SEO, tracking metrics, or linking would not normally come up on a ministry’s list of priorities, but let’s pause a moment. Seeing how one’s website is doing and making improvements are a lot easier than one might imagine. Here is a one word solution:
Analytics.
Subscribing to a service that provides website analytics is a simple way to see who is coming to your site, why they are coming, what they are looking at, how many choose to donate, when the site is most visited, and other such valuable information. To take a tour of what Google Analytics looks like and what they provide, click here to watch their tour video.
Some quick steps to set up:
1) Choose a site (such as Google Analytics) and set up an account.
2) Enter your website’s tracking code (see your website developer if you are not sure how to get this)
3) Set up a dashboard on the analytics account where you can view the key statistics.
Once you’ve set up this account, you are ready to start looking at the data. You will want to pay attention to these tracking metrics:
--Keywords: This shows you the top search terms by which people come to your site. This helps you understand what people are looking for as they come to your site.
For instance, if you are a crisis pregnancy center, and one of the top search terms is “abortion advice,” this might tell you that your website is reaching an audience who would be interested in your services. With this information in mind, you would want to adapt your website to reach out to this audience by making your services visible, your commitment to privacy clear, etc.
--Referring Websites—These are the websites where your users come from. If you are not already in contact with these websites, they are excellent resources for you to connect with. Using the analytics, you can create a “goal” that will allow you to track how many people come from that site to your website and then accomplish that “goal” (such as clicking the Donate button)
--Most Visited Pages—This will tell you more about why people are visiting your site. Look and see how long people are staying on these pages too. Think through these statistics carefully. If people aren’t staying very long, why is that? Think about what content might need to be updated or changed. What information are they looking for? If you’re adding more content, make sure it’s centered around the needs and wants of users.
This is just a brief start to analytics, but it is a valuable resource. For more resources to help grow your ministry, be sure to visit www.christianfoundationgrants.com and check out the CFG Classroom.
-- Jessica High manages research and marketing at Christian Foundation Grants (www.christianfoundationgrants.com) which is a subscription database of foundations that provide grants to faith based organizations. iDonate.com is a website (www.iDonate.com) that allows ministries to receive non cash gifts online