Exploring Google Analytics

I recently registered for a google analytics account to get some insights regarding my website traffic. Being a bit of a nerd I find the depth of information they provide to be pretty interesting! Just by exploring the features and data provided by their program I discovered some pretty useful data on my audience so far. I run a website about dieting and Google Analytics showed me that 54% of my audience is male (I wasn't expecting that) Secondly, the majority of my audience is between the ages of 25-34. A few more minutes digging around led me to find out that most traffic comes from users interested in walking/running. I spent a total of 10 minutes exploring this data and found out I have a specific audience providing most of my traffic.

Google Analytics provides a TON of information and it seems like it would be pretty easy to get lost in there. I didn't want to spend too much time caught up looking at statistics (some of it seems reduntant) so I just scanned through until I found information that seemed the most practical to use. For instance, Google Analytics also gave me information showing that the majority of traffic I receive is from social media. I have a facebook page that I use to promote my website and network with other groups that have similar interests. That's where most users are finding my website.

Now I have a new way to target a specific audience, one that has already showed an interest in my site without me even knowing it. I can tailor content to this target audience and, hopefully, increase traffic and conversion on my site. I can see what's working and where I need improvement.I'm sure alot of you already know about this (I haven't searched Google Analytics discussions here yet) but if this is your first time reading about it I encourage you to try it. Knowledge is power, after all.