The other day we wrote a post about lowering your bounce rate. It explained how different blogs can have different rates according to the scope of their content and how it is displayed on the blog. Expanding on this topic, we thought we would introduce Google’s latest service that will help bloggers set realistic goals for themselves within their respective niche.

What is Benchmarking?

About a month ago, Google announced that they were introducing a “Benchmarking Service” into their Analytics program. Benchmarking essentially allows you to compare your blog’s stats (Visits, Pageviews, Pages per Visit, Bounce Rate, Average Time on Site, and New Visits data) with an aggregated report on blogs similar to yours in both size and category.

How does it Work?

Benchmarking works through the participation of Google Analytics customers. As bloggers share their data, it is collected and organized into respective categories, based on the findings of Google’s web crawlers.

The number of other sites in a category is dependant on the number of sites sharing their data, with a minimum of one hundred per category. The more sites participating, the more categories you have for comparison. The data displayed is anonymous and a collective report of sites matching your criteria.

Benchmarking websites of similar size involves dividing reports into three categories, small, medium and large, based on the number of visits each site receives.

How do I sign up?

You enable Benchmarking by going under the “Visitors” section of your Analytics page and selecting “Benchmarking (Beta)”. The next step requires you to share your data with Google’s program so they can collect and review your stats. What they mean by ‘share’ is that they will format your data in an anonymous and aggregated process, so your personal information is kept private.

You can follow the prompts on the Benchmarking page or follow these steps (courtesy of Google Analytics’ Help Center):

“Select the option to share your Analytics data “Anonymously with Google and the benchmarking service” from the Edit Account and Data Sharing Settings page.

To get to this page, click the link that says “Edit Account and Data Sharing Settings” from the Analytics Settings page (the first page you see after logging into your Google Analytics account).”

Because Benchmarking is dependant on the aggregation of data from hundreds of accounts, it may take two weeks for the categories to appear in your Analytics.

Why Should I follow Benchmarks?

Using this service can help your stats with verticals for your niche, allowing you to set realistic goals for your blogging and follow trends that may be affecting your industry as a whole. For example, if you see that your traffic spikes at a certain period of the month, you may want to see whether the same shifts are occurring in your field.

The service is free and easy to set up. Also, your personal information will be kept private, as all your data is aggregated in an anonymous format, so only your stats will be compiled.

Because the benchmarking service is relatively new, we here are Apollo still have to wait and play around with the various options being offered. But you can be sure that we’ll be using this, and reporting our findings here, as it pours the data in.

For more information about Google Benchmarking, along with a comprehensive FAQ page, check out the Google Analytics Blog and the benchmarking section of the Google Analytics Help Page.

Does anybody out there have Benchmarking up and running? We would love to hear how it’s helped your blog!