This document discusses how to avoid "analysis paralysis" when working with website analytics data. It provides tips for getting organized, focusing on actionable metrics, and testing changes. The key recommendations are to clearly define goals and key performance indicators, configure custom reports, use advanced segments and event tracking, focus on actionable metrics like bounce rate and conversion rate, and regularly test changes through A/B testing to improve performance.

1. Erin Steinbruegge Market STL Fall 2010 Free Yourself From Analysis Paralysis

2. [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.

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

4. 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…

5. Everything from your phone to your TV is becoming more measurable

6. The Analytics Geek is Evolving into a Hero

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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

10. Step 1: Get Organized

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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/

14. 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?

15. Analytics Programs Are Not 1-Size-Fits-All

16. 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.

17. Google Analytics Custom Reports Example

18. Step 2: Learn to Focus on Actionable Metrics

19. 3 Characteristics of Actionable Metrics Don’t require an opinion Highly relevant to your business goals Required action is instantly obvious and useful

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

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

22. 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

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

24. Event Tracking: Insight to Audience Behavior

25. 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

26. Creating Advanced Segments

27. Advanced Segments Example

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

29. Fix This Page!

30. Step 3: Test and Fail

31. 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.

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

33. 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

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

35. 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

36. 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

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