The top landing pages report is an immediately actionable report, as it shows you how/where users enter you website, and how effective those different entry points are.
“…the world is dominated by search engines, and those search engines, not you, determine the home page of your website.”
-Avinash Kaushik
The standard Google Analytics Behavior -> Site Content -> Landing Pages report is good, but I have created a custom report to show just the most actionable metrics on this report.
You can import this custom report using this link: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/template?uid=8ZC32daWSj2JYtOaydlY2w
This report will show you the top landing pages on your website, and for each one will include the following metrics:
Sessions: Which pages are the most common landing pages? Where are most people entering?
% New Sessions: Which landing pages are bringing in the most new users? For these users, this may be their first experience of your website.
Bounce Rate: If your bounce rate is high, consider what actions you can take to retain visitors who come in via the page in question.
Pages/Session: How far into your website do visitors get who begin their visit on the page in question?
Avg. Session Duration: How much time do visitors spend on your website who begin their visit on the page in question?
If one of your top landing pages has a high bounce rate, that may indicate a problem.
Example
Account: Mason Communications and Marketing 01
Property: www2.gmu.edu
View: All Web Site Data
Date Range: Jan 1, 2017-Mar 31, 2017
Custom Report: Landing Pages Audit
– Note that the Academics page is the most likely landing page for new visitors – not the homepage! And it has the second-lowest bounce rate – very encouraging!
– Note that the Admissions and Aid – Contact Us page has the highest bounce rate by far. But in this case that probably does not represent a problem. Users find what they need – and email address or phone number – and then the get off the website.