One of the most important tactics in analytics is segmentation. Yet, most small businesses look only at aggregate (or cumulative) data. I think this is partly because most small businesses don't fully understand what segmentation is. Or, they may not have a very clear understanding of what the benefits are and thus haven't devoted the time to understand it better.

Different types of users come to your website. They come from all sorts of different places, with different intentions, looking for different things to solve all sorts of different needs. To be highly effective and get the most potential from your website, a very effective and persistent segmentation strategy shoud be an important part of your web analytics process.

You will benefit from segmentation because you will go through a review process that will give you a deeper understanding of your business, which is always a good thing. Segmentation will allow you to quickly focus on areas of deeper depth, which will reveal important insights that drive actions. The segmented data that you will get will just be more relevant and useful than aggregate data.

Once again, Google Analytics makes segmentation a lot easier than you may think. You can do many basic things with just a few clicks. There are several default segments set-up within Google Analytics such as new visitors, returning visitors, paid traffic, search traffic, etc. You can also set-up custom segments in a snap, such as visits from California, or visits with purchases of $100 or more, for example. Take just a little time to better understand these capabilities and it will pay big dividends.

Segmenting your data is a process of focusing on the specific. This generates actionable ideas and ultimately improves your bottom line.

Next week we will discuss focusing on customer behaviors and how analytics can help.

If you need help with user segmentation and analytics contact Thrust.