10 Keys to Success with Web Analytics

Web analytics has become increasingly mainstream. And with advent of web events vs. pages, video analytics and now the surge of mobile content metrics, the field has become a rather complex one.

I'm sitting in the one of the many workshops kicking off the JBoye 2008 conference here in Arhus, Denmark. Our fearless leader this morning is Phil Kemelor, a rather Zen-like fellow who's quite the web analytics guru and also the author of The CMS Watch Web Analytics Report.

Our objective today? We're going to trim some noise from the analytics fray and focus on how to make the practice of web analysis function more effectively. Come along for the ride.

The jboye08 event is unique on the conference track for two reasons. One, it's got a unique focus on content, content management technologies and modern information management issues. Secondly, the event is intensely focused on and led by some of the star practitioners in the space. In short, the conference is a knowledge heavy event which delivers a lot of value.

Current Web Analytics Challenges

The successful implementation and execution of web analytics programs is challenging, especially in larger organizations. Web analytics success depends strongly on clearly defined business goals and because many organizations lack a clearly defined web strategy with clearly defined business goals, web analytics programs often suffer. This is an ongoing issue at the business level.

Some common problems Phil sees are:

• Management doesn't want people to spend time on web analytics
• Management tends to think: purchase, install and read reports (aka analytics is magic)
• The discipline is rarely a dedicated operation — it's a part time gig in many orgs
• Many practitioners are still struggling to make the business case

Concrete vs. Magic with Analytics

The perception that web analytics work by magic is prolific and problematic. Combating this need not be difficult, but some internal education is usually necessary. The following list of tasks is a solid way to start a web analysis project:

1. Collect business requirements
2. Define metrics and methods of collection
3. Find or make data available (e.g., coding tags, systems integration, etc.)
4. Calculating metrics — development of models
5. Build reports and conduct analysis
6. Educate stakeholders as to how to use the resulting analysis

Wise Use of Web Traffic Reports

Traffic Data Needs Context

Traffic reporting is not always useful, nor is it always wise to distribute such reports. When used well, traffic reporting provides snapshot views of important website activity. These reports serve to answer the question “how is the site doing” at a glance.

But traffic data has a context and that context is the previously defined web business goals. So for such reports to be useful one needs to provide as much context as possible: What are the goals? Which higher numbers are better? Which lower numbers are better? What does the vocabulary mean? Etc.

Big Numbers are Not Always Good

High traffic numbers are not necessarily a sign of success. If you're running a portal and have 1.25 pages per visitor session, this could be a sign of success — users might be finding exactly what they need, quickly. But if you're running a publishing site, then seeing 4 page views per visit would be a tremendous success — users are discovering interesting content and continuing to read and interact with the website.

Context is essential. Distributing traffic data without supporting contextual information can be worse than meaningless, it can distract from core business goals. Many traffic reports require deeper analysis to understand the implications.

Traffic Reporting is Not Analysis

For web analysis professionals, it's important to differentiate (in the mind of the report consumers) the difference between web traffic reporting and web analytics reporting. And it's important also to have good reasons, e.g., business goals, for distributing traffic reports.

10 Keys to Success with Web Analytics

Web analytics has become increasingly mainstream. And with advent of web events vs. pages, video analytics and now the surge of mobile content metrics, the field has become a rather complex one.\n\nI'm sitting in the one of the many workshops kicking off the JBoye 2008 conference here in Arhus, Denmark. Our fearless leader this morning is Phil Kemelor, a rather Zen-like fellow who's quite the web analytics guru and also the author of The CMS Watch Web Analytics Report. \n\nOur objective today? We're going to trim some noise from the analytics fray and focus on how to make the practice of web analysis function more effectively. Come along for the ride.

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