Test Your High Value Pages with Google Analytics & Google Website Optimizer

That's why it's so important to find, and fix, high-traffic landing pages that lose a high percentage of visitors. Look at the "Top Landing Pages" report within the Content section of Google Analytics. Pages that have both a high Bounce Rate (the percentage of visits that resulted in the visitor immediately leaving the site) and large number of Entrances need to be redesigned.

Funnel pages: Other high value pages are those that lead visitors to your goal pages. Visitors reach a goal page once they have have made a purchase or completed another desired action, such as a registration or download. In Google Analytics, you can specify up to ten pages in a defined funnel representing the path that you expect visitors to take on their way to the goal page (conversion!). A page that is part of a goal funnel is another great place to focus website optimization efforts.

The "Funnel Visualization" report within the Goals section of Google Analytics shows you how many visitors exit the funnel at each step in the path towards the goal page. In the funnel visualization below, you can see that most visitors in this funnel are lost in the transition from the "View Shopping Cart" step to the "Login" step. Only 7% of visitors move past this step, but of those who do, many go on to make a complete an order! Limiting steps in paths to a goal, like the "View Shopping Cart" step below, is another great place to begin your website optimization experiments. [Google Website optimizer Blog]