How can you use website tracking for your SME?

Web tracking is used by organizations with websites to gain insight into their users and their behavior and preferences. A tracking system tells you what your website visitors are doing and provides you with comprehensive statistics in the form of meaningful reports. These insights are used to optimize usability and the user experience.

Why is website tracking operated?

The main reasons why website operators analyze user behavior is to enable companies to gain important insights into how their customers use their website, to provide a personalized online experience and to monetize users through targeted ads want to achieve.

There are different categories that represent the reasons for using website tracking. Below we list what they are:

performance tracking

Website performance tracking is a set of web application monitoring techniques that ensure that your application is online, loading quickly, and functioning properly.

This is crucial because after all, you want your website to respond efficiently to end-user interactions. This is the only way you can ensure that the technical requirements are met so that your website visitors have a positive experience on your site.

A tool that you can use to measure the performance of your website is Google Analytics , for example .

Ecommerce Tracking

E-commerce tracking is a feature in Google Analytics that allows you to track online transactions on e-commerce websites and online stores. It offers detailed analytical data that you can use to maximize your strategy and therefore your ROI.

Because if you know which products sell best, you can adapt and align your activities accordingly. You can offer certain discount campaigns for products with which you make relatively little sales, so that you can also sell something with these products.

Every ecommerce business requires visitors to come back and buy new products. Ecommerce tracking helps with re-marketing strategies to target specific audiences and improve conversions by providing data about returning customers and their transactions.

By tracking individual visitors over time, you can derive important ROI information. For example, the conversion rate indicates which visitors take the desired action, place an order, sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, or view a shopping cart page.

The following data is collected by the Google Analytics e-commerce tracking tool:

Ad Tracking

Ad tracking collects data and user insights about the performance and effectiveness of digital advertising campaigns and online advertisements. There are numerous methods that advertisers can use to collect this information:

URL tracking:

For example, if you're running a pay-per-click campaign, sending out a newsletter, or running an ad on another website, tracking URLs is a great way to calculate the number of visits, leads, and conversions you've gained from your actions have generated.

Pixel tracking:

A tracking pixel is a tiny, often transparent, 1x1 pixel image that can be placed in an email, a display ad, or simply on a web page. When loading, it sends a signal back to your tracking tool that a user has viewed the page. For example, if you run a banner ad with a tracking pixel, you can collect information about how many people just look at your ad or actually click on it.

Cookies:

With the help of cookies, you can gain insight into the user behavior of your website over several sessions. However, before using cookies, you must obtain the explicit consent of users. Cookies are the power behind most ad retargeting campaigns and can be used to create a user profile based on an individual's web activities and habits. Advertisers can use this profile to serve ads that match a user's observed interests. They may also collect information about a user's browser configuration, location and preferred language.

Cookies can also be used to provide users of your website with a personalized experience based on previous interactions with you. For example, you can create a shopping cart email when users add items to their cart and then leave your website.

Tracking pixel (web beacon):

A web beacon allows websites to exchange information with each other. A web beacon is a small string of software code that displays a graphical image file on a web page or email. It is used to track navigation through a single website or multiple websites. Web beacons, also known as web bugs, are typically used by websites that use third-party tracking services.

What tools are available for website tracking?

Until your website is generating significant revenue, it's best to start with a free tool. As your site grows, you can always add additional features that you have to pay for. With any luck, you'll start with a free plan that grows with you.

We have put together a selection of methods and tools for you below:

Conclusion: The goal is to provide users with an optimal experience

A key function of website tracking is to gain insight into where your vulnerabilities are located. These are the areas of your website or online shop where visitors stop before taking a desired action. Use this data to optimize your offer, adjust your strategy and targeting, and make improvements to the customer journey so that you generate more sales and profits in the medium to long term.