How to Measure Everything: Analytics for Content Creators

How toMeasure Everything

Michael PowersIndiana University of Pennsylvania

Analytics for Content Creators

#MeasureEverything

How toMeasure Everything

Michael PowersIndiana University of Pennsylvania

Analytics for Content Creators

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#MeasureEverything

OK, not everything, but...*

OK, not everything, but...

• Ways to make your content better by measuring it

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• With numbers

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• With numbers

• Even if you’re not a “numbers person”

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• With numbers

• Even if you’re not a “numbers person”

• “Micro” analytics

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About Me

About Me

• Director of Electronic Communications at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

About Me


• Taught web writing at Higher Ed Experts

About Me



• Coded first HTML in 1993

About Me




• Ph.D. in English

About Me




• Ph.D. in English

• @mjpowers

About You

• Writer

• Designer

• “Content creator”

• Not a big Google Analytics user

Analyticsare for

everyone.

“Not everything that can “be counted counts, and “not everything that“counts can be counted.”

“Not everything that can “be counted counts, and “not everything that“counts can be counted.”

—William Bruce Cameron

“a data-driven life is “the sexiest digital “life you can imagine.”

—Avinash Kaushik

Or, do it for your boss. He loves data.

Or, do it for your boss. He loves data.

(Not my actual boss)

Readability1

Measure

Readability scores measure how easy to

read a text is.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

4 sentences72 words90 syllables


Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula

0.39 × (words ÷ sentences)

+ 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words)

− 15.59

read-able.com


Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.2

Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.


Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.


Grade Level: 17.4

We don’t need elevators.We’re only going to put athletes in this dorm.

• Makes web reading easier, even for highly skilled readers

• Readers read more, understand more

• Readable content gets shared more often

• Easy to check

Why care about readability?

Solutions for poor readability

• Shorter words

• Shorter sentences

• Less passive voice

• Less jargon

A LITTLE BIT OF A TUMBLER.

A shining indication of yellow consists in there having been more of the same color than could have been expected when all four were bought. This was the hope which made the six and seven have no use for any more places and this necessarily spread into nothing. Spread into nothing.

“See what I mean?”

“Data is your eyes, “not your brain.”

—Colleen Jones

A report tostart with

•Content

•Site Content

•All Pages

Pages from Your Site

Pages from Your Site

Measurements

Not as useful for content creators• Entrances

• % Exit

Pageviews2

Measure

“Um, yeah, if we “could more hits on “the website—that “would be great.”

“Um, yeah, if we “could more hits on “the website—that “would be great.”

(Also not my actual boss)

Pageviews: how many times a page has been loaded into a browser.

Why not hits?

• A hit is the download of a single file

• 1 page = 10, 20, 30 or more files

High pageviews aren’t always a success

Low pageviews aren’t always a content issue

Low pageviews aren’t always a content issue• Navigation is difficult

• Page is orphaned

• Maybe the link didn't get sent out in that e-mail

• The server is offline

Solutions for low pageviews


• Improve readability



• Improve utility to users




• Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Not just a content issue

• Right keywords in the right places




• Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Not just a content issue

• Right keywords in the right places

http://moz.com/beginner

s-guide-to-seo

http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo


























One more thing about pageviews...

$2.1 Million

Average Salary in This Elevator

If pageviews are low, other scores may not mean much

Engagement measures

• Bounce rate

• Avg. Time on Page

Bounce Rate3

Measure

A bounce is a one-page visit.

The bounce rate is the % of visits to that page

that bounce.

36 entrances ÷ 23 bounces =63.89% bounce rate

What does it mean?

“I came,“I saw,“I puked.”

So a lower bounce rate is better

So a lower bounce rate is better

Except when it’s not

Solutions for a high bounce rate• Is there an audience that hits this page

with the wrong expectations?

• Are there useful links on the page? Anyplace to go?

• Does the content actually interest people?

Solutions for a high bounce rate• Make it shorter


Avg. Time on Page4

Measure

Avg. Time on Page is—the average for all visitors to that page.

Bounces are averaged in as 0.

Longer can be better

Except when it’s not

What’s a good avg. time on page?• Average reading speed is 200–250 wpm

• Words on page ÷ 200 = minutes needed to read the page

1,214 words ÷ 200 = 6 minutes

Solutions for low time on page


• Make it shorter


• Make it shorter


• Make sure content interests your audience


• Make it shorter


• Make sure content interests your audience

• Delete the page

How do we use more of our brains here?

Bounce Rate: 95%

Navigation Summary

92% enter on this page

92% enter on this page

93% exit from this page

Segmentation

How did they get to the site?Segment by Source

Are they new to the site?Segment by Visitor Type

Where are they?Segment by Metro

Were they on mobile?

What’s a Good Score?

It depends

Grade me! Look at me! Evaluate and rank me!

I’m good, good, good and oh so smart! GRADE ME!

Problems with analytics

• Sites are different

• Google Analytics installs can be different

• Goals are different

• Analytics isn’t always accurate...

40?

40?

40?

40?40?

“So what you’re“saying is that all“these numbers“are meaningless.”

Use analytics data in comparison• With last week, last month, last year

• With similar pages on your website

• Dept. vs. dept.

• Major page vs. major page

Higher ed goals1. Get students

2. Help students, faculty, and alumni succeed

3. Get donations to keep doing 1. and 2.

Higher ed goals1. Get students

2. Help students, faculty, and alumni succeed

3. Get donations to keep doing 1. and 2.$

Higher ed web goals

• Attract potential students

• Get applications

• Help students find _____

• Engage alumni

• Take donations

Higher ed web goals

• Attract potential students

• Get applications

• Help students find _____

• Engage alumni

• Take donations$

GA allows these as goals

• Getting to a page

• Clicking on something

• Seeing a certain number of pages

• Staying a certain number of minutes

Set up goals in Google Analytics

Donation [donation value]

Application $???

Visit registration $???



Application $200

Visit registration $100



Application $2,000

Visit registration $1,000

“So now you’re“just making the“numbers up?”

Page Value5

Measure

Page value is...

Value of any “transactions” that happen

after a visit to this page

÷

Number of unique

pageviews for this page

Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math

Visit CampusVisit Sign-Up

FormThanks for Registering




$100




$100$20$20

$20$20$20

Solutions for low page value

• Is this page related to a goal?

• Shorter, more readable, include calls to action

• Usability test

• Content experiment

Sharing Data6

Measure

Various kinds of sharing data tell you how often your web content has been shared on

social networks

Shared Count

AddThis/ShareThis

• Better readability, shorter content

• Better metadata

• Know your audience

• Read Dan Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness

Solutions for low sharing rate

Social Media Engagement

7Measure

Followers

Engagement

Shares/Actions

From follower to “customer”

Social media engagement measures show how many of your followers interact with

your content.

Most go something like this:

clicks ÷ posts ÷ followers

This gives you the percentage of followers who engage with each post.

What’s a click?

Facebook Twitter

Like Mention

Comment Retweet

Share Link click

So the formula forFacebook would be:

(likes + comments + shares) ÷ posts ÷ followers

(30,286 likes +703 comments + 7,170 shares) ÷

1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =


1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =

0.92% engagement

“0.92%? That’s tiny. “George Takei is “bad at social “media.”

(101,010 likes +2,266 comments +

9,144 shares) ÷ 2 posts ÷

4,165,311 fans =1.35% engagement

But isn’t a share or a comment worth more than a like?

The Varsity Outreach Formula


1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =

0.92% engagement

(30,286 likes × 2 +703 comments × 2 +

7,170 shares) ÷ 1 post ÷

4,165,311 fans =1.66% engagement

(30,286 likes × 2 +703 comments × 2 +

7,170 shares) ÷ 1 post ÷

4,165,311 fans × 1,000 =

1,660 engagement

Choose a formula that works for you and stick with it.

Putting It All Together

So, how’s our content doing?

Content analytics spreadsheet

The Measures1. Readability

2. Pageviews

3. Bounce Rate

4. Avg. Time on Page

5. Page Value

6. Sharing Data

7. Social Media Engagement

Questions?

How to Measure Everything: Analytics for Content Creators

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