Web Analytics | Improving Performance
Web analytics, is the process of measuring, tracking and analysing the behaviour of website visitors in order to improve website performance. This can be done at the aggregate or individual visitor level. Used in conjunction with data from the search engine results pages and pay per click reports, a complete picture of the sources and behaviour of website visitors can be established. Using web analytics we can firstly determine the marketing effectiveness of each search marketing component, search term, referring link or social media Tweet, comment etc. Secondly we can improve the role of each individual web page or process in generating business. Web analytics is therefore a key tool in improving marketing return on expenditure or campaign ROI. Read about our web analytics training courses.
Top Level Analytics Metrics
- Page loads - The number of pages viewed.
- Visit length - Time on site
- Unique visitors - The number of individual visits.
- First time visitors - New visitors to the site.
- Bounce rate - Visitors appearing to leave the website without interaction
- Returning visitors - Visitors making a second or subsequent visit.
- Traffic Source - The share of visits accounted for the basic sources of traffic; Direct visitors, referring sites or search engines.
Mid Level Analytics Metrics
- Keywords Analysis - The keywords entered into a search box when used to find your site.
- Referring Websites - The page where a visitor found a link to your site. Could be a search engine.
- Search Engines - The search engine used to find your site. Can be analysed at the brand name level i.e. Google vs. Yahoo vs. Bing or at the host level e.g. Google.co.uk.
- Country/State/ISP of Origin - The location of the site visitor.
- Browser - Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, Opera etc.
- System Stats - Operating system, screen resolution.
Page Analysis
- Entry Pages - Indicates which pages perform best in search engines.
- Popular Pages - Indicates which pages are most popular once the visitor is on the site.
- Exit Pages - Indicates which pages may encourage the visitor to leave the site.
Campaign Analysis
- Google Adwords
- SEO
- Social media
- Other online marketing activities
Goals and Funnels
- Goals - Key actions or events that contribute towards sales or enquiries.
- Conversion funnels - The steps through which visitors go as they convert.
Visitor Analysis
A key theme in website optimisation is to work back from the sale or lead generation. At the top level this means understanding why a website visit has been successful and attempting to replicate that event as many times as possible. Rather than thinking which keyword terms and search engines yield the most traffic, find which visit types and a visitor behaviours yield the highest sales, margins or B2B leads.
