CRO analytics helps businesses learn why their websites are (or aren’t) converting. Discover 14 unique reports on Google Analytics that help you monitor your conversions.
Here are 14 Google Analytics reports to monitor and improve your conversion rate optimization strategy.
14 CRO analytics reports to track
- Conversions by device category
- Conversions by browser
- Conversions by operating system
- Conversions by acquisition source/medium
- Landing page performance
- Exit pages
- Exit rate
- User behavior and event tracking
- New vs. returning users
- Bounce rate
- Average engagement time
- Pages per visit
- Site speed
- Goal funnel visualizations
Plus bonus content:
Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is an essential part of building a website that generates revenue for your business. It helps you discover any issues in your conversion funnel and ensure your site provides a good experience for your website visitors.
You can optimize your site through a number of CRO tests — but one important step is to analyze your website as you conduct your tests. The best way to do this is through CRO analytics.
“A common mistake companies make is putting too much weight on unimportant measures like page views and website traffic,” explains Michael Wall, founder of Codefixer. “These measures have their place, but they don’t always show how well a website is at turning visitors into customers.”
To help you pinpoint potential website issues, we’ve put together 14 CRO reports you can pull using Google Analytics.
1. Conversions by device category
Start by taking a look at the number of conversions you’re getting by device category. To find this (and the next few reports), you’ll need to have conversion goals set up in your Google Analytics account. This will let you see the number of conversions and total revenue generated in each of these report types.
To access Conversions by device category, open up Google Analytics. In the left hand sidebar, you’ll click Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Device category.
You’ll then see a report that looks like this:
You’re greeted with the overall performance of the three different device categories — desktop, mobile, and tablet. And once you have conversion data set up in your tool, you can refer to the Conversions and Total revenue columns to see what your numbers look like.
If you’re generating a lot of conversions on desktop but next to none on mobile, this could indicate that something is wrong with your mobile checkout or signup process.
“Our data analysis revealed a puzzling drop-off in the checkout journey, particularly on the payment page, when our users surfed our platform on their trusty mobile companions, shares Jas Banwait Gill, Growth Manager of SwagMagic. “We promptly addressed this issue by optimizing the mobile payment page’s loading speed and streamlining the checkout process.”
The results were remarkable: The conversion rate on mobile devices increased by a whopping 25% during the holiday season over the previous year.
“While this certainly boosted our revenue, this victory extended beyond dollars and cents,” continues Gill. “We now had a seamless and delightful user experience, resulting in a higher level of customer satisfaction and retention.”
2. Conversions by browser
Next, we’ll take a look at how your website is performing on a browser-by-browser basis. Some pages might not load or work properly on Safari browsers versus Chrome, so it’s important to look at this report to see if you find any alarming discrepancies.
To access this report, go to Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Browser in the left sidebar. You’ll see this view:
Reports like this identify opportunities to increase conversions faster than other reports. iFor instance, if you find your website or app malfunctions on one browser compared to another, you immediately have an optimization solution.
3. Conversions by operating system
Similar to the last one, you should also check your conversions by operating system. Access this from the left sidebar by going to Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Operating system.
You’ll get this report below:
This report gives insight into the type of device people use — a PC, Android phone, Mac computer, or iPhone. Make sure nothing seems off about the number of conversions each OS provides — otherwise you may need to improve functionality for that operating system.
4. Conversions by acquisition source/medium
Next, we’ll head away from the Tech section of Google Analytics to look at where your traffic is coming from. Not only is this a key report for your digital marketing strategy, but it can help you monitor the quality of your site visitors.
To find this report, head to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition, then change the dropdown in the first column to Session source / medium.
You’ll find this data:
Again, look to the column labeled Conversions to discover how many conversions you receive from the different traffic channels.
While this report likely won’t tell you anything wrong with your website, it can still give you context about your best performing marketing campaigns and traffic channels.
For example, if you see a large number of conversions from Facebook compared to organic search, you may have a high-performing Facebook ad campaign. Or, you may want to improve your SEO to reach a higher conversion rate.
5. Landing page performance
Your overall landing page performance can reveal key benchmarks for your website. Look at your best and worst performing landing pages based on metrics like number of visitors, engagement time, and conversions.
Access this report by heading to Reports > Engagement > Landing page.
You’ll see the following dashboard:
Like many businesses, you may find your homepage sits at the top of your results with the highest traffic on your website.
“Businesses often focus their efforts on optimizing their homepage and ignore the deeper pages of their website,” says Riva Jeane May Caburog, PR/Media Coordinator at Nadrich & Cohen. “The misconception is that the homepage is the most critical point for conversions.
She further explains that users often enter a website through various pages, not just the homepage, and these landing pages play a big role in conversions. While the homepage is important, deeper pages with specific content significantly influence conversions.
Split testing can be a great way to test different landing page designs and landing page copy to find the best option to improve your site’s conversion rate.
6. Exit pages
Discovering which pages visitors leave your website on can indicate pages with low conversion rates or bugs.
To discover your exit pages, search “exit pages [timeframe]” in the top search bar and a little sidebar will appear with your results, like so:
For example, we can see above that I used the search term “exit pages ytd” to get the highest exit pages for the year so far. You can also search “exit rate” and the results will be for the date range you’re using for your other reports.
7. Exit rate
Your exit rate refers to how often visitors leave a certain page on your website, and can indicate bugs or issues with conversions.
To calculate exit rate, create a custom Google Analytics report. Head to Explore > Blank. Then add in the dimension “Page title and screen class” and the metrics “Views” and “Exits” to get access to the following dashboard:
To get your exit rate for each page, follow this formula:
(Number of exits from a page / Number of pageviews for that page) x 100 = Exit rate
Pages with an abnormally high exit rate, especially compared to other pages, may need optimization — or a better call-to-action (CTA or desired action) — to better convert or keep website visitors.
8. User behavior and event tracking
Monitoring user behavior through event tracking can give you a good idea of how people navigate your website. But before you access this report, set up different events.
The events you track will vary widely based on your industry and the type of business you run. For a SaaS landing page or B2B site, consider tracking micro-conversions like form submissions or demo requests. But for an ecommerce site, macro-conversions like purchases are more important events to watch.
Go to Admin (bottom left corner of the navigation sidebar) > Events. You’ll see this screen with a few pre-made events listed, like ad clicks and page views:
Click Create event to set up a new event to track certain types of conversions.
You can then track these events directly in your Google Analytics by heading to Reports > Engagements > Events to view the below report:
You can see the total event count, event count per user, and total revenue each event generated through your site.
However, heatmaps and other CRO tools can also track user behavior. We’ll talk more about top tools in the next section, but Hotjar creates heatmaps and screen recordings to see how users navigateg your site.
“We leverage user behavior data extensively,” explains Nathan Clark, co-founder of Gate2AI. “In one instance, analyzing heatmaps and session recordings revealed that users were dropping off on a specific form page due to its complexity.
Simplifying the form led to a 30% increase in submissions.”
9. New vs. returning users
Keeping an eye on your new vs. returning website visitors also shows your site’s performance. Of course, bringing in new users and customers is key to growing a business, by retaining customers helps you see your website and product provide a good experience.
To access this report, head to Reports > Retention.
You’ll see this chart on the page:
You’ll see the exact number of new users versus returning users in your selected time period. If you see little to no returning visitors, you may need to optimize your website and/or your product/service to better answer users’ problems.
10. Bounce rate
Your bounce rate refers to the rate of people who leave your website after accessing only one page. Long loading times or a poor user experience can lead to high bounce rates, indicating that you need to make changes to your landing pages.
To find this metric, search for “bounce rate [timeframe]” in the top search bar in GA4, or leave the time frame section blank to use the one you already set.
This report will appear as a right hand sidebar:
“A high bounce rate suggests a need for better landing pages, while a low conversion rate may indicate issues with the sales funnel,” advises Peter Michaels, CEO of Yeespy. “Analyzing these metrics helps refine strategies, enhancing user experiences and ultimately driving business growth in the competitive landscape.”
11. Average engagement time
Average engagement time is GA4’s version of time on page. To access the below report, you’ll head to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.
Look at the average engagement time of each landing or product page. Are there any that seem abnormal? For example, entirely too short? This could mean that your landing page is confusing or doesn’t immediately let website visitors know what your product or service is about.
On the other hand — and slightly contradictory — an engagement time that’s too high could also mean your site is difficult to navigate and users are spending too much time trying to find what they’re looking for.
Pay attention to outliers to discover reasons engagement time may be too short or long.
However, if you see consistently longer engagement times, this could be a positive indicator.
“I’ve often found that ‘time on page’ speaks volumes,” says Ryan Robinson, founder and CEO of Right Blogger. “It’s not just about attracting visitors to your site but about holding their attention. If they’re lingering, they’re intrigued. And if they’re intrigued, there’s a higher chance they’ll convert.”
12. Pages per visit
Pages per visit shows how many pages each website visitor checks out before they leave. Look at this data with your bounce rate. Higher pages per visit typically means a lower bounce rate, and vice versa.
So fewer pages per visit could mean people can’t find what they’re looking for or your site is difficult to maneuver.
To access this report, create another exploration. Head to Explore > Blank to get started, then input “Page path and screen class” and “Session medium” as your dimensions and “Views per session” as your metric.
The report will look like so:
In the top right corner is the overall views per session for your website.
13. Site speed
Your website speed can also have a lot to do with whether or not someone stays on your website and ends up converting. If your website is slow to load, people can easily become impatient and leave for a competitor’s page.
And the data proves it. One study found that a B2B site that loads in 1 second is 3x more likely to convert than a site that loads in 5 seconds and 5x more likely to convert than a site that loads in 10 seconds.
So keeping an eye on your site speed and average page load times is essential. However, with the new GA4, it’s not quite as simple as it once was.
To start, take advantage of Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to insert your website address and gather data about issues that may be slowing down your load times.
However, if you want to create a report in Google Analytics, you’ll need to set up a trigger in Google Tag Manager. You can use this guide to help you set that up before heading back to GA4 to create your report.
This report will be another custom option, so head to Explore > Blank to get started. Then add in the dimension “Page title and screen class” and the metrics “Views” and “Page Load Time” to get access to the appropriate dashboard.
Look at each of these load times to see if certain pages need speed or conversion optimization.
14. Goal funnel visualizations
Last, but not least, look at your goal funnel visualizations. This report indicates where traffic drops off in each level of your sales funnel.
Head back to the Explore page, but this time, click Funnel exploration instead of Blank.
Use Google’s tips to build your funnel visualization based on your specific needs. Understanding where people may leave your funnel can help you optimize it and increase the overall conversion rate on your website.
Top tools for tracking CRO analytics
Stay on top of your CRO efforts by using web analytics and site testing tools. There are three main tools to consider as you prioritize your site performance.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a 100% free tool, so it’s the go-to for tracking site analytics and visitor behavior.
Access Google Analytics at analytics.google.com. It’s relatively easy to set up, or defer the process to your company’s web developer.
Then use all of the above reports, create custom reports, and monitor your website’s funnel or visitor paths. The tool is comprehensive and most site managers fully rely on it for their website analytics.
Heap
However, if you want a tool that dives deeper into customer journeys and conversion data, consider Heap.
Heap pinpoints where in the customer journey users drop off, giving you detailed information to use in your conversion rate optimization efforts.
Discover missing steps in the customer journey, which web pages may need improvement to increase conversions, and discover opportunities for optimization.
Hotjar
Hotjar is a conversion rate optimization tool used for heat mapping and gathering direct user feedback. Watch how your audience navigates your website through heatmap data and screen recordings showing their exact scrolling and clicking habits.
Hotjar also gathers insights from pages you’re A/B testing (or multivariate testing), helping you publish the highest-performing product pages.
ConversionIQ
HawkSEM integrates ConversionIQ (our proprietary software) into all of our CRO campaigns. It tracks specific customer data along with the user journey, providing tangible actionable insights that increase the ROAS of a CRO marketing strategy.
One of HawkSEM’s clients, Apotheke, increased its conversion rate by 25% due to using the right tools and tying in ConversionIQ.
While not a standalone software, you can get in touch with a HawkSEM specialist if you’re interested in using ConversionIQ’s data and working with a highly-qualified SEO expert.
CRO analytics checklist
Keep this checklist of CRO analytics reports handy whenever you need to look into how your website is performing and if you can find any new opportunities for your CRO program.
Conversions by mobile
Conversions by browser
Landing page performance
Conversions by operating system
Conversions by acquisition source/medium
Exit pages and exit rate
Use behavior and event tracking
New vs. returning visitors
Bounce rate
Average engagement time
Pages per visit
Goal funnel visualizations
The takeaway
Here at HawkSEM, we believe CRO is a vital part of a marketing strategy, because it’s the stage where you have the best chance to convert a visitor. Our approach — especially with regards to CRO analytics and reporting — is to ensure we’re always implementing a human touch/element to it.
We never let an automated tool do all the work. Instead, all of our data is analyzed by senior level talent and all insights provided for future growth/optimizations come from the same team. It’s important to have human intelligence/experience behind reporting and ongoing strategies, even as we refer to our ConversionIQ AI tool for optimization assistance.
To learn more about how we manage CRO analytics, and to get our help optimizing your website, get in touch with one of our specialists.
