Google Analytics and Hourly Visits (best time of day to post)
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Original Post
Hi All,
Here's a question about Google Analytics that's been bothering me since I started using it.
Several people have shown us how to view the GA reports that show number of visitors per hour of the day (thank you!). And several people have suggested that the best times to renew or post new items would be during these times of high traffic. On the surface, this makes complete and total sense.
But, I do feel like there is really more to it. Say you notice that 11 am and 5 pm are your high traffic times. You begin renewing or posting new items during these times. Because you post, you receive lots of views, and your GA report shows this - your 11am and 5 pm views continue to outshine the rest of the day, by an even larger margin now. So, you continue to post and your views continue to confirm that this is the best time to post. Aren't you just digging yourself a hole now? How can you trust your hourly views if you are the one manipulating them? Isn't this a vicious cycle? A good portion of many of our views are directly related to renewing/posting.
TimothyAdamDesigns (Mr. Smartypants) - maybe you will see this and comment? :)
Everyone - your brilliant comments are SO appreciated! Thanks!
Posted at 9:05pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
Responses
lol timothyadamdesigns saved me with google analytics!! I just got it two days ago and his tutorials were awesome in helping me figure it out.
I have found so far that the my highest traffic times are the times I am on here - on the forums promoting my shop. I get some scragglers here or there - but it seems to be directly related to when I'm on here being active...
Posted at 9:12pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
I have found that my highest traffic times are when I am on the forums too.
Posted at 9:14pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
Sacheen, it sounds like YOU are the smartypants!! ;)
I am curious to see the brilliant comments, because I have none. It seems like a vicious circle...
Posted at 9:15pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
I guess you could try posting at times when your views are lowest and see what happens!
Posted at 9:16pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
Yes! This is exactly what I have been thinking as well- I noticed right away that my highest traffic times were the hours after I'd been on the computer, updating my shop, listings, etc... There definitely seems to be a correlation- and is perhaps why so many sellers have such different "peak" times than other sellers...
Posted at 9:17pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
I was thinking the same thing about that. Obviously the times that shops will have the most views is when the person is MOST ACTIVE. Whether it be in listing new items, posting in forums, etc. So, the time that people are viewing your shop is not a good source to go by for listing. :)
Posted at 9:18pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
I'm more interested in the time of day people BUY.
A spike in views could just mean that more etsy sellers are checking in on their shops.
Posted at 9:18pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
no no no no no
I update my shop throughout the whole day = no change in view/traffic count
I list/re-new on high traffic time = random sales
my thought is:
based on WHEN you got yopur sales, ws it last night after you went to bed?
was it during luch hour ?
was it early 6a.m sort of time?
>>> what time your OWN sale occured may be a better indication<<<<<
Posted at 9:22pm Jan 22, 2009 EST
I noticed the same thing for the highest times. I did notice a couple of other peaks that were not when I was on. They are times that I occasionally post new items. Sometimes they get views and other times not. It is not a time of day I can post very often but is something to investigate.
Posted at 9:25pm Jan 22, 2009 EST