Avoid the 2025 web accessibility rush: do not fear WCAG compliance
Web Analytics
1. Web analytics is the process of collecting, analysing,
and interpreting data related to the usage and
behaviour of visitors on a website. It involves tracking
various metrics to understand how users interact with a
website, what actions they take, and how well the
website is performing in terms of its goals. It is crucial
for businesses, organizations, and individuals who want
to optimize their online presence and improve user
experiences. Here are some key aspects of web
analytics:
Data Collection: Web analytics tools, such as Google
Analytics, track a wide range of data points, including
page views, clicks, time spent on a page, bounce rates
(percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing
only one page), and more. This data is collected
through tracking codes or scripts embedded in the
website's pages.
User Behaviour Analysis: Web analytics allows you to
gain insights into user behaviour, such as the paths
users take through your site, the pages they visit, the
actions they perform (e.g., completing a purchase,
signing up for a newsletter), and the devices and
browsers they use.
2. Conversion Tracking: Businesses often set specific goals
for their websites, such as making a purchase, filling out
a form, or signing up for a service. Web analytics helps
track these conversions and provides insights into the
effectiveness of different pages or marketing
campaigns.
Traffic Sources: Web analytics tools provide information
about where your website traffic is coming from. This
includes sources like organic search, paid advertising,
social media, referrals from other websites, and direct
traffic.
Audience Insights: You can gather demographic
information about your website visitors, such as their
location, language, device type, and operating system.
This information can help tailor your content and user
experience to better match your audience's
preferences.
Real-Time Monitoring: Some analytics tools offer
real-time data, allowing you to see how users are
interacting with your site at any given moment. This can
be particularly useful for tracking the success of a
3. marketing campaign or understanding how changes to
the website impact user behaviour.
A/B Testing: Web analytics can be used in conjunction
with A/B testing, where different versions of a web
page are presented to users to determine which version
performs better. This helps in optimizing the website's
design, layout, and content for improved user
engagement and conversion rates.
Data Interpretation: The data collected from web
analytics tools needs to be interpreted to make
informed decisions. Patterns, trends, and anomalies in
the data can provide valuable insights into user
preferences, pain points, and areas for improvement.
Continuous Improvement: Web analytics is an iterative
process. By analysing data over time, you can identify
trends, assess the impact of changes, and make
data-driven decisions to improve your website's
performance and user experience.
Overall, web analytics plays a crucial role in
understanding your website's performance, user
behaviour, and the effectiveness of your online
4. strategies. It helps businesses and website owners
make informed decisions to enhance their online
presence and achieve their goals.
Analytical skill is the ability to deconstruct information
into smaller categories in order to draw conclusions.
Analytical skill consists of categories that include logical
reasoning, critical thinking, communication, research,
data analysis and creativity.
The process of web analytics involves:
Setting business goals: Defining the key metrics that
will determine the success of your business and
website.
Collecting data: Gathering information, statistics, and
data on website visitors using analytics tools.
Processing data: Converting the raw data you’ve
gathered into meaningful ratios, KPIs, and other
information that tell a story
Reporting data: Displaying the processed data in an
easy-to-read format.
5. Developing an online strategy: Creating a plan to
optimize the website experience to meet business goals
Understand your website visitors
Web analytics tools reveal key details about your site
visitors—including their average time spent on page
and whether they’re a new or returning user—and
which content draws in the most traffic. With this
information, you’ll learn more about what parts of your
website and product interest users and potential
customers the most.
For instance, an analytics tool might show you that a
majority of your website visitors are landing on your
German site. You could use this information to ensure
you have a German version of your product that’s well
translated to meet the needs of these users.
Understand top performing content
Web analytics tools will also help you learn which
content is performing the best on your site, so you can
focus on the types of content that work and also use
that information to make product improvements. For
instance, you may notice blog articles that talk about
design are the most popular on your website. This
might signal that your users care about the design
feature of your product (if you offer design as a
6. product feature), so you can invest more resources into
the design feature. The popular content pieces on your
website could spark ideas for new product features,
too.
Understand and optimize referral sources
Web analytics will tell you who your top referral sources
are, so you know which channels to focus on. If you’re
getting 80% of your traffic from Instagram, your
company’s marketers will know that they should invest
in ads on that platform.
Web analytics also shows you which outbound links on
your site people are clicking on. Your company’s
marketing team might discover a mutually beneficial
relationship with these external websites, so you can
reach out to them to explore partnership or
cross-referral opportunities.
Example metrics to track with web analytics:
Website performance metrics vary from company to
company based on their goals for their site. Here are
some example KPIs that businesses should consider
tracking as a part of their web analytics practice.
Page visits / Sessions:
7. Page visits and sessions refer to the traffic to a
webpage over a specific period of time. The more visits,
the more your website is getting noticed.
Keep in mind traffic is a relative success metric. If you’re
seeing 200 visits a month to a blog post, that might not
seem like great traffic. But if those 200 visits represent
high-intent views—views from prospects considering
purchasing your product—that traffic could make the
blog post much more valuable than a high-volume,
low-intent piece.
Source of traffic:
Web analytics tools allow you to easily monitor your
traffic sources and adjust your marketing strategy
accordingly. For example, if you’re seeing lots of traffic
from email campaigns, you can send out more email
campaigns to boost traffic.
Total website conversion rate:
Total website conversion rate refers to the percentage
of people who complete a critically important action or
goal on your website. A conversion could be a purchase
or when someone signs up for your email list,
depending on what you define as a conversion for your
8. website.
Bounce rate:
Bounce rate refers to how many people visit just one
page on your website and then leave your site.
Interpreting bounce rates is an art. A high bounce rate
could be both negative and positive for your business.
It’s a negative sign since it shows people are not
interacting with other pages on your site, which might
signal low engagement among your site visitors.
On the other hand, if they spend quality time on a
single page, it might indicate that users are getting all
the information they need, which could be a positive
sign. That’s why you need to investigate bounce rates
further to understand what they might mean.
Monthly unique visitors:
Monthly unique visitors refers to the number of visitors
who visit your site for the first time each month.
This metric shows how effective your site is at attracting
new visitors each month, which is important for your
growth. Ideally, a healthy website will show a steady
flow of new visitors to the site.
9. Unique ecommerce metrics:
Along with tracking these basic metrics, an ecommerce
company’s team might also track additional KPIs to
understand how to boost sales.
Shopping cart abandonment rate shows how many
people leave their shopping carts without actually
making a purchase. This number should be as low as
possible.
Other relevant ecommerce metrics include average
order value and the average number of products per
sale. You need to boost these metrics if you want to
increase sales.