Beyond BASIC Website Analytics

The reason why website owners implement website analytics tracking software onto their websites is to be able to quantify the activities of their visitors and measure their online advertising programs.  Once the analytical data starts to flow into the reporting modules, the Internet marketing team begins a detailed review of the behavior and performance.

Before we look into activities that are Beyond Basic Website Analytics, we will review the obvious or basic website data review including things like: unique visitors, page view, keywords, time on website, most viewed pages, least viewed pages, etc.  This important analytical activity needs to include website conversion components.

What is a Website Conversion?

These are the goals that are established by the website owner i.e. lead generation, revenue, etc.  How can these goals be measured?

- Make a Purchase

- Download a Document

- Sign Up for a Newsletter

- View or Request a PDF

- Complete a Contact Us Form

- Submit a Request a Proposal

- Fill In a Request for Info Form

- Click on a Specified Link

The process used to measure these goals is found in submitting a Thank You page to the visitor who made the request or took the action.                          

Establishing the Website’s Monetization Value

Many times the website owner or Internet marketing team uses subjective and often arbitrary methods to place value on specific website activities.  We believe you should quantify the value of a lead or conversion in a more analytical manner i.e. establishing the value of a lead followed by the value of a new customer.  This is often done using the simple equation of establishing the # of Visitors : First Order Value.

Relating Website Traffic Sources to Conversion

The basic analytics review focuses on visitor source i.e. Natural Search, Paid Search, Referral Site, Email Marketing, Banner Ads, etc.  The next step is to review the Keyword Phrases that are driving traffic and are converting.  Quantifying the value in Dollars vs. Source is a very important measurement within website conversion enhancement.

Selecting the Website Analytics Solution

Remember… web analytics is the process of gathering and analyzing your website’s data in order to glean meaningful information about how your site is being utilized by your users. There are plenty of web analytics programs to choose from.  Some of the larger, better known applications are: GoogleAnalytics, Omniture, Webtrends, HitWise, Coremetrics, ClickTracks, ComScore, etc. There are also a broad number of alternative programs that are lesser known; however, they are useful and free of charge: Piwik, FireStats, Snoop, BBClone, Whoopra, JAWStats, MochiBot and Grape Web Statistics. The intention in showing you numerous analytics programs is meant to provide insight into the various methods used to collect and distribute the data for user analysis and reporting.

Asking Pertinent Questions

So now the question is: How do we go beyond basic website analytics in determining the present and future of our website? Let’s take a closer look at some issues by asking questions:

-         Why do some of the keywords drive high traffic volume to the website with the conversion rate being very low?  What about the opposite situation?

-         Have you compared analytical data against keyword rankings within the SERPS to determine if more or less investment of time and money is required?

-         After reviewing recent monthly analytical report data, did you come to the conclusion as to where your Internet marketing effort should be placed?

-         What effect does each website promotion activity have on your bottom-line?

Now that you have focused on specific some points of measurement, we need to move on. One More Step Beyond the “Basic”…

Prospective Client Data Collection

Expanding your basic website analytics and information gathering can be assisted by considering the use of the following two [2] programs:

iPerceptions 4Q Program – This program is provided by one of North America's leading web-focused attitudinal analytics providers. webValidator Continuous Listening Solution and its proprietary Satisfaction Index turn thousands of data points into easy-to-understand strategic and tactical decision support.

ClickTale Heatmap Program – The service helps you analyze the traffic that goes to your site. It is similar to a Google heatmap result that tells you on which part of a page people look at the most, and in what order they tend to scan the page.  Think about it… with that information, you could design each page to place the critical components exactly where people look at the most, scroll to or click on. 

This insight provides the Internet marketing team with specific data that can be used to modify each webpage to the optimum level possible. 

Now you know that basic website analytics are not enough!  Using tools like the ones mentioned above will provide your Internet marketing team with the special insight needed to create and maintain a highly optimized website.

Finally, be sure to hire Internet marketing professionals to do the job if you don’t have the capabilities in-house.  Too much is at stake to leave this part of your business to chance!  We are pleased to provide you the insightful comments contained herein.  Please contact us at www.InternetConsultingAndCoaching.com or call us at 631-423-0815 for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team or to review the Full list of PDF documents on Internet Marketing and Conversion techniques.