Google Analytics helps you monitor and track your website's visitors. This tool provides you with insightful information about your user's behavior: which pages do they click on, how long do they stay on your pages, what actions they take. At the same time you can see where they come from (organic search results, paid promotions, referrals, social media, etc.) 

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a crucial tool which allows you to check indexing status and the visibility of your website pages in google search results. There you can easily monitor, maintain, and analyze your site presence and position in Google for every keyword you rank for. 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another great research tool that allows you to do keyword research, analyze your competitors, and see an in-depth view on your website's backlinks. It's known as the best tool for backlink analysis. Using advanced technologies Ahrefs provides you with detailed information about what websites link to your own website, along with their domain authority. 

Answer The Public

"Answer the public" is a clever keywords research tool that tells you what questions your audience needs answers to. It's a perfect opportunity to find valuable long-tail keywords to use in your SEO strategy, and to educate yourself about your user's pain points as well as wishes. 

Keyword Surfer Chrome Extension

Keyword Surfer is a 100% free Chrome extension that allows you to find the search volumes directly in the SERP ( search engine research page ) in real-time. This helps you continuously find new ideas and opportunities around your product, service, and business. 

Exercise: Quick web traffic analysis

Once you have linked your website to Google analytics, and you already have some traffic, you can start analyzing some great data. Today we will study a bit about the Audience Overview. I am using a friend's website to do this exercise. First, go to http://analytics.google.com and click on the left on Audience > Overview. 

Once you click Audience > Overview, go on the right corner and choose the time frame you want to analyze. I've selected the entire November 2020. Click Apply. 

You also have access to granular view on demographics, and you can track where is your audience coming from. This aspect is really important for every business. You can use this date to optimise your ads, and branding. 

After, you can go to find out which browsing system your visitors use. In this case, it's an almost even split between Chrome and Safari. This information may be of good use in your development strategy. 

You can also find out which Operating System your visitors use. This information comes in handy when deciding where your funds and team power go when it comes to design and code. It also helps when it comes to marketing purposes and many other aspects. 

Conclusion

In order to analyze the data you collect, you first need to connect your website to any of these tools. Once you are connected, you will discover a world full of possibilities, identify problems, and seek the right solutions.