Having an operational site for your business is a great way to attract new customers and to let your existing customers know if you have any sales or updates. But how do you know if people are actually visiting your site? It's actually quite simple!

If your site is hosted on something like Squarespace, they have built-in analytical systems that allow you to view statistics about your site. You can view how many unique viewers have visited your site, where they live and how they got to your site (ie. through a search engine, from a social media link, etc.). You can also see what keywords users typed in to reach your site thanks to Google Analytics.

Which brings us to the best way to view statistics for your website if you didn't use a service: Google Analytics. To get started you need to get Google Analytics installed on your website. If you're not able to do this yourself, ask your website developer to do it for you. And don't worry, you don't have to pay for it, the service is absolutely free! Next, visit the Google Analytics website and log in (you'll get credentials when you install Analytics. It can be linked to an existing G-Mail account).

Once you're logged into the home page of Analytics, click Real-Time and then Overview. There you'll be able to see all the analytical statistics for your site in real-time. You can also see which pages of your site people are going to and where they're located in the world (under Geography). Seeing everything in real-time can be a huge help if you're running a social media campaign or holding an event. You'll be able to see if the campaign is driving viewers to your site instantaneously. This information can help you better plan future campaigns or develop new advertising techniques. Alternatively, if your site features a blog or doorway pages, you'll be able to see if those pages are in fact drawing in new viewers like you want them to.