It’s important to monitor your website URL’s performance to learn how users engage with your content. If you’re a marketer working on campaigns, a site owner trying to make user engagement an experience leading to results, or a webmaster building your site’s structure, Google Analytics can provide valuable insights.
In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to check URLs of pages on your website in Google Analytics, from the beginning in Google Analytics, so that you can start making informed, data-driven decisions.
Why Tracking URL Performance Is Essential
Every URL on your website tells a story about how users behave on your site. Tracking these metrics helps answer key questions:
- Which pages are capturing the most traffic?
- How effective are your landing pages?
- Are users sticking around or bouncing off certain pages?
By regularly monitoring URL performance, you can improve SEO strategies, optimize content, and ultimately drive conversions.
If you’re ready to unlock this valuable data, let’s get started!
Step 1: Accessing Google Analytics
The first step in tracking your URLs is accessing your Google Analytics account. Follow these steps:
- Navigate to Google Analytics.
- Log in using your Google account credentials.
- Select the property (website) you’d like to analyze from the dashboard.
Pro Tip: Ensure you’re logged into the account associated with the specific Analytics property for your website. This prevents confusion if you’re managing multiple accounts.
Once you’re in, you’ll gain access to invaluable data about your website’s performance.
Step 2: Navigating to the Behavior Section
The Behavior section in Google Analytics is where you’ll find most of the data specific to your pages and URLs. Here’s how to get there:
- On the left-hand navigation menu, click Behavior.
- From the dropdown menu, select Site Content.
This section provides a detailed breakdown of how users interact with your content. From here, you can start analyzing individual page performance.
Why It Matters: The Behavior section is your go-to for understanding user engagement with different URLs on your site. It reveals things like page views, average time spent on a page, and bounce rate.
Step 3: Using the All Pages Report to Check URL Performance
The All Pages report is one of the most useful tools for tracking URL performance in Google Analytics. To access it:
- Under the Behavior > Site Content section, click All Pages.
- Here, you’ll see a list of your site’s most-viewed URLs ranked by pageviews or unique pageviews.
Key Metrics to Pay Attention To:
- Pageviews: The overall number of times a page is viewed.
- Unique Pageviews: The number of sessions during which the page was viewed at least once.
- Average Time on Page: How long users are staying on each page.
- Bounce Rate (Exit Percentage): A high exit percentage means users leave the site after visiting a specific page.
By analyzing these metrics, you can identify strong-performing URLs and pages that need improvement.
Example:
- Let’s say your “/pricing” page has a high exit rate. You can use this insight to refine your pricing copy, add testimonials, or include a captivating CTA (Call to Action).
Step 4: Analyzing Landing Pages
Landing pages are the first point of contact for most users visiting your website. Understanding their performance is crucial for optimizing user experience and boosting conversions.
How to Analyze Landing Pages in Google Analytics:
- Go to Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages.
- Here, you’ll see a list of all the URLs visited first during user sessions.
Metrics to Review:
- Sessions: How many unique visits started on this page.
- Conversion Rate: How effective the page is at driving the desired action (like sign-ups or purchases).
- Bounce Rate: Indicates if users are leaving without exploring other pages.
- Behavior Flow (optional): Visualize how users move from one page to another.
What to Do with This Info?
If your blog article “/how-to-start-blogging” has both high session numbers and high bounce rates, you’ll want to add internal links and engaging CTAs to keep visitors exploring your site.
Step 5: Setting Up Custom Reports for URL Tracking
Sometimes, the standard reports in Google Analytics don’t fully align with your goals. That’s where Custom Reports come in.
Building a Custom URL Report:
- Click Customization in the left-hand menu, then select Custom Reports.
- Click the + New Custom Report button.
- Fill in the following details:
- Title: Choose a clear name (e.g., “URL Performance Report”).
- Metrics: Add metrics like Pageviews, Average Time on Page, Bounce Rate, and Goal Completions.
- Dimensions: Set the “Page” dimension to focus tracking on individual URLs.
- Save the report, and you’re done!
Once it’s set up, you can revisit this report anytime for a focused view of your website’s URL performance.
Bonus Tip:
If you’re running paid campaigns, integrate UTM parameters into your URLs. Then track their performance in these custom reports for more granular insights.
Monitoring URL Performance Pays Off
When you regularly check your website’s URL performance using Google Analytics, you’re empowered to:
- Identify content that drives results.
- Optimize underperforming pages.
- Spend time and resources in the areas that matter most.
By leveraging the insights you’ve learned in this guide, you can refine your website strategy and boost your site’s overall effectiveness.
If you haven’t logged into Google Analytics yet today, now’s the time. Start exploring and see what your URLs are telling you.
Need more guidance? Explore Google’s official help center for additional tips and tricks.
