WEB ANALYTICS: MEASURE ANALYZE ACT!Chris Brown & Bob MolnarUniversity CommunicationsOffice of Public Affairs & Government Relations

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I. Defining Web Analytics

II. What to Look For in Your Reports: Engagement Metrics

III. Measuring Your Site: Google Analytics

IV. Digging Deeper: Campaigns and Event Tracking

V. Best Practices

VI. Questions

DEFINING WEB ANALYTICS

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

A General Definition

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Measure

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The Web Analytics Process

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Page Counters

How We Measure Web Analytics

Server LogsPage Counters Server Logs

Analoghttp://www-reports.iu.edu/

Analoghttp://www-reports.iu.edu/ Google UrchinGoogle Urchin

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ALYTICSHow Google Analytics Works, Part 1

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ALYTICSHow Google Analytics Works, Part 2

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ALYTICSGoogle Analytics Blind Spots

Disabled Javascript

BlockedCookies

Removed Cookies

Private Browsing

Multiple Devices

or Browsers

VPNConnections

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ALYTICSGoogle Analytics Profiles

Google Analytics excels at segmentation reporting. You can configure multiple account profiles to measure segments. TIP: Always define an unfiltered profile!

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ALYTICSGoogle Analytics Filters

• Help define segments

• Can apply to multiple profiles

• Cannot process legacy data

• Types:• Pre-defined• Custom

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A goal is a website page that serves as conversion for your site – i.e. completion of call to action.• Form confirmation• Downloads• Purchase• Time on site• Negative goals (e.g.,

less than X minutes in a site visit)

A funnel represents the path that you expect visitors to take on their way to converting to the goal.• Conversion rate• Visitor goal

abandonment• Bottlenecks

Goals and Funnels

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ALYTICSGoal Funnel

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ALYTICSGoal Visualization

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR REPORTS

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How can I better understand my audience?

Two Chief Questions Google Analytics Can Answer

How can I better understand my site content?

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RTSIt’s all about …

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• Source• Visits/Sessions• Direct Visits• Exits• Bounce Rate

•Pageviews• Time on Page• Time on Site•% of New

Visitors

Key Engagement Terms & Metrics

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RTSSource

• Source is the origin of a website visit• Types of sources:

• Direct – typing a URL, or from a bookmark, or from a browser’s history, etc.

• Referral – from an external (non-search engine) site

• Campaigns – links associated with periodic or ongoing marketing campaigns

• Organic – from a search engine

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RTSOrganic Sources

• Largest segment and single-most important type of source

• Google is the biggest player• You can improve SEO by researching the

organic segment• Segment further by looking at non-

branded keywords

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RTSVisits/Session

• Visit/Session is the period of time a user interacts with your website

• Begins when a user interacts with a page on your site

• Ends one of two ways:• User goes to another site and does not

return within 30 minutes• User is inactive on a site for at least 30

minutes

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RTSDirect Visits

• Direct visits occur in a number of ways:• Typing the URL• Clicking a link in an email• Bookmarks or browser history

• Could be a good indicator of visitor loyalty (not by itself, but when measured with other stats like return visitors)

• Good resource on direct visits:“Analytics Direct Traffic is NOT What You Think It Is” (http://bit.ly/direct-visits)

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RTSExits

• An exit happens when …• … someone clicks on an external link and

does not return to your site within 30 minutes.

• … someone leaves your site for another and does not return within 30 minutes

• … someone records at least 30 minutes of inactivity on your site

• Exit rate is a page-specific metric that shows the % of overall visits that exit from a particular page. Good for examining the health of content.

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RTSBounce Rate

• Bounce rate is one of the most important metrics in analytics

• Measures the rate of one-page visits• Good indicator that you need further study• High bounce rates can indicate …

• … stale content• … problems with navigation• … high number of external links

• Always make decisions only after further study!

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RTSPageview

• Pageviews measure each time a user visits a page within a site

• Do not confuse with “hits”• Good measurement for traditional

webpages with static content

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RTSTime on Page and Time on Site

What happened to the Time on Page for page 3? Since Google Analytics cannot detect the start stamp for page 4, an external page, it cannot calculate page 3’s Time on Page!

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RTSPercentage of New Visitors

• Percentage of new visitors represents visits from users whose browsers do not have a stored GA cookie.• Actual new visitors• Users who cleared their cookies• Users who visited in a private session

previously• Users who are visiting again using a new

device or browser• Always study in the context of segmentation

and with other metrics (e.g., Direct Traffic vs. Organic Traffic)

DIGGING DEEPER

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EEPERCampaigns

• Campaigns are a way to segment audiences by a particular group of communication media (what types of media are driving traffic?)• Newspaper ads• Targeted emails• Postcards• Billboard

• Uses custom URLs via Link Tagging

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• Campaign Name: Summer Arts Fest 2012

• Campaign Medium: Newspaper Ads

• Campaign Source:Nuvo Indy

• GA Campaign URL:http://artsfest.indiana.edu/?utm_source=nuvo-indy&utm_medium=newspaper-ads&utm_campaign=summer-arts-fest-2012

• Advertised URL:http://artsfest.indiana.edu/nuvo

Campaign Example

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EEPERCampaign Report

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EEPEREvents

• GA, by default, can only report on activity on internal site pages.

• Using event tagging, we can learn more about a variety of user actions:• Clicks to external pages• Plays, fast-forwards, & pauses of a video• Interactions with dynamic content

(e.g., slideshows)

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• Event Category: Homepage Slideshow• Event Action: Click• Event Label: 3 – Student Generosity

Event Example

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EEPEREvent Report

BEST PRACTICES

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Measure

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The GA Cycle

BEST PRACTICESBest Practices for Measurement

• Establish site goals (macro and micro)• Define the audience(s) and metrics for

each goal• Update site privacy policy• Create a Google Account• Create a RAW DATA profile• Create filters for isolating and analyzing

audience segments• Map goal funnels• Use campaigns

BEST PRACTICESBest Practices for Analysis

• Establish a scheduled review period for each goal.

• Review metrics defined for each goal.• Raw Data• Filters• Advanced Segmentations

• Determine trends, performance bottlenecks, and new growth opportunities.

• Identify actionable insights.

BEST PRACTICESBest Practices for Action

• Make it a priority!• Dedicate resources for action.• Implement site changes to better align

with goal objectives reflective of analytics findings:• Content• SEO• Site/Page Usability• Process/Workflow• Design Elements

WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR US?

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Thank You!