Report generation must be done regularly in order to stay on top of the performance of your online marketing plan. Through testing and tracking you can effectively and clearly see what is working and what is not. So then by doing more of what is working and less of what isn't working, you'll grow faster at less cost.

This is a very important part of your business and must be done at least quarterly, unless you are functioning at beyond full capacity. As you are implementing or even prior to implementing your new marketing strategies, take the time to test and track so that you have a baseline to compare against.

Use the following types of data in your analysis of your marketing:

Rankings

Links/Backlinks

Traffic Sources and Volume

Visitor Data

Visitor Actions and Behaviour

Rankings

You will need to track the main site rankings for the different keywords. This will tell you where each keyword ranks, so you can get an idea of the ranking possibilities for the content you put out there using that keyword. You can use rank checker tools to assist you in tracking rankings for keywords. Check those of your competitors also.

Links/Backlinks

When testing your backlinks of your site, you need to find out where links are coming from. This is simultaneously a test to make sure that links are actually working. Track how many backlinks your site has and how many are recognized by Google. Do the same for your competitors, especially those who already have a good degree of online domination. This will give you ideas of where you need to link from. You can access link and backlink tracking tools to facilitate the process.

Traffic Sources and Volume

Traffic sources and the volume of traffic need to be tracked and optimized. This will tell you where your visitors are coming from and the number of visitors you are getting from each source. It is important to know if they are direct visitors, referred through natural search engine results, referred from other sites or referred through paid search engine ads. This type of tracking will also reveal the keywords that are working to get visitors to your site. There are traffic tracking tools available for this.

Visitor Data

Visitor data should also be tested, tracked and optimized as a regular part of your marketing program. You want to know where they are located, which web browser they use, the type of operating system they use, connection speed and if they are a brand-new visitor or a repeat one. This will help you create the best visitor experience possible for those who come to your site. The same tracking tools that provide traffic data will also help you track visitor data.

Visitor Actions and Behaviour

You will also need to track visitor actions and behavior information. Details like the page of the site the visitor entered on and exited from will divulge the relevant information they were looking for. With such information, you will learn how well your landing pages and other content are working for you. You can also find out how long they stayed on your site, which will help you come up with ways to keep them there longer.

Record the links that get the most click-through traffic, so that you know what information attracts visitors most. The most important feature of tracking visitor behavior is the fact that you can find out the number of people who took action and what they actually did. There are a variety of technologies that allow you to track such information.

By regularly testing and tracking your site by the collection of important data, you will be equipped to optimise it so you get the best results possible. You will know what is working well and what needs to be changed. Discern what the data actually means, so you can change content or make site adjustments if necessary. Tracking the performance of your marketing will help you improve your business by getting the right people to your site who will then convert to sales.