigating toward.
• Keywords: Understand mobile-search queries (and how they differ from desktop searches), so you can optimize your content and metadata for mobile search engines. Pay special attention to the number of search queries with local intent, as well as brand and category-driven keywords.

Another key piece of data is found by clicking “Devices,” which is located under “Mobile” in the right-hand navigation. There, you can see the top mobile devices that consumers are using to visit your site. Again, what you discover will enable you to specifically target your mobile content, as well as test how your mobile site renders and performs on the most-used devices.”

The only way to move forward on the new net is to understand where you and your consumers are.  This is why analytics are paramount, particularly when it comes to mobile.

For the complete article on Mobile Analytics.

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(Want to learn more about how to succeed in mobile marketing?  Please download my free “Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing” video now)

Just like any element of your marketing program, it is essential to put into place the appropriate analytics so that you can assess what is working (and what is not!) in your mobile marketing.
Application-based analytics will help you understand:
•    The number of downloads
•    How users interact with different parts of the app
Mobile advertising analytics will assess:
•    Click-through rates
•    Response rates
•    Conversion rates
•    Calculate ROI
Mobile web analytics track on-the-phone analytics from mobile phone and smart phone browsers and will let you know:
•    The number of page views
•    Bounce rates
•    Click behavior
•    Types of devices used
•    Operating systems used
What should you use?  Here are some options:
•    Google’s free analytics for iOS, Android and mobile web traffic which can be integrated into your current Google Analytics
•    PercentMobile offers excellent analytics with a specialty on the mobile web
•    Flurry specializes in mobile applications
•    Bango can help you analyze mobile applications and the mobile web.

Click here to learn more about the Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing!

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(Want to learn more about how to succeed in mobile marketing? Please download my free “Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing” video now)

Mobile analytics are the metrics specific to all things mobile such as SMS messaging, QR codes, mobile apps and smartphone web data.

Through analytics you will understand a number of issues:

• Number of downloads
• Click-thrus
• Response rates
• Conversion rates
• Page views
• Bounce Rates
• Click behavior
• Types of devices
• Operators

On the one hand, data collection on mobile phones can be difficult. On the other hand, if you get it right, mobile analytics will allow you to really understand your customer base, segmenting it on specific attributes such as location, type of device, network access and interests.

If you don’t embrace mobile analytics, you will be at a distinct disadvantage.

Who do you go to for analytics? Here are a few suggestions:

Google has a free analytics solution for iOS, Android and mobile web traffic.

PercentMobile focuses on the mobile web.

Flurry specializes in mobile applications

Bango does both.

Click here to learn more about the Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing!