Introduction to Web Analytics for Journalists

Introduction to Web Analytics
The harsh realities of online measurement for Journalists
mike
patrick
&

00
You will learn five things from us
01 Web analytics is about the truth
02 Publishers care about money
03 You’re evaluated on data
04 Web analytics data can make you “better”
05 This is not scary

00
WARNING:
The following presenters are not journalists, editors, publishers, fact checkers or anything like that. Mike does have a blog (not a lot of people read it). Patrick once tried to write a screenplay about robots (never made it past act 2). Anyways, I digress. What we’re trying to say is that during this presentation we’ll be making some assumptions about your role, and use words like “revenue” and “ads” that may offend your journalistic integrity. We’re not going to tell you how to do your job, but you’re part of an ecosystem. The more money you make your publisher, the more money you’ll see back. That’s why you should probably be interested in Web analytics.
mike
patrick
&

Patrick – Not a Journalist
Strategist, Idea Couture
Runs Toronto Web analytics group
Got first job through nepotism
Failed at P90X over a dozen times
Poor at spelling
Obsessed with scarves
Swears too much at work
Learning how to sew
Drinks a little too much
mike
patrick
&

Mike – Not a Journalist
Analytics Manager, Rogers
Member of eMetrics advisory panel
Hasn’t updated his blog since April ‘09
New condo buyer
Recovering chronic nail biter
Secretly hates Patrick (and wishes he would shave his beard)
Not a huge fan of the iPad…yet
mike
patrick
&

Why we’re over-sharing
mike
patrick
&

01
WEB ANALYTICS IS ABOUT THE TRUTH!

01
Web analytics is the collection, measurement, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage

Yes, we know… that sounds academic
mike
patrick
&

Think of Web analytics like a two-way mirror for a website
mike
patrick
&

Mirror, Side A
mike
patrick
&

Mirror, from behind
mike
patrick
&

Without getting to technical
Good websites contain analytics code
When you arrive, we know where you come from
When you visit, we know what you visit
When you choose, we know what you liked best
When you use, we know how you navigate
When you like, we know what you value
When you search, we know what you search for
When you receive, we know if you opened
When you leave, we know where you left from
mike
patrick
&

And we learn plenty
Good websites analysts know
Who is visiting the site
Where they go on the site
What content they like the most
What content they like the least
What content people share the most
What content people interact with most
What content people talk about the most
mike
patrick
&

NOTE: This is not a big brother scenario
mike
patrick
&

You’re just part of a crowd…
mike
patrick
&

We use data to uncover the truth about websites
mike
patrick
&

Clickstream
01
Multiple Outcomes & Analysis
Experimentation and Testing
Voice of Visitor
Competitive Intelligence
Insights

who what where
Clickstream
01
goals objectives
what if
why
Voice of Visitor
What else
Insights
mike
patrick
&

On the plus side…
mike
patrick
&

Web analytics is about truth that drives change
mike
patrick
&

You’re on the other side of the mirror
mike
patrick
&

We don’t want to be harsh here…
mike
patrick
&

01
For journalists, Web analytics is a resource that can help you understand how people find, consume, and interact with your content online so you can improve.

Is your content being consumed online?
Clickstream
01
Are people interacting with the content?
Are you improving?
Voice of Visitor
Insights
mike
patrick
&

Web analytics will get you to the truth about your writing
mike
patrick
&

So while we’re on the topic of truth…
mike
patrick
&

02
PUBLISHERS CARE ABOUT MONEY

Here’s how it works online…
mike
patrick
&

02
METRICS THAT IMPACT REVENUE
unique visitors = total number of visitors to your site in a time period, usually monthly
visitors = total number of visits to your site in a time period, usually measured monthly
page views = number of pages seen by your visitors
impressions= number of ads you serve to your audience

02
unique visitors = total number of visitors to your site in a time period, usually monthly
visitors = total number of visits to your site in a time period, usually measured monthly
page views = number of pages seen by your visitors
impressions= number of ads you serve to your audience
people
visit your publishers site
to view interesting content
and your publisher pushes ads at them

Sell through rate
1000
Ad Revenue
02
HOW AD REVENUE IS CALCULATED
Total Ad Impressions
Cost per thousand
mike
patrick
&

Sell through rate
1000
Ad Revenue
02
WHAT JOURNALISTS CAN IMPACT
Total Ad Impressions
Cost per thousand
Impressions
Visits
Page Views
Unique Visitors
Unique Visitors
Visits
Page Views
Loyalty
Engagement
Growth
mike
patrick
&

Understanding your impact
Site revenue increases if:
Increase Unique Visitors (Growth)
Increase Visits per Unique Visitor (Loyalty)
Increase Pageviews per Visit (Engagement)
Increase CPM (Revenue)
Increase Sellthrough Rate (Revenue)
mike
patrick
&

02
FACTORS THAT IMPACT
unique visitors = how much is your content being shared with others online?
visitors = how much does your writing impact the loyalty of readers?
page views = how often do your articles get read, if at all?
impressions= do readers get through your articles?

I thought this was about Web analytics?
mike
patrick
&

03
YOU’RE EVALUATED ON DATA

03
YOUR PUBLISHER’S DREAM

But it’s not just about the Benjamins
mike
patrick
&

A page view is just a page viewed…
mike
patrick
&

Window shopping versus action
mike
patrick
&

03
THERE ARE MORE THAN JUST PAGE VIEWS
INTEREST
INTERACTION
page views
rate
print
comment
recommend
send to a friend
(social) bookmark
mike
patrick
&

Are you controversial?
mike
patrick
&

How likely is it for someone to view you again?
mike
patrick
&

03
INTERACTION METRICS MATTER TOO
they go much deeper than page views
they measure your influence
they put you inside your readers’ heads and hearts
they can indicate rising storiesbefore the page views follow
they can help predict the future

03
Whether it’s tracking your page views or the interactions resulting from your articles, the performance of your content can be measured.

04
WEB ANALYTICS DATA CAN MAKE YOU “BETTER”

Now you know how you’re being graded
mike
patrick
&

04
When you know what you’re being measured on and why you’re being measured on it, and you care about revenue, you can influence your metrics by changing what and how you write.

Did they just say what I think they just said?
mike
patrick
&

04
When you know what you’re being measured, why you’re being measured on it, and you care about revenue, you can influence your metrics by changing what and how you write.

04
When you know what you’re being measured, why you’re being measured on it, and you care about revenue, you can influence your metrics by changing what and how you write.
Seeing your articles shared
Reaching new audiences
Involving people in your media
The ego of popularity
People reading your articles

How and what you write impacts findability
mike
patrick
&

04
WHY FINDABILITY MATTERS
findability= more unique visitors
more unique visitors = more page views
more page views = more impressions & interactions
more impressions & interactions= …

… hopefully this is starting to make sense now
mike
patrick
&

04
HOW YOU GET FOUND
FIND THROUGH TITLE
FIND THROUGH SEARCH
The headlines & sub-headlines you use impact whether someone clicks on your article from your publisher’s home page
The words you use impact whether search engines pick up your articles
Article
The topic, timeliness, quality, controversial nature of content impacts sharing
The consistency of your writing impacts whether people look for you in the future
FIND BY BEING SHARED
FIND BY NOTORIETY
mike
patrick
&

04
PADDING YOUR STATS
SEARCH
SHARED
TITLE
YOUR
ARTICLE(S)
publisher
site
other sites
NOTORIETY
mike
patrick
&

Unfortunately we can’t help you become notorious
mike
patrick
&

Search (engine optimization)
Your search results will be better if you:
Write using words that your audience commonly uses
Conduct keyword research to find relevant words
Use keyword phrases that you would like to be ranked for in the body text of the article
Use a natural combination of keywords by page as you would in a conversation
Seed your article on other sites
mike
patrick
&

Title (Headline testing)
Learn from email testing:
The quality of your headline impacts clicks
There is no perfect formula, so try many ways
Imagine there is no body and ask if you would click
Compare many articles to see click-through rates
mike
patrick
&

Sharing (On other sites)
Sharing is about ego:
Share yourself. Set up your own social media presence.
Put your articles on other relevant sites.
Pose a question or write as a conversation.
mike
patrick
&

Everything you do will impact your numbers
mike
patrick
&

04
Optimizing your story for findabability will make you “better” from an analytics perspective. Whether you’re an award winner or just starting out, the more readers you have, the more impact you create.

05
THIS IS NOT SCARY

Yes, there’s a lot of data
mike
patrick
&

Yes, there’s a bit of technology involved
mike
patrick
&

05
LEARN JUST ENOUGH
Know the metrics you impact – hopefully we’ve helped you accomplish that one.
Experiment and see results – change a headline, pose a question, include key words
Ask for your performance data – someone just like us will feel briefly important.
Monitor what you impact – forget about the rest, unless you’re looking for a career change.

There are a lot of resources
Where to get started with Web analytics
webanalyticsdemystified.com/Wednesday (free events)
webanalyticsdemystified.com/content/books.asp (free books)
tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/webanalytics/ (free help)
analytics.google.com (free tool)
webanalyticsassociation.org (paid organization)
emetrics.org/toronto/ (paid event)
mike
patrick
&

The best place to go is to your (free) analyst
mike
patrick
&

05
The content you produce is part of the online experience. A Web analysts job is to optimize the online experience. Ask them to help you get and interpret your performance data.

It’s not scary because there are people to help
mike
patrick
&

00
You will learn five things from us
01 Web analytics is about the truth
02 Publishers care about money
03 You’re evaluated on data
04 Web analytics data can make you “better”
05 This is not scary

X0
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mike
patrick
&

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Introduction to Web Analytics for Journalists

by Patrick Glinski

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