How to Use Google Analytics to Create Content Your Readers Love

Guest post by Micah Klug from HomeFaithFamily.com

If you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself feeling trapped and unsure of where to go with your blog.

This is especially true when you focus on other bloggers’ successes and you easily forget what’s working well for you. The truth is, it’s important to stop doing what other bloggers are doing and instead focus on the quality you can give your audience.

Easier said than done, right?

What if I told you that putting your figurative horse blinders on and focusing on serving your audience is the best thing you can do for your business (and your sanity)?

It’s true!

You cannot be duplicated. Your experiences, perception of life, and your tender thoughts and knowledge cannot be shared by anyone else.

You can try duplicating what other bloggers are doing by holding yourself back, only to find that you’re not happy with the content you’re creating. You’ll also be missing out on the quality only you can bring to your audience.

Knowing this, where do you even begin with content creation and finding your voice?

If you’re in the beginning stages of blogging, a few ideas can include making a list of questions people ask you all the time and topics you’re passionate about.

After doing these two things, if you still find yourself struggling with coming up with ideas for content, you can easily visit Facebook groups your audience is members of and write down the questions they’re asking.

You can then write a post based on this question and give your personal solution.

If you’ve been blogging for a little while and have content on your site, what if I told you there’s a way to see which of your posts are already resonating with your audience?

How in the world do you find these hidden treasures?

You can easily find them in your Google Analytics.

One of the many things I love about GA is the ability to study what’s resonating with your audience and what’s already working for your website.

For example, you can see where your traffic is currently coming from and strategically create a plan for increasing your blog’s traffic.

You can also see which posts are resonating with your readers and how many pageviews they have in accordance with the date range you select.

To find your top posts you’ll want to select “Behavior” in your “Reports” and click “Overview.” You’ll also want to select your date range in the top right-hand corner of your Analytics screen.

I prefer to select a minimum three-month view, but feel free to do six months or even a year to write down any trends you notice in your data.

Once your top 10 posts are listed, you want to pay attention to any patterns you may notice. For my analytics in the image above, I can see that my Cricut posts and marriage posts are bringing in the majority of my traffic.

Does this mean I stop sharing my favorite recipes or stop writing about motherhood? No.

What this information is telling me is my current audience wants to learn more about using a Cricut machine, DIY methods to save money on this crafting tool, and they also want to learn how to strengthen their marriage.

I can also see that my marriage posts are question-based.

“Questions to Ask Your Husband Before Having a Baby”
“Questions for Pregnant Couples to Discuss”
“55 Questions for Couples That Want to Become Closer”

By knowing these two things, when I plan and create my content, I’m going to start putting an emphasis on Cricut tutorials and creating more question-based posts for couples.

It’s that simple for you to discover what content your audience loves and create more content based on what’s working on your website.

What if your posts are sporadic and you’re struggling with finding a consistent pattern?

The first thing you’ll want to do is double check your date range. If you’re only looking at 3 months, go back to 6 months or even a year.

If you haven’t been blogging very long, then I encourage you to continue creating and sharing your amazing content.

A pattern will emerge from your analytics over time. If you’re still struggling with finding a pattern, focus on your top three posts.

How can you create content around those three posts that are resonating most with your current audience?

Once you find your voice and your passion for helping your readers, creating new content ideas will become easier as you focus on providing for your audience’s needs.

Micah Klug loves being a mother and helping other women love their home, faith and family by living simply without losing their quality of life or sanity. She writes at www.HomeFaithFamily.com.