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• A Complete Guide to Metrics in Google Analytics

  11 janvier 2024, par Erin

  There’s no denying that Google Analytics is the most popular web analytics solution today. Many marketers choose it to understand user behaviour. But when it offers so many different types of metrics, it can be overwhelming to choose which ones to focus on. In this article, we’ll dive into how metrics work in Google Analytics 4 and how to decide which metrics may be most useful to you, depending on your analytics needs.

  However, there are alternative web analytics solutions that can provide more accurate data and supplement GA’s existing features. Keep reading to learn how to overcome Google Analytics limitations so you can get the more out of your web analytics.

  What is a metric in Google Analytics ?

  In Google Analytics, a metric is a quantitative measurement or numerical data that provides insights into specific aspects of user behaviour. Metrics represent the counts or sums of user interactions, events or other data points. You can use GA metrics to better understand how people engage with a website or mobile app. 

  Unlike the previous Universal Analytics (the previous version of GA), GA4 is event-centric and has automated and simplified the event tracking process. Compared to Universal Analytics, GA4 is more user-centric and lets you hone in on individual user journeys. Some examples of common key metrics in GA4 are : 

  • Sessions : A group of user interactions on your website that occur within a specific time period. A session concludes when there is no user activity for 30 minutes.
  • Total Users : The cumulative count of individuals who accessed your site within a specified date range.
  • Engagement Rate : The percentage of visits to your website or app that included engagement (e.g., one more pageview, one or more conversion, etc.), determined by dividing engaged sessions by sessions.

  

  Metrics are invaluable when it comes to website and conversion optimisation. Whether you’re on the marketing team, creating content or designing web pages, understanding how your users interact with your digital platforms is essential.

  GA4 metrics vs. dimensions

  GA4 uses metrics to discuss quantitative measurements and dimensions as qualitative descriptors that provide additional context to metrics. To make things crystal clear, here are some examples of how metrics and dimensions are used together : 

  • “Session duration” = metric, “device type” = dimension 
    • In this situation, the dimension can segment the data by device type so you can optimise the user experience for different devices.
  • “Bounce rate” = metric, “traffic source/medium” = dimension 
    • Here, the dimension helps you segment by traffic source to understand how different acquisition channels are performing. 
  • “Conversion rate” = metric, “Landing page” = dimension 
    • When the conversion rate data is segmented by landing page, you can better see the most effective landing pages. 

  You can get into the nitty gritty of granular analysis by combining metrics and dimensions to better understand specific user interactions.

  How do Google Analytics metrics work ?

  Before diving into the most important metrics you should track, let’s review how metrics in GA4 work. 

  

  1. Tracking code implementation

  The process begins with implementing Google Analytics 4 tracking code into the HTML of web pages. This tracking code is JavaScript added to each website page — it collects data related to user interactions, events and other important tidbits.

  2. Data collection

  As users interact with the website or app, the Google Analytics 4 tracking code captures various data points (i.e., page views, clicks, form submissions, custom events, etc.). This raw data is compiled and sent to Google Analytics servers for processing.

  3. Data processing algorithms

  When the data reaches Google Analytics servers, data processing algorithms come into play. These algorithms analyse the incoming raw data to identify the dataset’s trends, relationships and patterns. This part of the process involves cleaning and organising the data.

  4. Segmentation and customisation

  As discussed in the previous section, Google Analytics 4 allows for segmentation and customisation of data with dimensions. To analyse specific data groups, you can define segments based on various dimensions (e.g., traffic source, device type). Custom events and user properties can also be defined to tailor the tracking to the unique needs of your website or app.

  5. Report generation

  Google Analytics 4 can make comprehensive reports and dashboards based on the processed and segmented data. These reports, often in the form of graphs and charts, help identify patterns and trends in the data.

  What are the most important Google Analytics metrics to track ? 

  In this section, we’ll identify and define key metrics for marketing teams to track in Google Analytics 4. 

  

  1. Pageviews are the total number of times a specific page or screen on your website or app is viewed by visitors. Pageviews are calculated each time a web page is loaded or reloaded in a browser. You can use this metric to measure the popularity of certain content on your website and what users are interested in. 
  2. Event tracking monitors user interactions with content on a website or app (i.e., clicks, downloads, video views, etc.). Event tracking provides detailed insights into user engagement so you can better understand how users interact with dynamic content. 
  3. Retention rate can be analysed with a pre-made overview report that Google Analytics 4 provides. This user metric measures the percentage of visitors who return to your website or app after their first visit within a specific time period. Retention rate = (users with subsequent visits / total users in the initial cohort) x 100. Use this information to understand how relevant or effective your content, user experience and marketing efforts are in retaining visitors. You probably have more loyal/returning buyers if you have a high retention rate. 
  4. Average session duration calculates the average time users spend on your website or app per session. Average session duration = total duration of all sessions / # of sessions. A high average session duration indicates how interested and engaged users are with your content. 
  5. Site searches and search queries on your website are automatically tracked by Google Analytics 4. These metrics include search terms, number of searches and user engagement post-search. You can use site search metrics to better understand user intent and refine content based on users’ searches. 
  6. Entrance and exit pages show where users first enter and leave your site. This metric is calculated by the percentage of sessions that start or end on a specific page. Knowing where users are entering and leaving your site can help identify places for content optimisation. 
  7. Device and browser info includes data about which devices and browsers websites or apps visitors use. This is another metric that Google Analytics 4 automatically collects and categorises during user sessions. You can use this data to improve the user experience on relevant devices and browsers. 
  8. Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page sessions where users leave your site or app without interacting further. Bounce rate = (# of single-page sessions / total # of sessions) x 100. Bounce rate is useful for determining how effective your landing pages are — pages with high bounce rates can be tweaked and optimised to enhance user engagement.

  Examples of how Matomo can elevate your web analytics

  Although Google Analytics is a powerful tool for understanding user behaviour, it also has privacy concerns, limitations and a list of issues. Another web analytics solution like Matomo can help fill those gaps so you can get the most out of your analytics.

  

  1. Cross-verify and validate your observations from Google Analytics by comparing data from Matomo’s Heatmaps and Session Recordings for the same pages. This process grants you access to these advanced features that GA4 does not offer.

  

  1. Matomo provides you with greater accuracy thanks to its privacy-friendly design. Unlike GA4, Matomo can be configured to operate without cookies. This means increased accuracy without intrusive cookie consent screens interrupting the user experience. It’s a win for you and for your users. Matomo also doesn’t apply data sampling so you can rest assured that the data you see is 100% accurate.

  3. Unlike GA4, Matomo offers direct access to customer support so you can save time sifting through community forum threads and online documentation. Gain personalised assistance and guidance for your analytics questions, and resolve issues efficiently.

  

  4. Matomo’s Form Analytics and Media Analytics extend your analytics capabilities beyond just pageviews and event tracking.

     Tracking user interactions with forms can tell you which fields users struggle with, common drop-off points, in addition to which parts of the form successfully guide visitors towards submission.

     See first-hand how Concrete CMS 3x their leads using Matomo’s Form Analytics.

     Media Analytics can provide insight into how users interact with image, video, or audio content on your website. You can use this feature to assess the relevance and popularity of specific content by knowing what your audience is engaged by.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

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  Final thoughts

  Although Google Analytics is a powerful tool on its own, Matomo can elevate your web analytics by offering advanced features, data accuracy and a privacy-friendly design. Don’t play a guessing game with your data — Matomo provides 100% accurate data so you don’t have to rely on AI or machine learning to fill in the gaps. Matomo can be configured cookieless which also provides you with more accurate data and a better user experience. 

  Lastly, Matomo is fully compliant with some of the world’s strictest privacy regulations like GPDR. You won’t have to sacrifice compliance for accurate, high quality data. 

  Start your 21-day free trial of Matomo — no credit card required.

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

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  Your information will be used to create an account on our cloud service. For more information please consult our privacy policy.
  
  
  

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• GA360 vs GA4 : Key Differences and Challenges

  20 mai 2024, par Erin

  While the standard Universal Analytics (UA) was sunset for free users in July 2023, Google Analytics 360 (GA360) users could postpone the switch to GA4 for another 12 months. But time is running out. As July is rapidly approaching, GA360 customers need to prepare for the switch to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) or another solution. 

  This comparison post will help you understand the differences between GA360 vs. GA4. We’ll dive beneath the surface, examining each solution’s privacy implications and their usability, features, new metrics and measurement methods.

  What is Google Analytics 4 (Standard) ?

  GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics, succeeding Universal Analytics. It was designed to address privacy issues with Universal Analytics, which made compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR difficult.

  It completely replaced Universal Analytics for free users in July 2023. GA4 Standard features many differences from the original UA, including :

  • Tracking and analysis are now events-based.
  • Insights are primarily powered by machine learning. (There are fewer reports and manual analysis tools).
  • Many users find the user interface to be too complex compared to Universal Analytics.

  The new tracking, reports and metrics already make GA4 feel like a completely different web analytics platform. The user interface itself also includes notable changes in navigation and implementation. These changes make the transition hard for experienced analysts and digital marketers alike. 

  For a more in-depth look at the differences, read our comparison of Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics.

  What is Google Analytics 360

  Google Analytics 360 is a paid version of Google Analytics, mostly aimed at enterprises that need to analyse a large amount of data.

  It significantly increases standard limits on data collection, sampling and processing. It also improves data granularity with more custom events and dimensions.

  Transitioning from Universal Analytics 360 to GA4 360

  You may still use the Universal Analytics tag and interface if you’ve been a Google Analytics 360 customer for multiple years. However, access to Universal Analytics 360 will be discontinued on July 1, 2024. Unlike the initial UA sunset (free version), you won’t be able to access the interface or your data after that, so it will be deleted.

  That means you will have to adapt to the new GA4 user interface, reports and metrics before the sunset or find an alternative solution.

  What is the difference between GA4 360 and free GA4 ?

  The key differences between GA4 360 and free GA4 are higher data limits, enterprise support, uptime guarantees and more robust administrative controls.

  

  GA4 offers most of the same features across the paid and free versions, but there are certain limits on data sampling, data processing and integrations. With the free version, you also can’t define as detailed events using event parameters as you can with GA4 360.

  Higher data collection, accuracy, storage and processing limits

  The biggest difference that GA4 360 brings to the table is more oomph in data collection, accuracy and analysis.

  You can collect more specific data (with 100 event parameters instead of 25 for custom metrics). GA4 360 lets you divide users using more custom dimensions based on events or user characteristics. Instead of 50 per property, you get up to 125 per property.

  And with up to 400 custom audiences, 360 is better for companies that heavily segment their users. More audiences, events and metrics per property mean more detailed insights.

  Sampling limits are also of a completely different scale. The max sample size in GA4 360 is 100x the free version of GA4, with up to 1 billion events per query. This makes analysis a lot more accurate for high-volume users. A slice of 10 million events is hardly representative if you have 200 million monthly events.

  Finally, GA4 360 lets you store all of that data for longer (up to 50 months vs up to 14 months). While new privacy regulations demand that you store user data only for the shortest time possible, website analytics data is often used for year-over-year analysis.

  Enterprise-grade support and uptime guarantees

  Because GA360 users are generally enterprises, Google offers service-level agreements for uptime and technical support response times.

  • Tracking : 99.9% uptime guarantee
  • Reporting : 99% uptime guarantee
  • Data processing : within 4 hours at a 98% uptime guarantee

  The free version of GA4 includes no such guarantees and limited access to professional support in the first place.

  Integrations

  GA4 360 increases limits for BigQuery and Google Ads Manager exports.

  

  The standard limits in the free version are 1 million events per day to BigQuery. In GA4 360, this is increased to billions of events per day. You also get up to 400 audiences for Search Ads 360 instead of the 100 limit in standard GA4.

  Roll-up analytics for agencies and enterprises

  If you manage a wide range of digital properties, checking each one separately isn’t very effective. You can export the data into a tool like Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio), but this requires extra work.

  With GA360, you can create “roll-up properties” to analyse data from multiple properties in the same space. It’s the best way to analyse larger trends and patterns across sites and apps.

  Administration and user access controls

  Beyond roll-up reporting, the other unique “advanced features” found in GA360 are related to administration and user access controls.

  

  First, GA360 lets you create custom user roles, giving different access levels to different properties. Sub-properties and roll-up properties are also useful tools for data governance purposes. They make it easier to limit access for specific analysts to the area they’re directly working on.

  You can also design custom reports for specific roles and employees based on their access levels.

  Pricing 

  While GA4 is free, Google Analytics 360 is priced based on your traffic volume. 

  With the introduction of GA4, Google implemented a revised pricing model. For GA4 360, pricing typically begins at USD $50,000/year which covers up to 25 million events per month. Beyond this limit, costs increase based on data usage, scaling accordingly.

  What’s not different : the interface, metrics, reports and basic features

  GA4 360 is the same analytics tool as the free version of GA4, with higher usage limits and a few enterprise features. You get more advanced tracking capabilities and more accurate analysis in the same GA4 packaging.

  If you already use and love GA4 but need to process more data, that’s great news. But if you’re using UA 360 and are hesitant to switch to the new interface, not so much. 

  Making the transition from UA to GA4 isn’t easy. Transferring the data means you need to figure out how to work with the API or use Google BigQuery.

  Plus, you have to deal with new metrics, reports and a new interface. For example, you don’t get to keep your custom funnel reports. You need to use “funnel explorations.”

  Going from UA to GA4 can feel like starting from scratch in a completely new web analytics tool.

  Which version of Google Analytics 4 is right for you ?

  Standard GA4 is a cost-effective web analytics option, but it’s not without its problems :

  • If you’re used to the UA interface, it feels clunky and difficult to analyse.
  • Data sampling is prevalent in the free version, leading to inaccuracies that can negatively affect decision-making and performance.

  And that’s just scratching the surface of common GA4 issues.

  Google Analytics 4 360 is a more reliable web analytics solution for enterprises. However, it suffers from many issues that made the GA4 transition painful for many free UA users last year.

  • You need to rebuild reports and adjust to the new complex interface.
  • To transfer historical data, you must use spreadsheets, the API, or BigQuery.

  You will still lose some of the data due to changes to the metrics and reporting.

  What if neither option is right for you ? Key considerations for choosing a Google Analytics alternative

  Despite what Google would like you to think, GA4 isn’t the only option for website analytics in 2024 — far from it. For companies that are used to UA 360, the right alternative can offer unique benefits to your company.

  Privacy regulations and future-proofing your analytics and marketing

  Although less flagrant than UA, GA4 is still in murky waters regarding compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. 

  And the issue isn’t just that you can get fined (which is bad enough). As part of a ruling, you may be ordered to change your analytics platform and protocol, which can completely disrupt your marketing workflow.

  When most marketing teams rely on web analytics to judge the ROI of their campaigns, this can be catastrophic. You may even have to pause campaigns as your team makes the adjustments.

  Avoid this risk completely by going with a privacy-friendly alternative.

  Features beyond basic web analytics

  To understand your users, you need to look at more than just events and conversions.

  That’s why some web analytics solutions have built-in behavioural analytics tools. Features like heatmaps (a visual pattern of popular clicks, scrolling and cursor movement) can help you understand how users interact with specific pages.

  

  Matomo allows you to consolidate behavioural analytics and regular web analytics into a single platform. You don’t need separate tools and subscriptions for heatmaps, session recordings, from analytics, media analytics and A/B testing. You can do all of this with Matomo.

  With insights about visits, sales, conversions, and usability in the same place, it’s a lot easier to improve your website.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  Usability and familiar metrics

  The move to event tracking means new metrics, reports and tools. So, if you’re used to Universal Analytics, it can be tricky to transition to GA4. 

  But there’s no need to start from zero, learning to work with a brand-new interface. Many competing web analytics platforms offer familiar reports and metrics — ones your team has gotten used to. This will help you speed up the time to value with a shorter learning curve.

  Why Matomo is a better option than GA4 360 for UA 360 users

  Matomo offers privacy-friendly tracking, built from the ground up to comply with regulations — including IP anonymisation and DoNotTrack settings. You also get 100% ownership of the data, which means we will never use your data for our own profit (unlike Google and other data giants).

  This is a big deal, as breaking GDPR rules can lead to fines of up to 4% of your annual revenue. At the same time, you’ll also future-proof your marketing workflow by choosing a web analytics provider built with privacy regulations in mind.

  Plus, for legacy UA 360 users, the Matomo interface will also feel a lot more intuitive and familiar. Matomo also provides marketing attribution models you know, like first click, which GA4 has removed.

  Finally, you can access various behavioural analytics tools in a single platform — heatmaps, session recordings, form analytics, A/B testing and more. That means you don’t need to pay for separate solutions for conversion rate optimisation efforts.

  And the transition is smooth. Matomo lets you import Universal Analytics data and offers ready-made Google Ads integration and Looker Studio Connector.

  Join over 1 million websites that choose Matomo as their web analytics solution. Try it free for a 21-days. No credit card required.

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

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• 9 Form Optimisation Tips to Convert More Visitors

  15 février 2024, par Erin

  Forms might seem boring — that is, until you realise how powerful they are.

  No forms mean no leads.

  No leads mean no sales.

  No sales means you’ll run out of business.

  So, what do you do ?

  Optimise forms to land more leads.

  They’re a critical part of the sales funnel.

  Forms have many different purposes and can be used to :

  • Contact a company
  • Sign up for a newsletter
  • Request a demo
  • Start a free trial
  • And more

  If you want to get more leads (and ultimately more sales), then you need to optimise your forms.

  This guide will show you exactly how to do that (so you can start getting more conversions today). 

  What is form optimisation ?

  Before we dive into form optimisation, let’s back up a bit.

  Form conversion is our primary focus.

  Your form conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who submit a form divided by the total number of visitors who started the form times one hundred.

  For example, if 5,000 people started filling out your form this month and 350 submitted the form, the conversion rate would be : 

  350 / 5,000 x 100 = 7%

  So, what’s form optimisation ?

  

  It’s simply improving your forms to increase conversion rates.

  For most people, form conversion is all about increasing leads.

  Before you begin optimising your forms, it’s important you understand what’s good (and what’s not good) when it comes to form conversions.

  The average form conversion rate across all industries is 2.9%.

  This means you should expect about 3 out of every 100 visitors who start your form to submit it.

  If your form conversion is lower — or hovering around this number — then it’s important to start optimising now.

  With Matomo, you can track your form conversions with Matomo Form Analytics. Gain powerful insights into how your visitors interact with your forms with our intuitive dashboard.

  Why it’s important to optimise your forms

  Most people hear the word “forms” and think it’s boring.

  But forms are the doorway to leads.

  If you want to generate more sales, then you need to generate great forms.

  Here are five reasons you need to optimise your forms today :

  

  1. Improve conversions

  Form optimisation is really just conversion optimisation.

  But, instead of optimising and improving your site to directly improve sales conversions, you’re increasing lead conversions.

  Every smart website owner uses forms to draw people in further.

  The reality is that most of your website visitors will never return to your site.

  This means you need to do everything you can to grab their contact information so you can continue marketing to them day in and day out.

  Otherwise, you’ll lose them forever.

  When you know how to optimise your forms, you’ll be able to get a higher percentage of form viewers to fill it out.

  Higher conversions mean you get more leads, more customers, and ultimately more revenue.

  2. Capture more leads

  When you can increase your form conversion rate from 1% to 2%, it may seem insignificant.

  What’s a measly percentage point in conversions ?

  It’s a lot.

  When you’re dealing with traffic in the tens or hundreds of thousands each month, an increase in conversion rate by a whole percentile is massive.

  Let’s say you take your conversion rate from 2% to 3% on your form, and you have 70,000 visitors view the form each month.

  Well, if 1,400 people used to sign up to your email list each month at a 2% conversion rate, then at a 3% conversion rate, you’d get 2,100 new email signups every month.

  That’s a major difference.

  When you can improve your signup forms, you improve your lead generation (which is conversion rate optimisation). And the more leads you have, the more sales you’ll make in the long run.

  3. Get the most out of your traffic

  If your forms don’t perform well, then you’re wasting your time (and your traffic).

  By analysing your form data, you can quickly see what’s working and what’s not so you can optimise and improve the user experience (and your forms).

  For most people, this means getting more form viewers to fill out the form with their email and name.

  If 50,000 people visit your site each month, but only 1% of them fill out your form, you’re only getting 500 email signups per month.

  Rather than paying money to generate more traffic, why not just work on improving your website by implementing a better form ?

  If you can increase your form conversion rate to 2%, you will immediately go from 500 new subscribers per month to 1,000 per month.

  4. Spend less on acquisition

  If you’re able to get more form signups without having to generate more traffic, you just solved a pricey problem : acquisition costs.

  If you can now get 1,000 of your 50,000 visitors to sign up to your email list through a better form, then you doubled your signups.

  But that’s not all. You just cut your acquisition costs in half.

  If you spend $2,000 per month on acquisition but you’re able to get twice as many leads, then your acquisition costs are at 50% of what they used to be.

  This means you can pay the same amount but get twice as many leads.

  Or, you can pour even more money into acquisition since it’s now twice as effective so you can fuel growth even more.

  5. Grow revenue

  Forms generate revenue. It may not be direct (although, in some cases, it is). 

  But, forms will lead to sales.

  By placing optimised forms throughout your website at the right places, you will be able to capture a percentage of your visitors as leads, which means you’ll eventually make more sales.

  13 tips to optimise your forms for more conversions

  Now that you know what forms can do and why they’re important to grow your business, it’s time to dive into the best practices.

  Follow these 13 tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your forms :

  

  1. Set form goals

  Your forms are hopeless without a goal.

  Before you set up a form on your website, ask yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish with this form ?”

  It could be :

  • Encouraging customers to reach out through a contact form
  • To get visitors to leave feedback on your product/service
  • Convert visitors into leads by giving you their email

  No matter what your goal is, make sure you’re clear on it ; otherwise, you won’t be as targeted and specific with your forms.

  Matomo Goals helps you set specific objectives for your marketing campaigns so you’re able to easily track conversions. Whether you’re looking to capture feedback or generate leads, you can leverage Matomo to see what’s working and what’s not in seconds.

  2. Remove or improve fields with high average time spent and high drop-off rates

  Delving into your Form Analytics provides invaluable insights into individual field performance. A crucial metric to focus on is the Average Time Spent. 

  If a field stands out with a significantly higher average time spent and experiences a high drop-off rate compared to others in the form, it’s a clear indicator that it’s causing frustration or confusion for your visitors.

  To address this, consider improving the field by converting it into a dropdown menu for easier completion or providing helpful text prompts. Alternatively, if the field isn’t essential, you might opt to remove it altogether.

  When you cut down on time spent and drop-offs, you’ll see your conversion rates go up.

  

  Here’s a standout example from Matomo’s Form Analytics feature : the “Overview of your needs” field is taking on average 1 minute and 37 seconds to complete. 

  To streamline this, we might want to consider a simple fix like converting it into a dropdown menu. This change would offer visitors a clearer and quicker way to select from options.

  

  Likewise, we observe that the “Overview of your needs” field experiences the highest drop-off rate, totaling 1,732 drop-offs. 

  With Form Analytics, it becomes clear what is needed to optimise forms and increase conversions.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  3. Start with the CTA

  When crafting and optimising your forms, you need to start with the end in mind. That’s why you need to start with your business goals.

  What are you trying to do with this form ? If you want to capture more emails, then make sure that’s very clear with the call to action (CTA).

  Start building your form by beginning with the CTA.

  For example : “Sign Up Now.”

  Once you have the action you want your potential customers to take, place it on the form. Then, you can work towards crafting the rest of the form.

  4. Put it above the fold

  If your visitors can’t find your form, they won’t fill it out. It’s plain and simple.

  You need to make sure your form is visible above the fold. This is the part of the screen that’s visible to your visitors once they land on your site (without needing to scroll down).

  Always remember to test this out on both desktop and mobile to ensure anyone (using laptops or a mobile device) will see your form upon landing on your site or page.

  Don’t forget about your mobile users. More people view mobile forms than desktop forms. 

  5. Put a CTA in the headline

  Your form needs to be clear.

  You have 1-3 seconds to communicate with your site visitors what your form is all about.

  For example, if you’re trying to get email signups with a lead magnet, then tell them the benefit quickly and concisely with a CTA in the headline, like this one :

  “Subscribe to Save 10% On Your Next Order”

  This is a great example of a headline-CTA combo that tells the visitor what to do and what they get out of it.

  Matomo’s behaviour analytics features like Session Recordings let you see where visitors are clicking and spending time. For example, if people are reading the headline, but not scrolling down to read the form, it’s probably a sign you need to test a different headline.

  6. Ensure you have the right fields

  Your form fields matter.

  What information are you trying to capture from your audience ?

  One beginner mistake people make is requiring too much information and including many fields in a form.

  You want to get as much data on your audience as possible, right ? Wrong.

  If you ask for too much information, people won’t fill it out, and it will harm the user experience. You need to make it super easy.

  If you want more emails to grow your list, then stick with someone’s email (and possibly their name as well). One line for a name. One line for an email address. Keep it simple.

  If you’re after SMS as well, don’t include it on the form. Instead, create a two-step form that pops up an SMS form after someone fills out the email form.

  Multi-step forms enable you to capture those emails easily (and still get a percentage to fill out the second form) without making it seem like too much work for your audience.

  Another path is to include optional fields (that users don’t have to fill out to click submit).

  Just keep in mind that shorter forms perform better than longer ones.

  If you make them too long, it feels like work for the user and will lead to lower completion rates.

  7. Always capture email address

  If you’re unsure of what information to capture (i.e. name, number, email, occupation, age, etc.), always stick to email.

  Email is used by over 4 billion people every single day, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

  When determining which fields to include, start with email.

  

  8. Test different buttons and copy

  You need to track your form performance if you want to get the best conversions.

  One of the best form elements to start testing is your button copy.

  In most cases, form completion buttons will have the word “submit” on them.

  But you don’t have to stick with this word.

  You can (and should) experiment with different submit button copy.

  Here are a few examples of replacement words for your action button :

  • Complete
  • Sign Up
  • Join now
  • Get started

  Remember to experiment with your action button. Try a different copy. Just keep it short.

  You can also try A/B testing your form by experimenting with different colours, copy, and more.

  

  In the example above from Matomo’s A/B testing feature, we found that changing the wording of our call to action made a big difference. The new “Apply Now” button performed much better, with a 3.6% conversion rate compared to just 1.7% for the original one.

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  9. Test static vs. popup

  There are various types of online forms.

  The most common is the static form that just sits in one place and is always there.

  Another popular form type is the popup.

  This is where a form will appear based on a certain trigger like :

  • A certain amount of time on page
  • A certain distance scrolling down the page
  • If someone is a new or returning visitor

  Depending on the form software you use, you may be able to add conditional logic.

  Start tracking your form conversions

  Form optimisation is all about conversion rate optimisation.

  If you want to increase your conversions and generate more revenue, then you need to test out different forms and know how to optimise them.

  With Matomo, you can easily track, manage, and A/B test your forms so you can improve your conversions. 

  Try Matomo free for 21 days. No credit card required.

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

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