Painting by Numbers:

Google Analytics

So What?

•Ask yourself “so what” 3 times.

• What can you do with this data?• If you can’t do anything, it’s not useful.

Look for Trends

• Numbers in a vacuum do not mean much.

• Can you compare it to something?

• Can you look at the data over time?

42

Don’t Forget Qualitative Data!

• Must know visitors and pages to interpret analytics data (quantitative).

• Use surveys, focus groups, or informal chats with visitors to find out about how they use the site (qualitative).

Filter & Segment

• Make sense of the data by looking at a subset: your subject library or department, new visitors, iPhone users, etc.

• Combine to create advanced segments: new visitors with iPhones, etc.

What Do All These Numbers Mean?

• Visits • %New Visits• Pageviews• Pages/Visit• Bounce Rate• Avg. Time on Site• Traffic Sources• Content

121,585

99.05%

00:00:0299.69%

123,747

1.02

Google Analytics Dashboard

Google Analytics Dashboard

Visits & % New Visits

Visits• Measured by cookies.• From the time a site is

accessed until browser is closed or user is inactive for 30 minutes.

% New Visits• Measured by cookies.

What about visitors who don’t allow cookies or remove them?

Visits & % New Visits

Visits & % New Visits

Pageviews & Pages/Visit

Pageviews• An instance of a

page being loaded by a browser.

• Relies on changing URL.

Pages/Visit• Average number of

pages accessed in a visit.

• “Visit” as defined previously.

Activity on rich media (Flash, etc.) sites will not show up as pageviews without special code.

Pageviews & Pages/Visit

Pageviews & Pages/Visit

Bounce Rate

• Percentage of visits that left your site after a single page

• Look at what page they are on and where they are going. Did they print the page? Did they go to another Libraries site?

• Combine Bounce Rate with Keywords or Avg. Time on Site to find out more.

• Prioritize bounce rate by most popular landing page.• Look at particular segments to make sure you aren’t

losing visitors you want.

Bounce Rate

Bounce Rate

Avg. Time on Site

• Calculated by timestamps for each page.

• No way to tell how much time was spent on last page.

Did they find what they want or just give up? What can you really do with this information?

Avg. Time on Site

Avg. Time on Site

Traffic Sources

Referring Sites• URL where visitor

originated before arriving at your site

Keywords• Search terms that led

visitors to your site.

“So what?”• Try sorting these to find out which give you higher

Bounce Rates, fewer Pages/Visit, etc.• Create a segment and look at these areas.

Traffic Sources

Traffic Sources

Content

Content• why people come to

your site & what they are looking for

• Try viewing as Content by Title

Landing Pages• core entry points for

visitors (not just your home page)

Try sorting Top Content or Landing Pages on Unique Pageviews, Bounce Rate, Etc.

Content

Content

Site Overlay

• Visual representation of what links are being visited on site

• Puts the data in the context of the site.

Use it to decide which links can or should be changed.

Hands-On Training SessionsWhen WhereThursday, 8/13, 9:00AM 211A PatteeThursday, 8/13, 2:30PM 211A Pattee

Friday, 8/14 2:30PM 211A PatteeOngoing https://wikispaces.psu.edu

/display/training/Google+Analytics+Training

Google Analytics Resources

• Google Analytics Blog• Google Analytics Help:

– Getting Started– Analytics IQ– Analytics Help Forum

• ITS Technology Training Community

• Kyle James’ Presenations• Avanish Kaushik's Blog &

Web Analytics an Hour a Day

• Shelby Thayer's Blog• Web Analytics

Association

https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/training/Google+Analytics+Training and click Google Analytics Resources.

Questions