Website Analytics : Basics

Web AnalyticsWhat & Why

Quite unlike anything in the past, businesses now can get 'live' data from

their website and can use  this to improve their operations

 

But most businesses suck at knowing what to do

with this ‘live’ dataLike BIG time

And that’s why Web Analytics is a‘much in demand’ skill.

User searchesClicks on messages/adsGoes to the websiteAfter that what?

He reaches the websiteHow did he reach my website?But where is he going?Does he like my product?Did he see all the products?How much time did he spend?Where did he go after that?

How can studying data can help you run your business better

And why are managers not doing it currently?

Businesses usually stop at just setting up analytics

That’s where it is supposed to begin.

Importance of good Analytics

Who are your visitors?• Country/city

• Browser/OS data

• New/Repeat

• Optimize to reach site goals more efficiently• Actionable insights based on precisely measured metrics.• Better understanding traffic behaviour• Test creatives, communication, layouts, etc with ease.

Importance of good Analytics

Improve ROI

How do they reach your website?• From which site?

• Which campaign works better?

• What SEO/SEM keywords work?

What are they doing..?• Are they converting?

• How long do they stay on your site?

• What do they read?

• What’s making them leave?

• …much more8

Web Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage.

- Web Analytics Association

Career Potential

Even if you don’t see job titles for ‘Web Analytics’, this is a very useful additional

skill to have

Especially if you have been around for a couple of years in the ‘web’ industry.

The future’s bright

“Web Analytics is hard.”

– Eric Peterson

“10% of your budget should be spent on tools, while 90% spent on people (brains) who will be responsible for insights.”

– Avinash Kaushik

Brief History

12

JavaScript Tags

Log Files & Hit Counters

Click & heat maps

Mobile Analytics

Putting the GA code on your site and checking for it

Placing the analytics code

Other web analytics packages

Other Web Analytics Providers

Let’s open a GA account

Basic Terminology before we Jump In

Hits: Any element caused by the browser when it requests the page(A single page can register 1 hit or hundreds of hits based on different elements on it)

Page Views: Number of pages divided by number of visitors (number of pages viewed by the visitor)

Sessions or User sessions: Amount of time user browsed your site

Unique visitors: No. of people visiting a web site for the first time or at least once within a 30 day time period

Repeat visitors

Referrers or Referring sites: Place from where the user has originated

Bounce rate: % of entrance on any given page that resulted in an exit without entering any other page on the site

Exit rate: % of exits from a page to the total number of visits to that page

Basic Terminology before we Jump In

Time spent on the website

Page views per visit

Geographic location

Goals & Funnels

Some tricky metrics

Absolute Unique Visitors/Unique Visitors

Clicks/Visits

Visits/Sessions/Visitors

What does analytics measure?

Google Analytics collects your data based on 5 broad segments

Google Analytics collects your data based on 5 broad segments …Which give us over 80

primary reports, which can be further drilled down to over 1,000 unique reports.

…Which give us over 80 primary reports, which can be further drilled down to over 1,000 unique reports.

Reported Segments

Graph• Day/week/month views• Compare 2 metrics• ‘Compare to site’• Compare date ranges• Highlight data point on

mouse-over

Graph• Day/week/month views• Compare 2 metrics• ‘Compare to site’• Compare date ranges• Highlight data point on

mouse-over

Data table• Overview of selected

component• 5 unique data views• Search box to

include/exclude specific data

• Easily compare performance to Site Avg.

Data table• Overview of selected

component• 5 unique data views• Search box to

include/exclude specific data

• Easily compare performance to Site Avg.

Easily export/email a report• 4 format options, incl. PDF,

XML, CSV & TSV

Easily export/email a report• 4 format options, incl. PDF,

XML, CSV & TSV

Data Representation

Why ask for GA access before you submit a SEM/Digital

Marketing proposal

• Know feasibility of campaign objectives from past data.

• Get an idea of offering acceptance by means of closures and engagement metrics and visitor loyalty.

The tougher job is to know what to look out for

The easier part is to navigate the interface

A case study for what you would ‘look out for’ while studying

Google Analytics