Web Analytics

Dennis Deacon [email_address]

What is Web Analytics
Why should I track metrics on my site(s)
What you can do with Web Analytics
Special Case Studies

The study of the online experience in order to improve it.
“ Web analytics is the assessment of a variety of data, Including web traffic, web-based transactions, web server performance, usability studies, user submitted information and related sources to help create a generalized understanding of the visitor experience online.” — Web Analytics Demystified Eric T. Peterson

Business Reporting / Proof of Return on Investment
Understanding Site Visitors
Identifying problems
Identifying opportunities

Web traffic data
Web transaction data
Web server performance data
Phone / call center activity
Usability studies
User submitted information

Web Server Logs
Software used to turn raw data into meaningful information
Page “Tags”
JavaScript code placed on all pages to be tracked
Transparent image loads, sending data to analytic software/service

Valuable data that can be collected by server logs and their use:
Item Description Item Requested This is the file that was requested via HTTP (includes, html, jpg, gif, pdf, etc.). Date Date of the Request. Time Time of the Request. Client IP Address Used to determine uniqueness of visitor. Referrer Previous site/page the visitor visited. Very helpful when determining were traffic to your site is coming from. User Agent The client software (browser) used to make the request. URI Query Information on dynamically generated pages. HTTP Status For tracking errors, broken links. Cookie Improved method for tracking unique visitors.

Most of what server logs provide, PLUS additional client-side data and custom data.
Browser data
Operating System data
User data (SessionID, UserID, etc.)
Conversion data
Custom tags (determined by business)

Web Server Logs
Pros
Counts every request to server*
You own the data
Cons
Expensive initial investment
Things / events cause counts to be inaccurate:
Search engine spiders
Proxies
Dynamic IP Addresses
Cache
Data parsing required before analyzing
Cumbersome management of Server Logs
Storage intensive
Page tags
Pros
Cheaper to set up / Pay as you go
Believed to be more accurate than server logs
Speed of data reporting
Flexibility of data collection
Cons
Dependant on JavaScript & Cookies
Implemented required for every tracked page
Sometimes complex tag implementations
Who owns the data?
Privacy issues
Slight performance issues

Sorry folks, there are no single, perfect, accurate solutions.

Don’t try to balance the books with the numbers; take the data with a grain of salt.
Pay closer attention to the bigger picture & trends.
Consider leveraging both server log data and page tag data into a hybrid approach.

Each request to a web server.
A web page may create several individual hits.
Web Page
Images
Other supportive files
Using hits would be like using the number of times a welcome mat is stepped on.

The number of times a web page has been displayed.
An improved page counter.
Can represent popularity site-wide or for particular content.
Only somewhat valuable to determine overall site activity levels.

A visit equates to any activity by a visitor during a set time period (usually 30 minutes).
Answers “how many times do people come to my site?”
Could be same person multiple times.
Good to understand what people do during a visit (i.e. pages per visit, time per visit)

A unique individual, typically based on IP address or cookie.
Uniquely identified visitors are based on a list or database of names.
Improved metric on how many people visit a web site.
Can track how many new visitors compared to repeat visitors.
100.18.25.192 10.106.45.100 180.16.45.116 120.106.15. 196 LeAnn Ng Rachel Vasquez Ellis Winfred

Bounce Rate
Referrers
Client Technical Stats
Conversions

Number of times a visitor arrives at a page, then immediate either hits the back button or leaves the site.
This metric could illustrate a problem with relevancy.

What sites send visitors to the site?
What search engines send visitors to the site?
What search terms send visitors to the site?
What ad campaigns send visitors to the site?
You’ll find what you’re looking for over there…

Browser type, version, size
Operating system, version
Screen colors & resolution
Flash versions
Java & JavaScript Support
Connection type
Connection speed

Conversions are select tasks that are completed successfully by your site visitor.
Conversions are typically beneficial to the company’s bottom line.
Examples:
Requesting a brochure
Subscribing to a newsletter
Purchasing a product or service online
Calling a toll-free number for more info

Tracking conversions
Conversions are tracked via a pre-determined conversion path.
The path is entered into the web analytics tool.
The web analytics tool begins tracking conversions as they take place.

Used to define, measure and determine progress towards an organization’s online goals.
Unique to the situation.
Measured over time to obtain patterns, trends.
Manner in determining KPIs
What are the business goals for the site?
How are you going to determine whether you’re making progress towards a goal? What questions are you going to answer? And how?

Example: Best Buy
Supporting Online Activities
Search for products
View products
Add products to shopping cart
Complete checkout process
Business goal: sell products, services; provide customer support
KPIs
% of visitors who search
Browse to buy ratio
Cart add rate
Checkout start rate
Checkout completion rate
Order conversion rate
Average order value

Tracking Conversions
Tracking E-mail Campaigns through to web site activity & conversions
Web site redesign & search engine optimization efforts

Business Goal: Increase the number of leads.
KPI: # of completed inquiry form completions.
Step 1. Visitor arrives on product detail page and clicks the Inquiry button. Step 2. Visitor completes the web form, then submits. Step 3. The site displays a confirmation page and sends a confirmation e-mail..

In Google Analytics, we set up a Goal, to track conversions on particular tasks.
Let’s set up Goal #1 to track inquiries.

The goal page (the page that acts as completion for the task) is entered.

If a series of pages lead up to the goal page, you would then enter them here. Once finished, click Save Changes.

After some site traffic, you can begin to view your reports.

If we take a closer look, there is a problem with our site and our conversions.
We can take a look at the conversion funnel to see where the problem might be.

What’s a Conversion Funnel?
Ideally, every site visitor would complete the path to conversion on your site.
Realistically, some visitors will not complete the conversion due to
Personal choice
Confusion
Broken functionality
Usability
Completed Tasks Site Visitors

In Google Analytics, we can see the conversion funnel, from what pages visitors are coming from, each step of the Inquiry Form process, and where they exited to if they didn’t complete the form.
The conversion funnel points out that we have a problem, not what the problem is.
Problem identification likely to come from usability tests.

Business Goal: Increase the number of inquiries and sales from email campaigns.
KPI: # of email opens, # of clickthroughs, # of completed inquiry forms from email campaigns
E-mail system (ConstantContact) has metrics on
Opens (for HTML email & clicked Text emails)
Clickthroughs
Forwards
Web Site has metrics on
Pages
Visitors
Visits
Goal Conversions

Question: How can I tell what e-mail recipients do after they clickthrough the e-mail message and visit my site?
What did they do?
What did they look at?
How many converted?
Answer: Tie the e-mail campaign to the website using custom variable tracking.
utm_source=CW-Alaska-102008 utm_medium=email utm_content=CWAlaskaInsidePassage utm_campaign=CW-Alaska-102008

Create unique Google Analytic identifiers to track web site activity from each link.
Google Analytics URL Builder provide easy coding of links.

We then implement the email system tracking and the Google Analytics tracking for each link in the email.
<SimpleURLProperty name="CWAlaskaInsidePassage" type="plain" href="http://www.sunstonetours.com/alaska/itins/cw_AlaskaInsidePassage.asp?utm_source=CW-Alaska-102008&utm_medium=email&utm_content=CWAlaskaInsidePassage& utm_campaign=CW-Alaska-102008" label="Alaska's Inside Passage" track="true"> <a href="http://www.sunstonetours.com/alaska/itins/cw_AlaskaInsidePassage.asp ?utm_source=CW-Alaska-102008&utm_medium=email&utm_content=CWAlaskaInsidePassage &utm_campaign=CW-Alaska-102008 "> Alaska's Inside Passage </a> </SimpleURLProperty>
Email System Tracking Code
Google Analytics Tracking parameters

After the email campaign is completed,
Our email system provides us with totals on emails sent, opens, clickthroughs…

After the email campaign is completed,
Our email system provides us with totals on emails sent, opens, clickthroughs.
Google Analytics provides us with information from the web site on number of visits, pages viewed, and most important: Conversions

Web analytics can be used to obtain information to gain insight into a web site’s audience.
Excellent tool for web redesigns, where there is an existing site with web analytics active
Web Design
How’s the navigation currently being used?
What content is currently popular?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
How are people finding the site?
What terms are people using to find the site?

Web Design
Current Popular Pages
Determines what content should be kept / enhanced; content to be edited or deleted
Often find some interesting facts

Web Design
Navigation
Site overlay allows you to visual see the number / percentage of clicks on a page.
If multiple links to same URL exist, then tag links with extra unique parameter.

Search Engine Optimization
Keyword research
Obtain keywords currently bringing in traffic
Use for developing new targeted keywords for optimization efforts

Referrers
Where is your traffic coming from…
… from where you expect or want?
Search Engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
Referring Sites: Other sites linking to your site.
Direct traffic: directly typing URL into browser address bar, browser bookmarks/favorites

Referrers
What sites are sending you traffic today
Based on types of referrers, who could be sending you traffic in the future

Paid Ad Campaigns
What campaigns are performing? Which aren’t?
What happens once visitors arrive on my site?
Which ads are converting? Which aren’t?
Which landing pages are performing? Which aren’t?

Use data to drive design, online business decisions
Web Analytics Methodology
Define your business goals and metrics (KPIs)
Implement / create / obtain reports
Analyze the data
Take action and optimize for improvement
Repeat
Don’t just implement web analytics because it’s cool or everyone is doing it; act upon the results.

Web Server Log Analyzers
Analog (free) - http://www.analog.cx/
AWStats (free) - http://awstats.sourceforge.net/
Webalizer (free) - http://www.webalizer.org/
Sawmill ($) - http://www.sawmill.net/
Urchin ($) - http://www.google.com/urchin/index.html
Webtrends ($) - http://www.webtrends.com/
Web Analytics Software (Tagging)
Google Analytics (free) - http://www.google.com/analytics/
Yahoo! Web Analytics (free) - http://www.indextools.com/
Visistat ($) - http://www.visistat.com/
Mint ($) - http://www.haveamint.com/
Omniture Site Catalyst ($) – http://www.omniture.com/

Online Tools
Google Analytics URL Builder - http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578
Further Reading
Websites
Web Analytics Demystified - http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/

Further Reading
Books
Web Analytics Demystified – Eric T. Petersen
Web Site Measurement Hacks: Tips & Tools to Help Optimize Your Online Business - Eric Peterson
Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions - Jason Burby
Web Metrics: Proven Methods for Measuring Web Site Success - Jim Sterne
Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics - Brian Clifton
Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads - Lance Loveday

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Web Analytics

by Dennis Deacon on Nov 10, 2008

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Web Analytics — Presentation Transcript