Google’s analytics tool for measuring how visitors interact with your web site (aptly named Google Analytics) provides an incredible value to the online marketer. If you’re giving Google Analytics a spin for the first time, or you’ve installed it a half-dozen times before, here’s a few tips to get the most out of what Google has to offer your marketing efforts

Use the latest tracking code

Google currently provides two tracking codes to chose from when you implement Google Analytics onto your web site. The stated reasons for migrating to a new tracking code seem to surround technical improvements. Whatever the reason for the change, Google cautions that Analytics will stop honoring the legacy code in less than a year. For that reason alone: go with the new tracking code

Google Analytics Support: New Google Analytics Tracking Code

Setup Goal Conversions

Just about ever web site has some sort of desired user task completion (or goal). Google Analytics provides valuable tracking of user completion and attrition of goals as you define them. Goals can range from the (very) common, such as the viewing of a receipt or “thank you” page, to the tracking of file downloads, gameplays, or even the amount of time spent on a given page.

Common goals usually rely on a unique web page being viewed, and may or may not have a specific starting point. These types of goals can be setup very quickly. Conversions which rely on interaction beyond a specific web page being viewed can be setup, they just require spending a bit more time with Google’s help files and forums.Get it setup, and take advantage of all the reports for which Google provides the added dimension of how the data in various reports intersects with the completion of key site activities.

Conversion Goals and Funnel setup takes place by clicking the “Edit” link in the “Settings” column for the site you’re setting up from the Analytics Settings page.

Google Analytics Support: Setting up Goals

If you sell products on your site, configure e-commerce transactions

Goal conversion tracking provides a valuable perspective into the effectiveness of your web site and online marketing activities. If you have an e-commerce site, you can go one step further and associate the specific dollar value of online purchases with site usage right inside of Google Analytics.Google Analytics Support: Tracking E-commerce Transactions

Configure Site Search

A lesser-utilized feature of Google Analytics is its ability to track what visitors search on utilizing your site’s own search feature. Configuring this feature not only provides insight into what people search for on your site, it also helps you understand how they use (or discontinue the use of) your site after performing an on-site search.Google Analytics Support: Setting up Site Search

Exclude internal traffic

Anything you can do to improve the quality of the data you capture enhances what your reports can provide you in return. Excluding internal traffic from your reports altogether is a step in the right direction, and an easy step at that.

Google Analytics Support: Excluding Internal Traffic from your Reports

Here’s two books which I definitely recommend:

Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results
Somehow Call to Action escaped my reading list for years. I learned about it from someone I recently interviewed. The book is based on Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg’s concept of Persuasion Architecture—a methodology which, at a high level, combines consumer psychology, business goals and website design with an overall goal of maximizing conversions.

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
I’m one of those people who can’t get enough of web analytics. Written by respected blogger and Google Evangelist Avinash Kaushik, this book demystifies web analytics in an easy to read, enjoyable manner. The practice of web analytics isn’t as simple as it may appear at a glance. Avinash’s book provides new perspectives in a concise manner.

When a friend or colleague sets up a blog, I am often curious to see what they do to promote it. Unfortunately, they often don’t do some basic things that can give their blogs the opportunity to take off. If you’re committed to writing good content, it often takes no money at all to get the ball rolling.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, a quick caveat: We’re beyond the “How do I blog?”, “Why would I blog?” and the dreaded “What is a blog?” phase here. If you’re at that stage, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m assuming you already know why you are blogging, and what it can offer you or your organization. You just might not know what you can do to give it a nudge so people can find it.

OK. So you’ve set yourself up a blog, and you want to be sure your efforts bear fruit. Here are some easy, basic, and FREE techniques to promote your blog:Tags and Categories - Cost: $0.00

• Internet and blog search engines use the keyword/keyword phrases in tags and categories to file your postings so they’re ready can be served back to Internet searchers. Use them thoughtfully and creatively!
• If you use both tags and categories, your categories should be broad; your tags should be specific.

Submit Your Blog to Search Engines - Cost: $0.00

• Submit your blog to credible, qualified directories (Google, Yahoo, Live, ASK, DMOZ.org)
• For some sites (such as the Yahoo directory) you do have to pay. However, you can submit your site to Yahoo without submitting to their paid directory

Leverage FeedBurner - Cost: $0.00

• FeedBurner allows reporting on the number of subscribers to your blog as well as some high-level web site traffic reporting. It is also useful to promote your blog.
• After doing the basic FeedBurner setup, enable the ‘PRO’ settings. The ‘PRO’ features previously cost money; they are now complimentary (thanks for buying FeedBurner Google!),
• Finally, go through each tab in FeedBurner and read the options that are available. Scores of additional options exist from pinging other aggregation/syndication sources when you post an entry to placing ads in your feed to monetize your syndication.

Claim your Blog on Technorati - Cost: $0.00

• Technorati is the Google of blogs and a great source of traffic.
• There’s no excuse to not sign-up with the basic information Technorati needs.
• Don’t stop at the bare minimum. Go ‘Favorite’ blogs you enjoy. Don’t forget to ‘Favorite’ your friends’ blogs; maybe they’ll stop by and ‘Favorite’ you too. Add a ‘Favorite on Technorati’ badge or link on your blog.
• Add a post to the Where’s the Fire (WTF) every now and again. Make sure they’re good posts. Even if you don’t get a lot of votes, you do get people coming by to see what your blog has to offer.

Enlist a Well Rounded Analytics Package - Cost: $0.00

• Google Analytics allows you to get more detailed web site usage reporting than FeedBurner can supply. Free or not it’s a great tool.
• Figure out which reports help you the most. You can gauge affinity for your content based on how often articles are viewed, how long visitors stay on your site when they arrive at a specific individual article (etc.). Sky’s the limit. Get to know Google Analytics.
• Learn and adapt. Viewing reports on usage of your blog isn’t blog promotion. How you interpret and apply what you learn will provide a strong foundation for your future blogging and blog promotion efforts.

Link to your Blog - Cost: $0.00

• If you send out any regular communication (online or off) provide a link to your blog.
• If your email program allows it, place a link to your blog in your signature.
• When you comment on other people’s blogs, be sure to provide your blog’s URL if you are prompted.
• If you keep a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, be sure to add a link to your blog. Facebook also lets you import your blog’s RSS feed as “Notes” so they display on your Profile page.

Ping when you Post - Cost: $0.00

• If your blog doesn’t automatically do it for you, ping Technorati and other services when your blog is updated
• If you’re not sure if your blog platform pings aggregators and syndicators when you post, check your documentation (most good blog platforms do this automatically, such as WordPress and Blogger).
• FeedBurner also has a ping service. Be sure it is activated, and take advantage of their offer to let you specify more sources to ping.

Participate in the Greater Blog Community - Cost: $0.00

• You want people to interact with your blog, be sure to do the same yourself!
• When you provide meaningful commentary on others’ blogs, you will benefit from visitors and/or the author stopping by your blog to learn more about you.

Make it Easy to Engage Your Content - Cost: $0.00

• What you don’t want to do is have visitors read one post and then leave.  When setting up your blog, think about the best place in its layout to place related, popular, and recent posts. Either pick a template that meets your needs, or modify it on your own.
• Entice visitors to come back.  The best way for them to know about new content you write is for them to subscribe to your RSS feed.  To encourage them to, place your RSS feed link in a prominent, visible position on your blog.

Write Good Content - Cost: $0.00

• This is the big one. Without good content, you’re toast.
• Write provoking titles that speak to your audience. If the title is good, you have a much better chance of drawing viewers to your content.
• Be sure to post regularly! Post as regularly as you can. Search engines (and your readers!) like to see stability and frequency in the amount of content that comes from your site.

Syndicate your Content - Cost: $0.00

• If there are any niche RSS syndication services for your content, see if there are fees associated with adding your feed to their service.
• Often, aggregation and syndication services don’t charge a thing.  Zimbio is a great, user-friendly place to start.
• Educate your self on how to republish your content so you aren’t penalized by search engines.
• If you leverage Feedburner (and you should) visit the Optimize > FeedFlare section.  It offers several ways to encourage your visitors to promote your content elsewhere on the web.

I hope these tips help. They are all free, and they will promote your blog. If you write compelling content and use the methods above, you will get traffic. How much blogging and promotion of your blog you commit to will determine how popular your blog becomes.