As a digital strategist, web designer and digital marketer, I spend a ton of time in Google Analytics.

My team and I created the 2018 Data Download to pull out a number of useful data points for all types of businesses and what works best for digital marketing and web design depending on what vertical you're in.

One distinct thing we noticed when compiling our report - which aggregates data from more than 325 real Google Analytics accounts from real live active websites generating traffic from actual web users - is what works best for professional services, such as CPAs, Law Firms, Consulting Agencies, etc.

Web Design

• Websites with 7 Main Items (no utility nav) have 12% less engagement than websites with 4 Main Items and 1 button
• Full width image homepage layouts with a tall auto slider actually get an 18% better engagement rate - something that is shockingly different about this vertical than others.

Marketing

• LinkedIn visitors are inherently 12% more interested in content on Professional Services websites than Facebook users. Facebook wins volume, but LinkedIn wins quality. Keep your LinkedIn Profile updated and post often!
• The average cost per customer acquisition on Google Adwords Express is $57 less per customer than on Traditional Adwords and $20 less than from Facebook Ads.

We think these baseline metrics above and reviewed in the video below are helpful for marketers to understand where opportunity lies to differentiate your particular business and acquire customers by examining your data against the industry data.

Thanks for reading / watching - and have a great day!

Paul Hickey has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.