Analysis Paralysis

Erin Steinbruegge Market STL Fall 2010 Free Yourself From Analysis Paralysis

[email_address] @steinburglar linkedin.com/in/erinsteinbruegge facebook.com/erin.steinbruegge How You Can Reach Me
Partner and Lead Marketing Strategist @theloudfew.
SEO and PPC Consultant and Instructor at Buzzhound Learning Labs.

Why Website Analytics is Important
Measure ROI
Troubleshoot issues
Gain business intelligence
Testing
Optimize performance

This is an EXCITING time for website analytics
Many great free options available
Programs are more robust and integrated than before.
Website analytics isn’t just for websites anymore…

Everything from your phone to your TV is becoming more measurable

The Analytics Geek is Evolving into a Hero

events referring websites visits exits campaigns bounce rate conversions traffic sources subscriptions keywords abandoned funnels landing pages PPC newsletter blog SEO banners affiliates mobile But How Do You Make Sense of All of This Data?

5 Causes of Analysis Paralysis
Goals are not clearly defined
You’re using “out of the box” reports
You aren’t focusing on actionable metrics
You aren’t testing or you are afraid to fail
Analytics was installed improperly or you selected the wrong analytics program.

So How Do We Go from Analytics Zero to Hero?
Goals for Today:
Organize your analytics program
Focus on actionable metrics
Start testing and failing

Step 1: Get Organized

Define Website Goals
EVERY website has goals, EVERY campaign has goals
Set both short-term and long-term goals
Be specific and write them down

Define Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
KPI’s are unique to each company
Interview business leaders and decision makers
Create a list of all KPI’s

Create a Measurement Dashboard
Track your progress towards goals
Set defined checkpoints for measurement
You can download a free analytics dashboard here: http://www.theloudfew.com/blog/web-analytics-dashboard/

Validate Your Installation & Analytics Program
Incorrect or incomplete installs are very common.
Compare reports with internal data such as server logs, sales reports, etc.
Have you selected the right analytics program?

Analytics Programs Are Not 1-Size-Fits-All

Configure Custom Reports
Standard “out of the box” reports are not useful
Custom reports give you a quick view of actionable metrics and important KPIs.

Google Analytics Custom Reports Example

Step 2: Learn to Focus on Actionable Metrics

3 Characteristics of Actionable Metrics
Don’t require an opinion
Highly relevant to your business goals
Required action is instantly obvious and useful

Stop Focusing on Visits
Hits, Visits and Sessions are all fairly useless metrics
Measure what people are doing on your website

Understand Conversions Rates
Default conversion formula = conversions/ visits
But should it be conversions/ unique visitors ?

Conversion Rates Example
Many first visit conversions
Short buying cycle
Low commitment
Little research required
Small investment
Takes several visits to convert
Long buying cycle
High commitment
Much research required
Large investment
conversions / visits conversions / unique visitors

Use Event Tracking
Measure user events such as watching videos or downloading whitepapers
Gain insight into the type of content your target audience prefers

Event Tracking: Insight to Audience Behavior

Use Advanced Segments
Quickly isolate subsets of traffic for deeper insight
Slice data by organic vs paid traffic, visits worth a certain $ value, etc.
Quickly answer questions from upper management

Creating Advanced Segments

Advanced Segments Example

Bounce Rate is Beautiful
Bounce rate of top landing pages
Bounce rate by keywords
Bounce rate by campaign
= Massive Optimization Opportunity

Fix This Page!

Step 3: Test and Fail

Start A/B Testing Now!
A/B testing is critical to improving conversion rates
It’s a must that you test conversion pages and landing pages for paid campaigns.

Less than 40% of Marketers Currently A/B Test Hubspot: What’s Worth A/B Testing? Webinar 2010

What Elements Should You A/B Test?
Buttons and “call to action” links
Headlines
Copy
Offers
Images
Hubspot: What’s Worth A/B Testing? Webinar 2010

Examples of Some Tools That Help You A/B Test
Google Website Optimizer
SiteSpect
Omniture Test&Target
Your email marketing program

Final Tip: Fail Faster
The faster you fail, the faster you succeed
Give each test adequate budget and traffic
Understanding a fail is a victory

Additional Learning and Recommended Reading
Google Conversion University
Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik
Occum’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik (blog)
Google Analytics Youtube Channel

Thanks! [email_address] @steinburglar linkedin.com/in/erinsteinbruegge facebook.com/erin.steinbruegge

Analysis Paralysis

by Market Saint Louis on Oct 09, 2010

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Analysis Paralysis — Presentation Transcript