Google Analytics is an awesome website tool, which is why it's so popular with everyone from digital marketing strategists to small business owners. If, however, you have Google Analytics installed on your website, but you have no idea what the reports mean or what you should be looking for, this guide to Google Analytics has you covered.

Here are five reports to pay attention to, along with what to look for:

Visitors

What it is: The Visitors section breaks down who is visiting your site, what pages they are looking at, and how long they're hanging around.

What to look for: A high number of pages per visit, high average time on your site, and a low bounce rate. Taken together, this gives you a very good idea of how useful people are finding the information on your website.

Behavior

What it is: Under Visitors, you'll find a sub-tab for Behavior. Behavior tells you how many visitors are new versus returning, how frequently and recently visitors are returning to your site, and user engagement.

What to look for: Visitors who return often; they are your biggest fans. If you're looking for brand ambassadors, ask Visitors first.

Traffic

What it is: Traffic provides details about where your website visitors are coming from and what keywords they're using to find your site.

What to look for: Results of your marketing efforts. Are people coming to you from PPC ads, the emails you send out, organic search? Are the keywords you are targeting for SEO purposes helping people find your site?

Content

What it is: Content shows you page views, aka, what pages people are visiting/viewing.

What to look for: Statistics for your landing and exit pages. Landing pages should inspire people to take action - download an email, sign up for an event, make a purchase. Exit pages tell you where people are getting stuck on your website.

Conversions

What it is: Conversions allows you to set up goals for your website so you can see if visitors are taking the actions you'd like them to take. You can have up to four sets of goals; each set can include five individual goals.

What to look for: Well, it depends on your goals. Maybe it's the length of time people spend on your site, or if they are visiting a certain page. It's up to you!

Have any other questions about the reports baked into Google Analytics? Leave them in the comments.

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