Singapore Google Analytics Master Clas 2010I have just returned from Singapore Google Analytics Master Class 2010 that was held yesterday on the 09 Mar 2010. I didn’t expect to see such a great turn out and according to Google, they received more than 400 registrations. The actual turn out is about 400 to 500 people (double the size of last year).

I didn’t really have a chance to take camera shots on the event as I met a few business associates including Rachit (one of the Speakers) and Andrew Boey. I have also managed to meet a few contacts who are entirely new to the Google Analytics. Since I am posting about the event, I guess I should share some vaulable takeaways especially if you are running your own sites but rarely use Google Analytics.

What is Google Analytics?

It is simply a tracking tool that tracks your visitors information and how they use your website. Common statistics you can find in your analytics are things like number of visits, duration of visits, bounce rates, traffic sources and top pages that your visitors view. There are a lot more things you can do with Google Analytics.

Most importantly, it is free to use =)

Tip 1 – You must have goals!

Goals is the first thing everyone should have in this website context. GA (Google Analytics) allows us to set our goals easily so that we can have a clear picture of conversions.  Another important thing that the Speakers share is that Goals can be Primary or Secondary. Primary goals are things like a purchase. Secondary goals are things that will lead to a primary goals such as downloading a free report or clicking on the product banner. Tracking secondary goals is also important because we want to make sure that we reduce the drop-outs along the funnel.

The following is a video describing how to set up goals in your GA account:

Tip 2 – Use segments!

Another very powerful thing you can do with GA is to segment your traffic according to specific group. For example, you can find out what are the pages your FaceBook traffic go to and what pages are being viewed by your Adwords traffic. From these important statistics, you will be able to find out what may interests these different groups of people.

There are a lot of variations you can do with segmentation. The following is a video from GA team showing how to segment Adwords traffic:

Tip 3 – Keep testing!

The last tip is to keep testing. I agree with the Speakers that we should continue to test and make bold changes on our site so that we will have a better chance increasing our conversion at the end of the day. Rachit even share how he conducts a test to find out the optimal pricing strategy for one of his clients. The tool his company uses is Google Website Optimizer.

Lastly, you are also encouraged to take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification Test if you want to take your skill to another level or intend to provide web Analytics service to companies.

Update: Rachit has posted an update on the event as well at his company blog here =)