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Setting up goals within Google Analytics allows you to measure conversions on your website. In simple terms, a ‘conversion’ occurs when a site visitor performs a particular action you want them to on your website. There are different kinds of site goals, some examples are; viewing a specific page on your website, completing some type of  process such as signing up for a newsletter, completing a form or survey or buying a product through your online shop.

Your Google Analytics account lets you configure up to 20 goals for each website profile. Each goal may be one of the following three types:

1. URL Destination – this tracks how many site visitor reach a certain end-page or destination page on your site (and with some extra event tracking code, this can even track file downloads or other in-page actions)
2. Time on Site – this is a way to measure your visitors' interest in your content and whether you are creating content that is attracting visitors.
3. Pages/Visit - this can provide insight into how engaged a user is with your site by looking at the depth of their visit.

When trying to decide on your website goal definitions you will need to consider the some of the following questions:

• What site-visitor actions or behaviours do you want to measure?
• Which factors should determine your website success?
• Are you after increased sales?
• Do you want to generate sales leads and enquiries from potential clients?
• Or do you simply want visitors to spend more time on your site to get more information about your company or organisation?

Website goals don't always have to relate directly to sales or other financial metrics as not all websites are e-commerce sites. Many websites server other purposes such as publishing news or information to your customers, providing career resources for prospective employees, creating an online-community or finding new commercial partners.

Remember, setting up at least one goal for your website is one of the most crucial actions to complete when configuring Google Analytics because without goals, there is no easy way to measure conversions.