Web Analytics A presentation inspired by cold weather… Introduction

So… What are HITS? A hit is a request to a web server for a file (web page, image, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheet, etc.). When a web page is uploaded from a server the number of "hits" or "page hits" is equal to the number of files requested, therefore one page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of other images and other files which stack up the number of hits counted. Because one page load does not equal one hit it is an inaccurate measure of a websites popularity or web traffic… Wikipedia

What does web analytics measure? Web Analytics measures success of marketing (and/or business) initiatives

Perfect metric for a Web site… Perfect metric of a web site depends on the business objectives What is the goal? Sales Lead Gen Branding Customer service Content/selling ads

What is the goal?

Sales

Lead Gen

Branding

Customer service

Content/selling ads

Web Analytics tools History of tool development IT needs Marketing needs Industry consolidation/repositioning Web analytics Optimization Measuring Web 2.0 We need to understand Web 1.0 first…

History of tool development

IT needs

Marketing needs

Industry consolidation/repositioning

Web analytics

Optimization

Measuring Web 2.0

We need to understand Web 1.0 first…

How accurate is analytics? Web logs over counts JavaScript Tags under counts Data ownership Captures robot traffic Easier initial implementation No need for server access Automatic upgrades Easier campaign tracking Geared toward IT Need server access Need upgrades Difficult campaign tracking No data ownership Does not capture robot traffic Trends, not exact numbers Credit - ROI Revolution

Google Analytics (external sites) Each profile has over 200 reports… with infinite (for practical purposes) variations… Google Analytics underreports about 7% of traffic The process: Understanding client’s goals Adjusting setting Training the client and providing analysis

Each profile has over 200 reports… with infinite (for practical purposes) variations…

Google Analytics underreports about 7% of traffic

The process:

Understanding client’s goals

Adjusting setting

Training the client and providing analysis

200 reports! My head spins… “ Web Analytics is hard.” – Eric Peterson “ 10% of your budget should be spent on tools, while 90% spent on people (brains) who will be responsible for insights.” – Avanash Kaushik

“ Web Analytics is hard.”

– Eric Peterson

“ 10% of your budget should be spent on tools, while 90% spent on people (brains) who will be responsible for insights.”

– Avanash Kaushik

Important basics

Visits - how many visits your site received (one person can visit site several times – it will count as several visits) Absolute Unique Visitors - how many people visited your site (one person can visit the site several times, but it will be just one visitor) Pageviews – how many pages were accessed by visitors (one visitor can view the same page 10 times; it will be 10 pageviews) Pages per Visit – on average, how many pages were viewed during each visit (a person visited the site twice; in the morning he viewed 2 pages, in the evening he viewed 4 pages – the average will be 3 pages per visit) Bounce Rate – % of visits that included only one page Average time on site – average time each visit took New Visitor – a visitor that have not visited the site before the selected reporting period

Visits - how many visits your site received (one person can visit site several times – it will count as several visits)

Absolute Unique Visitors - how many people visited your site (one person can visit the site several times, but it will be just one visitor)

Pageviews – how many pages were accessed by visitors (one visitor can view the same page 10 times; it will be 10 pageviews)

Pages per Visit – on average, how many pages were viewed during each visit (a person visited the site twice; in the morning he viewed 2 pages, in the evening he viewed 4 pages – the average will be 3 pages per visit)

Bounce Rate – % of visits that included only one page

Average time on site – average time each visit took

New Visitor – a visitor that have not visited the site before the selected reporting period

Asking analytics questions… … is asking business (campaign) questions

Tracking smart moves… Font color was changed from grey to black

Tracking campaigns Campaigns (electronic format) need to be “tagged” before they start Campaigns (not electronic format, direct mail for example) need to have a special “nice” URL; which itself need to be “tagged” If campaign is not tagged before it is sent, it can not be tracked

Campaigns (electronic format) need to be “tagged” before they start

Campaigns (not electronic format, direct mail for example) need to have a special “nice” URL; which itself need to be “tagged”

Questions